Which Gator Blades?

[Stevedore]

I have a Deere X330 that I bought last season; currently using the mulch blades that came with the mulching kit. I'd like to try some Gator mulch blades, but I can't find the correct part # to look for or order.

My X330 has the 42" Accel deep deck. If anyone has gone through the same thing, I'd appreciate knowing which Gator blades are correct.

Thanks!

 

[beenthere]

My Deere dealer sells the gator blades.

 

[sennister]

My Deere dealer sells the gator blades.

Depending on the dealer, they likely are selling the John Deere clone of Gator Blades. I bought a set of Oregon G6 Gator Blades for my Z950R and a set from my dealer called John Deere Predator2 blades. While they are made by Oregon they are made to JD Specs. From 20' away they look the same, but they are quite a bit different up close. Much lighter duty, narrower blade, not as thick, less cutting edge and the "teeth" on the back side of the blade are different and they don't hold the edge as long as the G6. Using both blades I like the Oregon's better and they were a little cheaper.

With a smaller X Series I don't know if they make a G6 blade for it. I am running a commercial mower and the G6 is their commercial blade. They would probably have a blade for your machine it in the G5 line. They have a blade search tool.

Oregon(R) Replacement Lawnmower Blade Search

I buy my blades from Forest Depot. I think they are about $14/blade for the G6 on my mower and they have a flat rate shipping of $10 I think now. So, stock up on several sets so you can just rotate through them.

Forest Depot

I also have a set of the OEM JD high lift blade that I run from time to time but my favorite of the 3 sets is the G6.

 

[sklunk]

the "teeth" on the back side of the blade are different and they don't hold the edge as long as the G6

When you say the teeth on the other blades "don't hold the edge as long" hopefully you are not sharpening the teeth on the top of the Gator Blades. Doing that actually reduces the effectiveness of the blade. Those teeth are not made to cut the grass clippings -- they are designed with a certain shape to spin the airflow around the blade numerous times. This causes the grass to rotate around the blade and go across the main cutting edge (on the bottom of the blade) 4 or 5 times more than a non-mulching blade.

You should NEVER sharpen the teeth on the top edge of any mulching blades (Gator or other brands) since that changes the airflow over the blade.

 

[beenthere]

sklunk
I didn't know that. But sharpening the top "teeth" doesn't apparently hurt anything.

The Gator Mulcher blade

 

[sennister]

When you say the teeth on the other blades "don't hold the edge as long" hopefully you are not sharpening the teeth on the top of the Gator Blades. Doing that actually reduces the effectiveness of the blade. Those teeth are not made to cut the grass clippings -- they are designed with a certain shape to spin the airflow around the blade numerous times. This causes the grass to rotate around the blade and go across the main cutting edge (on the bottom of the blade) 4 or 5 times more than a non-mulching blade.

You should NEVER sharpen the teeth on the top edge of any mulching blades (Gator or other brands) since that changes the airflow over the blade.

Sorry, poorly worded. No I don't sharpen the "teeth" just the cutting edge of the blade. G6 blades hold their edge, cutting edge longer than the JD cloans.

 

[tomplum]

Oregon does not list a blade for this deck. It seems to me that I had used the OEP 91-446 to replace the standard accel blades. The Gator version available for that is 91-604 It may or may not work with the mulch kit. Should you put the M170639 standard blade on greenpartstore John Deere Blade for 42-inch Accel Mower Deck - M17639 the Gator blades that come closest are the 396-730 / 596-730 blades

 

[Stevedore]

Thanks for the replies. Tomplum, those Gator #'s you mention seem close, but the hole size is slightly larger @ 7/8". The mower service manual says the blade shaft size is .8". I have no idea whether the extra .075" would cause a balance/vibration problem or not.

I also have no idea how accurate the manual's .8" number is, since I measured the hole in my original blades as .797, which of course wouldn't fit.

I have to take the blades off soon to sharpen for this season; I'll measure the shaft size for myself & go from there. With the right blade length & hole size, I should be able to match up something.

Thanks again.

 

[tomplum]

One would think that a blade should fit rather snugly over the boss in the hub, but no. Many have more give than that. Please keep us updated what works for you on this.

 

[Stevedore]

Sorry to bump my old thread, but I finally found the time to research Gator blades for my mower deck. (Accel Deep 42A)

The standard blades that came with the deck are 21-1/4" long, with a .808" hole size, as best as I can measure with my dial caliper.

The blades that came with the mulch control kit are 21-5/16" long; same hole size.

I found Gator G6 part # 391-605, which lists as 21.2" long (close to 21-3/16"), .805" hole size. Photo of blade label attached below.

The offset from the blade mounting surface to the cutting edge measures close to 5/8" on both the Gator blades & Deere mulch blades.

So the Gator blades are about 1/8" shorter than the Deere mulch blades, which I wouldn't expect to make much of a difference; I think I have a pretty good match here. I'm going to install these in the next day or so & see how they do compared to the Deere mulching blades, which I haven't been completely happy with. (Grass clumps, etc., left on the lawn) I'll report on my experience after the next mowing.

For anyone interested, I ordered the Gator blades from Forest Depot as suggested by sennister above; about $15 each. Their site says these blades are being discontinued by the manufacturer, but Oregon's site makes no mention of this. If I see good results from these, I'll order another set or 2 just in case they are in fact being discontinued.

I also noted that these blades are much thicker (& heavier) than the Deere blades. I suspect that they may result in more wear to the clutch when engaging the blades. Time will tell, I guess.

(EDIT: I don't know how I got the .797 hole measurement on the old blade in my earlier post above. I checked the .808 in this post several times, so I'm sure that's closer to the truth.)

 

[Rock Crawler]

I also noted that these blades are much thicker (& heavier) than the Deere blades. I suspect that they may result in more wear to the clutch when engaging the blades. Time will tell, I guess.

View attachment 571769

Just make sure that you idle down the engine before you put power to the PTO clutch. Think of it like your truck clutch, you wouldn't floor the throttle and then side step the clutch lever, and if you did you would not have a long clutch life. So be just a bump over idle, hit the clutch and allow it to grab, then bring your engine speed up to mowing speeds. I'm always shocked to watch others bring the revs to full and then mash the PTO clutch to grab the blades.

 

[RandyT]

Just make sure that you idle down the engine before you put power to the PTO clutch. Think of it like your truck clutch, you wouldn't floor the throttle and then side step the clutch lever, and if you did you would not have a long clutch life. So be just a bump over idle, hit the clutch and allow it to grab, then bring your engine speed up to mowing speeds. I'm always shocked to watch others bring the revs to full and then mash the PTO clutch to grab the blades.

Some manufacturer say to do it that way in the owners manual.

 

[4570Man]

Hitting the blades at idle stalls my mower. I try to do it and 1/4-1/2 throttle.

 

[TractorGuy]

The gator blades I bought for one of my mowers said NOT to use them with a mulch kit. I do it anyways and haven't had a problem.

 

[Rock Crawler]

The gator blades I bought for one of my mowers said NOT to use them with a mulch kit. I do it anyways and haven't had a problem.

I was going to say it.... but since you did, I will call you up. I emailed back and forth with them about blades for my XT3 GSX that does not have any upwards suction. I explained that I side discharge and they responded that side discharge is what I need to do with their blades.

Straight from the horses mouth...

 

[Stevedore]

Thanks for the comments regarding engaging the blades at a lower engine speed; hadn't thought about that, but it makes sense that it would be easier on the clutch. I found today that engaging at idle will stall the engine, but a small increase in throttle works fine.

I got these blades installed today & mowed a small section of grass as a test. So far, they're a big improvement over either the original JD blades or the blades that came with the JD Mulch Control Kit. No clumps or rows of clippings whatsoever.

The section I mowed today was with the mulch door closed. I'll try it both ways tomorrow when I mow the rest of the lawn & see what happens.

 

[Stevedore]

I got around to mowing the front with the new blades today, & did a bit of experimenting. The grass was a little taller than I should let it get between mowing, so IMO, it was a good test opportunity.

I started with the mulch control door closed, & found that with the new Gator blades I had much less evidence of grass clumps & rows of clippings as I drove around. Huge improvement as compared to either the original JD blades or those that came with the mulch control kit.

After a few times around, I opened the mulch kit door & let the clippings blow out, as suggested above. This mode appeared to result in far less evidence of clumping or rows of clippings. However, as my path around the yard got smaller & smaller, the clippings began to pile up in the middle significantly, and at the end I had to drive back & forth over the last area to shred & spread the piled up clippings.

I suspect that if I were to go counterclockwise around my yard, with the mulch door open & blowing the clippings out onto the already-mowed area, I might end up with a cleaner result. I will by all means try this when I mow again.

Sorry to continue to be long-winded about my choice of mower blades, but being old & retired, such things have become a much larger part of my life than in the past. :laughing:

 

[Rock Crawler]

I got around to mowing the front with the new blades today, & did a bit of experimenting. The grass was a little taller than I should let it get between mowing, so IMO, it was a good test opportunity.

I started with the mulch control door closed, & found that with the new Gator blades I had much less evidence of grass clumps & rows of clippings as I drove around. Huge improvement as compared to either the original JD blades or those that came with the mulch control kit.

After a few times around, I opened the mulch kit door & let the clippings blow out, as suggested above. This mode appeared to result in far less evidence of clumping or rows of clippings. However, as my path around the yard got smaller & smaller, the clippings began to pile up in the middle significantly, and at the end I had to drive back & forth over the last area to shred & spread the piled up clippings.

I suspect that if I were to go counterclockwise around my yard, with the mulch door open & blowing the clippings out onto the already-mowed area, I might end up with a cleaner result. I will by all means try this when I mow again.

Sorry to continue to be long-winded about my choice of mower blades, but being old & retired, such things have become a much larger part of my life than in the past. :laughing:

I always do my first 3 runs blowing in to center, or away from my sidewalk and landscaped areas. After 3 rounds I am further than the discharge throws, so I flip directions and mow the entire rest always blowing clippings outward. Otherwise, as you said above, you build and build the clippings until you have a thick discharge covering the center.