How often do you sharpen or replace mower blades?

[SPIKER]

I mow about 4~5 acres on/off till I finish and start all over again & like others I have spare sets of blades that I sharpen & swap out. However I just did BOTH sets at one time as I had not sharpened the old set from last season. I usually do one or two mows in spring as the winter grows rocks or sticks & then I swap them out for sharp set. I agree grass cut will tell when to sharpen & having a sharp set will cut with less power required as well as leave a better cut.

I LOVE the GATOR style blades (dont have them for the NEW mower) as I have not had chance to get out to buy them but when I need a new set that is what I will buy. They last a LOT longer between sharpening and cut is much better as well. I also sharpen my brush hog blade once a year after 2nd cut but only cut the rough stuff a few times a year.

I also have had a set of the hardened tip blades which worked great however sharpening them is hard (requires hard disk not flap wheel) but I mostly use a hard disk anyway as it leaves a longer lasting edge from what I can tell a flap wheel sharpening only last 2 cuttings till it suffers whereas the hard disk can last 5 or so cuttings.

Mark

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Don't forget you can balance them on a nail (by placing them horizontally in the center hole). Grind a little more off of the low hanging side.

 

[RalphVa]

I do my bush hog and mower blades once/year as long as the mower blades haven't hit a rock. Bush hogs hit rocks quite frequently, still once/year on them. If I've knowingly hit a rock with a mower blade, they get sharpened.

Mower blades, like chain saw blades, seem to go forever if something isn't hit to dull them. In the case of chain saws, it's dirt or a metal object will dull them. For mower blades, rocks do it. Otherwise, they'll go for the 4 years that maybe some claim. Doubt you can go 4 years without hitting something that shouldn't have been hit though.

Ralph

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I've been in the commercial mowing business for 13 years, and here are some general observations about blades.

New blades will need to be sharpened at about 20 hours of use. And then at about every 10 hours after that. And they will need to be replaced at about 50 hours.

We use a commercial blade sharpener which is a glorified bench grinder. It sharpens them to a 30 degree angle. And the owners manual recommends to be careful not to overheat the blades while sharpening them, which tends to happen more with an angle grinder.

 

[oosik]

I mow about four acres. One acre of lawn and three acres of meadow. I sharpen the blades once a year and the blades on my riding lawn mower are nine years old and still going strong - nicks and all.

 

[RandyT]

I've been in the commercial mowing business for 13 years, and here are some general observations about blades.

New blades will need to be sharpened at about 20 hours of use. And then at about every 10 hours after that. And they will need to be replaced at about 50 hours.

We use a commercial blade sharpener which is a glorified bench grinder. It sharpens them to a 30 degree angle. And the owners manual recommends to be careful not to overheat the blades while sharpening them, which tends to happen more with an angle grinder.

which is the reason most lawn mower repair shops are changing over to the Burrking type belt sharpeners. Faster sharpening with a lot less heat. Can sharpen the average lawnmower blade in under a minute after cleaning the dried grass off the blade.

 

[Gary Fowler]

The main reason for using a hand grinder is so you can see what you are doing. You cant with a bench grinder so you are just making a pass and then looking at what you did. I also like the sanding pads, I call them Tiger Paws after one of the brand names. They cut fast but don't overhead like the abrasive disc do. I resharpen mine similar to original edge, which is sharp edge, not razor edge but sharp and on a 30 degree angle. If I wanted to have a 1/16" edge, I would just leave them dull and never sharpen. Why waste effort after sharpening to a sharp edge then dull it to a 1/16". Normal wear will displace the metal fast enough. A sharp blade will use less power to cut thru heavy grass than a dull one. Anyone getting 5 or more years from a set of blades must have a perfect lawn and small with no rocks, sticks or sand to be sucked up by the mower. Dirt and sand will wear out a blade fast. As for my yard, I have crawfish mounds in the low lying portion that require me to resharpen fairly often. They often contain some small rocks in addition to dirt and sand. On my mowers and especially my brother in laws blades, the wear out at the bend where the turn up to produce lift. Anything travelling over that junction, making the abrupt turn, wears heavily on the blade eventually wearing completely thru the metal.

 

[k0ua]

Ok, I gotta ask, having never heard the term "crawfish mounds" does this refer to mole hills"?

We are not that far apart geographically, and we have a lot of southern colloquialisms here in southern Missouri, but I have never heard of "crawfish mounds". :confused3:

 

[rswyan]

I have a commercial lawn mower blade sharpener. I sharpen for myself, I mow about 4 hr's a week, two neighbors that mow around the same and the other a lot more and a simi pro that has 8 or 10 yards, We all do it the same, the grass tells us when we need to sharpen. when the quality of cut starts to go down it is time to sharpen. I leave less than a 1/16 edge on the blade and if I get a spot sharp trying to get a dull place I dull it with a file. I sharpen my blades once or twice a year but could do it less if I would pick up sticks more often and did not mow along a state gravel road. I have run these blades for 5 years and expect to run them for another 4 or 5.

I'm still on the original set of blades (2) for our Simplicity CFC 18. At one point, it was the primary mower (for 6 acres) ... before we got the Kubota. It now does probably an acre or so (mostly around the house) every mowing.

The lift wings are almost gone on 'em and the blade itself is getting pretty worn down ... but they still cut good when sharpened ... and they have lasted almost 30 years now

 

[SPIKER]

my 1st mower has gator blades that are wore pretty good but probably over 1000 hrs on them blades in 13 years...

I loose more to sharpening than for the wear from grass & gravel & mole hills...