Sharpening & Balancing Cub's Fastattatch blades

[Zork]

Good day everyone. I recently purchased a XT2GX54D with a fabricated deck and the fastattatch blade system.
My research indicated the fastattatch blades required dealership balancing or a special insert to balance if one is sharpening at home.

I finally purchased a sharpening and balancing kit that would accept the typical star/round blade mounting holes but I was concerned about my new Fastattatch blades. I am happy to report it also works on my fastattatch blade system.
I have successfully tried fastening the Fastattatch blades to the sharpening tool platform.

FYI- My balancing standards appear better than these factory blades as they are not equal in weight and the blades are off balance according to this balancing device.

 

[5030]

Nifty looking machine but one thing I NEVER do is sharpen mower blades. I just replace them with new ones when they get beat up. Not that expensive to begin with and much less time consuming to just renew them. Do the same thing with my big shredders as well. here we have sandy soil and the sand erodes the blades pretty quickly so again, easier to replace than sharpen.

 

[Zork]

I can appreciate that method for sure, but none of the blades I have ever purchased were sharp. And 30 degrees is the standard, but I've eyeballed 45 degrees and that works best at slicing and dicing and has a good debris tolerance. I've use six mowers and with exceptions of the newly acquired Fastattatch (@ $100) and the large finish/rough cut mowers, the aftermarket blades for the smaller units are cheap enough to replace when they are dull. But, like you I have debris and I prefer my blades sharp. I have original spindles in them all and they are all over 30 years old.

 

[5030]

Lawnmower blades in general are NEVER sharpened to a knife edge. They are 'sharp' when there is a small flat on the blade itself. A sharp edge will not cut properly at speed.

 

[RjCorazza]

I have looked at similar sharpening tools, but still like my steel jig for its simplicity. I do use a nice balancer like yours.
Glad you were able to find a setup that works with your blade mounts.

 

[5030]

To the OP, I'm curious as to what a QD blade looks like. Far as I know, there are only 2 types of blade mounts, the through hole type that relies on the clamping force of the spindle nut to secure them and the stamped star type that fits on the machined star interface on the spindle. The Cub I used to own used the through hole type and my wife's Cub ZTR uses the star type blade.

My Kubota F series front mount uses a through hole blade with 2 cupped washers and the spindle nut to secure the blades and you torque the nut to a specified torque to secure them. The Kubota replacement blades are oddly cheaper than the Cub blades for some reason that I don't know, but they are.

For sometime now, I've been buying my blades from ASC as they are less expensive than at my dealer, even with shipping included.

 

[Zork]

To the OP, I'm curious as to what a QD blade looks like. Far as I know, there are only 2 types of blade mounts, the through hole type that relies on the clamping force of the spindle nut to secure them and the stamped star type that fits on the machined star interface on the spindle. The Cub I used to own used the through hole type and my wife's Cub ZTR uses the star type blade.

My Kubota F series front mount uses a through hole blade with 2 cupped washers and the spindle nut to secure the blades and you torque the nut to a specified torque to secure them. The Kubota replacement blades are oddly cheaper than the Cub blades for some reason that I don't know, but they are.

For sometime now, I've been buying my blades from ASC as they are less expensive than at my dealer, even with shipping included.

I checked my posts and I don't see the "QD" you referenced, but maybe it was a typo/autocorrect that was edited.

 

[5030]

I checked my posts and I don't see the "QD" you referenced, but maybe it was a typo/autocorrect that was edited.

Your thread title says Cub fast attach blades.... So, do you have the hole or the star?

 

[RandyT]

Your thread title says Cub fast attach blades.... So, do you have the hole or the star?

The Cub Fast Attach is a new proprietory more S shaped hole. As illustrated in the OP post fitting into the sharpening jig toward the bottom of his post. Currently no aftermarket versions exist due to patent issues. Stens had to stop selling them because of this issue recently.

 

[tomplum]

You have a nice enough rider, but I've grown to truly loath the fast attach blade system. Granted, it may have been blades that haven't been off in 2-3 years and the mechanism is packed with dirt and grass. Best advice for you going forward, take steps to protect retainer so it moves when you need it to. Some kind of spray protection maybe? Or change the spindles so you don't have to pay hostage pricing for light blades. I do however like Cubs low lift blade design and their Extreme blades do well.

 

[Zork]

The Cub Fast Attach is a new proprietory more S shaped hole..... Currently no aftermarket versions exist due to patent issues. Stens had to stop selling them because of this issue recently.

You have a nice enough rider, but I've grown to truly loath the fast attach blade system. Granted, it may have been blades that haven't been off in 2-3 years and the mechanism is packed with dirt and grass. Best advice for you going forward, take steps to protect retainer so it moves when you need it to. Some kind of spray protection maybe? Or change the spindles so you don't have to pay hostage pricing for light blades. I do however like Cubs low lift blade design and their Extreme blades do well.

@ Tomplum: I didn't realize this cub had the fast attach system when I purchased it. I observed a video where the quick flanges were worn from debris and to me the wear should affect balance. I thought I might change the spindles out for a star or something else, but someone said the pulleys, belt, and length/height of the spindle would have to be matched correctly to pull this off and I'm at a point in my life that my health has limited my ability to tinker; so I'll try sharpening them. The blades do appear lighter than most other brands but others have said they are a tough blade.

 

[mikester]

The Cub Fast Attach is a new proprietory more S shaped hole. As illustrated in the OP post fitting into the sharpening jig toward the bottom of his post. Currently no aftermarket versions exist due to patent issues. Stens had to stop selling them because of this issue recently.

It's proprietary consumables that makes me want to run away from vendors trying to take a simple product and overcomplicate things for no benefit to the consumer.

Maybe club cadet has hired some apple engineers who were let go after apple was forced to use USB chargers on their phones.

 

[5030]

That sucks, big time and forces you or the owner to only purchase Cub blades at whatever price they decide is appropriate.

Not that we look under mower decks to see what / how the blades attach in the first place. Not something I'd want for sure.

 

[tomplum]

To me, these blades seem thin. And expensive. And they can take 20 minutes or better to change with the deck off already. I just hate engineering to make things more difficult and more expensive to get inferior parts. They make a nice, heavy standard circle hole blade on 3 series models. There star blades aren't terribly heavy duty either, but are more readily available.
MTD spindle housings do have different shaft and housing lengths plus the offsets vary per deck. One could take the part number and try to ascertain the correct specs and compare it to a more common spindle which has more affordable blades. It may initially take physical measurements. Or compare to a model that doesn't have the Fast Attach. At least last summer, I could get the other smaller, S type hub from Rotary and OEP . I think they call that the diamond shape but it isn't in your chart. Those still used a nut to retain the blade.

 

[RandyT]

To me, these blades seem thin. And expensive. And they can take 20 minutes or better to change with the deck off already. I just hate engineering to make things more difficult and more expensive to get inferior parts. They make a nice, heavy standard circle hole blade on 3 series models. There star blades aren't terribly heavy duty either, but are more readily available.
MTD spindle housings do have different shaft and housing lengths plus the offsets vary per deck. One could take the part number and try to ascertain the correct specs and compare it to a more common spindle which has more affordable blades. It may initially take physical measurements. Or compare to a model that doesn't have the Fast Attach. At least last summer, I could get the other smaller, S type hub from Rotary and OEP . I think they call that the diamond shape but it isn't in your chart. Those still used a nut to retain the blade.

Tom, you are right about being thin and expensive. Seems like blades keep getting thinner, and most don't even last to the point of needing to be sharpened. They either wear the cutting edge down to the point over a mowing season or the debris kicked up by the blades cuts the air lifts off.

I remember when the 6 point MTD star was the new proprietory blade for them and they were enforcing their patents on the aftermarket guys, and Stens and Oregon had to either stop selling them or have their own personal redesign. That is when Oregon started using their cloverleaf looking hole to fit around the outer edge of the MTD 6 point.

 

[tomplum]

Tom, you are right about being thin and expensive. Seems like blades keep getting thinner, and most don't even last to the point of needing to be sharpened. They either wear the cutting edge down to the point over a mowing season or the debris kicked up by the blades cuts the air lifts off.

I remember when the 6 point MTD star was the new proprietory blade for them and they were enforcing their patents on the aftermarket guys, and Stens and Oregon had to either stop selling them or have their own personal redesign. That is when Oregon started using their cloverleaf looking hole to fit around the outer edge of the MTD 6 point.

Do remember way back when that fiasco started, that they (OEP if I'm correct) included spindle assemblies with the blades for a spell? That was strange page in the OPE history book...

OEP redesigns, I liked the older, more robust ones better. One thing that I can hand to MTD, is the low profile design on some of their blades. We have a lot of moles where I am at. Just what we needed.

 

[RandyT]

Do remember way back when that fiasco started, that they (OEP if I'm correct) included spindle assemblies with the blades for a spell? That was strange page in the OPE history book...

OEP redesigns, I liked the older, more robust ones better. One thing that I can hand to MTD, is the low profile design on some of their blades. We have a lot of moles where I am at. Just what we needed.

Correct. Oregon Equipment Parts. Back when they were still owned by Blount. Since then they have been sold couple times. Currently owned by Platinum Equity Group. The same group that now owns Rehlko aka Kohler Energy(engines, and generators.) I guess you know that Kohler is no more and is now Rehlko Engines.

 

[BnRidge]

To me, these blades seem thin.

All that is designed as a system, blades spindles, etc. Hit a stake and the blade will bend. Or beef up the blade and the spindle bends. Or beef up the spindle and the whole deck twists, cracks and bends - - -.
Proprietary center hole patterns have been a thing for a long time. If it gets aggravating enough get new spindles and aftermarket blades to fit. Length and tip drop then are the important things to watch. Lift and mulching etc are all optional.
Sharpening for new blades: I worked for a blade manufacturer. Their method to sharpen oem blades was to have a 4"dia fly cutter mounted on two 1940s Kearney and trecker mills chomp the blade on both ends in less than a second. They made millions of blades. They were designed to not be perfectly sharp.