sharpening mower blades

[big bubba]

There are no alternative blades available, only the OEM parts. hube2
so is it the length or shape that makes them proprietary? so much aftermarket out there
sounds expensive

 

[Raul-02]

I don't trust myself with a grinder

abut the third time you do it you will have become an expert. Not joking. If you can find your mouth with a spoon full of mashed potatoes in a brightly lit room with at least one mirror, you can hand sharpen mower blades.

 

[5030]

Retirement gig, plus I really enjoy cutting grass. I mow 18 rural lawns within a 1/2 mile radius of my house.

You are mentally imbalanced lad... I despise mowing grass, why I keep enroaching on my rental backyards with my hayfields.

 

[hube2]

I take it you got that 60" deck, right? That's the problem with Massey's deck, I could never find alternate blades for it either. Other problem is that you can't mulch with it (even if you were able to find mulching blades for it).

Yep

so is it the length or shape that makes them proprietary? so much aftermarket out there
sounds expensive

They appear to be unique to the 60" Massey deck.

I did all the kind of measuring and looking thinking I could get find something. I was hoping to find mulching blades.

There are a lot of factors, the biggest one being the difference is height between the center where it attaches to the spindle and the blades combined with the center hole and blade length.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

My little brother, the small engine professional, used to say ...you can't keep people from sharpening blades to shave with.. You don't need that, but what is more important is most people sharpen blades like they are cutting meat.. Too shallow an angle.. The blade should be 65-70 degrees from the flat bottom, and as sharp or dull as you think it needs to be..

The steep angle is better for manicured grass, and will leave a better looking finish than a shallow, meat cutting angle..

Brush hogs are a whole different thing.. So if you try to compare blades, finishes and all it is apples and oranges.. Don't even go there...

 

[GeneV]

Yep

They appear to be unique to the 60" Massey deck.

I did all the kind of measuring and looking thinking I could get find something. I was hoping to find mulching blades.

There are a lot of factors, the biggest one being the difference is height between the center where it attaches to the spindle and the blades combined with the center hole and blade length.

View attachment 752008

Yeh but even with mulching blades, the deck design won't allow for effective mulching. That deck is built for side discharge only, that's why it's got the open channel on the front there.



Decks that allow for mulching (with blocked chute or otherwise) are baffled on both sides with an open channel running down the middle toward the chute. And dedicated mulching decks (Massey has one) are fully baffled with no open channel at all.

 

[hube2]

Yeh but even with mulching blades, the deck design won't allow for effective mulching. That deck is built for side discharge only, that's why it's got the open channel on the front there.

View attachment 752066

Decks that allow for mulching (with blocked chute or otherwise) are baffled on both sides with an open channel running down the middle toward the chute. And dedicated mulching decks (Massey has one) are fully baffled with no open channel at all.

I was hoping for a set of gator blades or similar. While not exactly "mulching" they do produce a finer chop even with the side discharge. Plus they were cheaper and lasted longer than the oem blades for the JD.

Where did you get the wheels for standing up the deck? They are wider and the wheels are larger than the set I have, looks a lot more stable.

Also, thanks for the pic, I like how the guide wheels are stored and I never thought of that. Much better then my method of tossing them in a corner of the shed for the winter.

 

[newbury]

Every time I read one of these "sharpening" threads I'm hoping for insight to something new. But it rarely happens.
I'm still using my ancient bench grinder cobbled together by my Grandfather before 1960. It's got a wire brush wheel and stone wheel and the motor (according to legend) came from his first refrigerator bought in 1923. I've had it in my possession since about 1975.
But this thread has given me a good link to some grinding discs PFERD 5"" CC-Grind-Solid

 

[Raul-02]

grinding discs

love them pferds~!!!

 

[GeneV]

I was hoping for a set of gator blades or similar. While not exactly "mulching" they do produce a finer chop even with the side discharge. Plus they were cheaper and lasted longer than the oem blades for the JD.

Where did you get the wheels for standing up the deck? They are wider and the wheels are larger than the set I have, looks a lot more stable.

Also, thanks for the pic, I like how the guide wheels are stored and I never thought of that. Much better then my method of tossing them in a corner of the shed for the winter.

Yeh gators are great, I hear ya on that. I got them on my Bradley right now, they're great year round.

Oh the deck storage wheel thingies, I build those. The wheels themselves I got off ebay.

 

[check]

Unless you're cutting heavy turf with sticks and typical debris etc...you should not need to sharpen blades that often...
...It is recommended to have a smooth cutting edge of about 1/16"...they should not be knife sharp...

Why shouldn’t they be knife sharp?

 

[KennyG]

Why shouldn’t they be knife sharp?

Because they won't be knife sharp in about 10 minutes and you'll be sharpening the blades every day. There's no way to hold a knife edge cutting grass. Sharp for mower blades is "butter knife sharp" at most.

 

[Raul-02]

Because they won't be knife sharp in about 10 minutes

This is an undeniable fact.
But so too is the fact that the degree to which they will have lost their edges is compounded with each use if there is no regrinding.
Sharpening it frequently brings it back to that fresh edge.

What convinced me to do this was having done it just for the heck of it a few times.
I noticed a dramatic difference in cut w quality, the speed at which I could mow, and later I observed I was using less fuel too.
So I tossed all the so-called expert advice in the trash (where an awful lot of it belongs) and now I just do what makes me happy.

Not saying it's better than what the other guy does, but I have concrete, iron-clad, irrefutable proof that St Peter has a speedy check-in gate up there just for me.

 

[GeneV]

The dude likes his blades freshly hones, I see no problem with that.

 

[/pine]

Because they won't be knife sharp in about 10 minutes and you'll be sharpening the blades every day. There's no way to hold a knife edge cutting grass. Sharp for mower blades is "butter knife sharp" at most.

As cited before...rotary mower blades create a suction to lift and hold the blades of grass so they can be sheared (cut) off at a standard level...
That suction lifts grains of sand etc, and other foreign objects like sticks etc or anything that is loose...
As said if you sharpen a rotary mower blade knife sharp it will be dulled and jagged in short order..

Take note...reel type mowers do not create lift and and generally only cut blades of grass....so the blades can be knife sharp

 

[GeneV]

Good to also point out that there are different heights of lift blades: low, medium, hi, super-hi. The higher the lift, the nicer the cut (especially in the summer when the cut height is taller) coz it stands the turf up more. But then the hi and especially super-hi lift blades will also pull up ever branch, sandy soil, etc, which will dull your blades faster.

That's another thing about the oem blades on the Massey deck which I'm not thrilled with, they're low lift blades. I prefer mediums, it's a good compromise.

But anyways, as far anything related to mowing, probably best to just look at what commercial landscapers do, and follow suit. Here's one thing most of them don't do: hassle over the appropriate level of dullness for a freshly sharpened blade lol. I mean come on, this is such splitting hairs bs!

If you got that much junk hiding in your turf to sawtooth your blades, either spend a day cleaning it all up, or mow with a brush hog.

 

[Creamer]

Good to also point out that there are different heights of lift blades: low, medium, hi, super-hi. The higher the lift, the nicer the cut (especially in the summer when the cut height is taller) coz it stands the turf up more. But then the hi and especially super-hi lift blades will also pull up ever branch, sandy soil, etc, which will dull your blades faster.

That's another thing about the oem blades on the Massey deck which I'm not thrilled with, they're low lift blades. I prefer mediums, it's a good compromise.

But anyways, as far anything related to mowing, probably best to just look at what commercial landscapers do, and follow suit. Here's one thing most of them don't do: hassle over the appropriate level of dullness for a freshly sharpened blade lol. I mean come on, this is such splitting hairs bs!

If you got that much junk hiding in your turf to sawtooth your blades, either spend a day cleaning it all up, or mow with a brush hog.

It seems to me the more particular landscapers sharpen blades daily but then they are getting 6-8 hours of mowing time daily as well. I have been told by a few of them that it gives the nicest look to have clean sharp blades - dead sharp blades. A couple I know even stone the blade after sharpening with a grinder.

i prefer a medium lift blade as it is enough to get my grass cut evenly. I Also agree that those high lift blades can pick up a lot of other things that I prefer not to take the chance of throwing out. Not that I have many of those - other than sticks - but I worry about safety and don't like the idea of things getting thrown out the side of a mower.

Balancing I tried on a nail or a screwdriver but I found my detection was not very reliable and just gave up on it. I am just careful to keep both ends visually even and go on without balancing and my 97 lawnmower has never had a spindle issue either.

 

[Will S]

It seems to me the more particular landscapers sharpen blades daily but then they are getting 6-8 hours of mowing time daily as well. I have been told by a few of them that it gives the nicest look to have clean sharp blades - dead sharp blades. A couple I know even stone the blade after sharpening with a grinder.

i prefer a medium lift blade as it is enough to get my grass cut evenly. I Also agree that those high lift blades can pick up a lot of other things that I prefer not to take the chance of throwing out. Not that I have many of those - other than sticks - but I worry about safety and don't like the idea of things getting thrown out the side of a mower.

Balancing I tried on a nail or a screwdriver but I found my detection was not very reliable and just gave up on it. I am just careful to keep both ends visually even and go on without balancing and my 97 lawnmower has never had a spindle issue either.

With no spindle failures, it sounds like you have been pretty good, or pretty lucky at balancing your blades. But you can do better than a visual/guess, with a $6 blade balancer

 

[Gator6x4]

I use the loader bucket on the loader to hold my blades for sharpening. I use a c- clamp to hold the blade and sharpen away with the die grinder. By using the loader bucket I can get the blade to a comfortable height, hold the blades before and after sharpening and lay the grinder down at any time to rotate the blades for sharpening.

 

[GeneV]

I don't clamp them, I just lay the blade flat on the work bench with one end dangling off the table, that's the side I'm gonna sharpen. I use one hand to hold the blade down against the table, the other hand runs the angle grinder with a flap disc on that dangling edge.

A couple 3 passes, flip it around, do the other side, test it with the balancer thingie real fast (just for fun, coz I've yet to have it noticeably unbalanced), and then clean up the curled-over edge with a quick light pass with the grinder on the underside. The whole thing done in maybe a minute. Sharpening mower blades ain't jack...whoever here posted about worrying they'll do it wrong, don't worry so much about it.