Thread: Lawn mower blade modification

Ok, yes it does work, there are golf courses up around Sydney that do their fairways once a year to smooth out and de-thatch their Buffallo or Kykuyu turf as verti cutting just doesnt rip it up enough.

There are always drawbacks and pretty much everything the others have said will happen with prolonged use this way.

All you need is to hit a rock that doesnt want to move and you have stuffed a spindle, a pulley or a bearing.

It takes a lot more power than just cutting grass so you are likely to over heat the engine and over load belts.

I would go with the flail mower (which a propper flail is vertical chains not horizontal) as it will do the best job and is more suited to what you want.

There are several finger tine machines around, I know there is a walk behind pedestrian one that is destributed by Silvan/Selector but I dont know of anywhere that rents them out and I recon they wouldnt be cheap.

Personally I would :

a. If it has the disc and swing backs, remove the blades and insert bolts in their place.

b. If solid bar, Drill holes in an old set and insert some mild steel bolts about 3/8" thick and no bigger, about 1" long with the head cut off and with 2 nuts lock them in place so they can be removed afterward or replaced when they wear out.

Then I would take it very easy, moving very very slowly and only scratching the surface and not putting to much pressure on the machine.

Thats what I would do but the mowers that I would be using I dont have to pay to fix, I just repair order the parts, they majically apear and I fit them so it's up to you in the end if you want to risk it.

Cheers Damo

yep, I know what you mean and of course I've done this many times. I wanted a bit more precision though because the hand job ( rotary hoe) I hired at Wangaratta was heavy, ponderous and not easy to navigate. That's why I thought of my idea for modifying the ride on blades and assumed that someone out there had already invented one. But most seem to think it's a bloody stupid idea. Oh well!

Get some Gatorblades and turn them upside down.
The Gator Mulcher - The best mower replacement blade

Originally Posted by Hymie

Get some Gatorblades and turn them upside down.
The Gator Mulcher - The best mower replacement blade

Im having trouble getting them these days Hymie, my supplier (industrial mowers) dont do them any more.

Where do you get them if you use them as they are great?

http://www.goodwinkenny.com.au/GK_us...rame_main.php#

About 2/3rds of the way down, LELY ROTERRA thats the proper one

The bolts work though

YouTube - 3.5m Lely Roterra Power Harrow

hey mr mc interesting machine,

on a side issue, those gator blades where do you get them,
normally i put 4 mulching blades on my rover and shut off the exit chute to mulch up the leaves under the macca trees, plus shatter all the nut thats left, reading about those gator blades they do the same job as the composting mulcher i sometimes use.


john

I havent done it with a ride on but I have done it many times with an old honda buffaloe , I just bent old blades down about 25mm and progressively lowered the mower each time I passed over the garden bed...it worked a treat. the blades might snap if you try to bend them too tight, but if you have access to some heat to bend them it would work. I found it best not to make the bend too deep as it threw dirt and soil and whatever else was there out from under the mower deck.

Originally Posted by mcrover

Im having trouble getting them these days Hymie, my supplier (industrial mowers) dont do them any more.

Where do you get them if you use them as they are great?

GK used <main frame>

About 2/3rds of the way down, LELY ROTERRA thats the proper one

The bolts work though

I was getting them from a mob in Port Melbourne, I can't for the life of me remember their name.
Last time I bought them I bought 6 sets, so it's about 2 seasons since I've had to get any....
As a blade, I love them for the finish they leave and the fact that they throw about a Meter further than normal blades. As for cost, they were actually cheaper than OE and lasted twice as long.
Email Gatorblades in tha States and see if they have a distributor near you.