Finish mower with mulching blades

[TractorRob]

Is anyone using mulching blades on a rear mounted finish mower? I have a Woods RD7200 and while I am quite pleased with the cut, I think it might look even better with mulching blades. I was wondering if anybody has used them and if so whether or not it made enough difference to be worth the trouble.

 

[JoeL4330]

have mulching kit and blades on a Befco RD7 ...good cut but, note that the instructions tell you to go twice as slow as you otherwise would (so it cuts twice) ...about 2mph is tops, I find for a good cut.

Incidentally, just changing to mulching blades probably isn't sufficient ...look at the mulching kit, which has three "circles" (short cylinders, really) that enclose the three blades and presumably keep the grass clippings in motion and within reach of the blades.

Finally, the quality of the actual cut is no different, really, it's the fact that the clippings are much finer, so no brown residue visible. In fact, I believe that the high-lift blades would deliver a better actual cut, in my case, because they are designed to lift up grass blades that tires mat down.

 

[RedHawkRidge]

I'm not a big fan of mulching blades. Have tried them on my JD X595 54" deck, and on my LandPride FDR2584 rear discharge mower deck.
The X595 mulch blade has an additional cutting surface on the inside of the traditional cutting surface. This surface is bent so it slices parallel to the ground. The lift angle of the traditional cutting surface is that of a normal lift blade.
The LB 84's blade has three slices in the turned up back part (that behind the cutting edge). These slices turn the metal forward to form a recutting mechanism.

In my experience, they just don't "cut it" (pun intended). Both depend on the first-cut grass to enter the center of the blade chamber to get recut. This seems improbable since the grass gets thrown to the outside mostly.
The type with the slices in the "propeller" part of the blade really work the poorest because they ruin the lift effect or pull of the cuttings, and just creat turbulence instead of lift-and-recut. In fact I believe I saw a worse cut from this type than a normal blade -- less lift.

And they're expensive. And you're supposed to go slow.

In my opinion stick with normal blades, keep 'em sharp, and go over the yard twice.

Jim

 

[medicshawn]

I have a Landpride 1672 with Gator mulching blades. I like them and think they give a better cut than the standard blades. It maybe just that they are high lift.

 

[taborekle]

I have switched to mulching blades on my JD420 mower. This is a riding mower with assist blower that bags the clippings in a tow behind cart.

There's not much need for lift with this setup. The power assist blower creates a vacume that provides additional lift, so I have not seen in the switch to mulching blades use any difference in getting the clippings to the bagging cart.

What it -do- see is that by weight, I can store quite a bit more in the bagging cart, which indicates to me that the cuttings are finer cut and that I have less dumping to do (each dump just contains more grass by weight).

I especially like it in the fall. I can cut and vaccume quite a bit more leaves before having to dump the cart.

I basically mow at the same speed as before, and haven't noticed any difference in my cut between mulching and non-mulching blades in the cut of my lawn.

I think if you bag and have a power assist blower, that it really is worth it. Other then that, you won't see much of a difference.