How do yall sharpen your mower blades?

[ray benson]

A bench grinder if it needs lots of work. Otherwise a flat file.

 

[Nutball]

Mine needed a lot of work. I started with a grinding wheel on an angle grinder, then went to 60 or 30 grit sand wheel.

I've seen bench grinder type sharpeners specially meant for mower blades complete with a guard housing.

 

[alleyyooper]

I just a plain old Bastard mill file on my blades.

But I mow high enough I only need to touch them up once a couple days.
Never under stood people scalping the roots of there darn grass and hitting rocks and roots of trees.

Al

 

[BGE541]

Oregon belt grinder. About 40 seconds a blade, sharp and uniform every time.

 

[Larry B]

I just a plain old Bastard mill file on my blades.

But I mow high enough I only need to touch them up once a couple days.
Never under stood people scalping the roots of there darn grass and hitting rocks and roots of trees.

Al

One of my lawn service clients calls that golf coursing. He won't cut lower than 3 inches. If you don't water every other day like a golf course the turf won't tolerate the super short cut.

 

[Spladle160]

Lesco blade grinder. I can't imagine trying to remove the amount of material necessary to get a sharp edge and hold the angle on most blades I see by hand. Most blades i see get sharpened once or twice a season so I'd guesstimate about 40-50 hours of mowing at which point most have 2-3mm radius for an edge.

 

[Nutball]

I find they go dull extremely fast. Obviously there's a point where it gets really bad at cutting, but it still surprised me a bit how fast it looses the really sharp edge. Bush hogs are worse, but they still cut even when "dull"

 

[Al Smith]

Now bush hogs are another thing .Those damned blades are 3/8-1/2" thick .You nearly have to take a cutting touch to them if they get really bad .Flails have about 80 swing blades and they are a pain in the butt too .
The 54" Toro zero turn I have with a 23 HP Husqvarna engine can mow faster than what I did with a TO-20 Ferguson with a big bore engine and a 6 foot flail .A little over two acres an hour . It doesn't over heat like the Fergy did in high grass in hot weather .That extra 4-5 HP with the big bore kit over rode the radiator capacity .

 

[Al Smith]

In a former life with a former wife ,who kept the house I mowed a 5 acre field for an old lady down the road .About 4 times a season using a John-Deere model 70 gasser .Three feet high grass ,trailer type 6 feet bush hog . A model 70 has a large engine,over 400 cubic inch and loves gasoline ,like 4-5 gallons an hour under a heavy load .10 gallons of gasoline throwing fire two feet out of the stack .My ears would ring for hours after that ordeal .

 

[alleyyooper]

I remove the mower blades after about 6 hours of mowing no more than 10.

I also do not mow the dirt the roots grow in.

Al

 

[Larry B]

My customers like the super sharp edge i put on their blades. They don't realize that edge lasts maybe one mowing. Of course some blades look like they mow chain link fence and gravel piles. Had a lady a few years ago call and say something wrong with the new mower and the dealer wouldn't fix it and was mad at her. Long story short. New mower set too low and hit some pine stumps bending all 3 blades and breaking a spindle. Dealer brought her out a loaner while fixing blades and spindles and she did the same thing to the loaner. She could not understand why he was upset.

 

[alleyyooper]

All you have to do is skip over the 160 pages of warnings, cautions and do not do's in the owners manual to get to the last 5 pages one of which explains how to raise the cutting depth of the deck.

Al

 

[Al Smith]

I'm guilty of bending mower blades usually by hitting the roots of big oak trees in my yard .Toro high lifts are not the most robust blades made .After several episodes I've learned to slow down a bit trying to get as closes as I can to the trees .I do however have a set of Dixie chopper straight blades that had to be modified to fit the Toro which are very robust .They will plane a root off slick as a whistle .Probably a bit hard in the spindles though .

 

[Al Smith]

The first few times a year I set the blades at 4 inches .Mainly because of the leaves you just can't be rid of in the fall no many how many times you mulch or gather them .Oak trees drop them measured in tonnage .100 foot oaks have a bunch of them .After few go rounds I lower them to 3 inches .Seems to work out .

 

[RI Chevy]

I use those Oregon Gator G6 HD mulching blades. They cut everything.
Heavy though.

 

[Al Smith]

I compare mower blades to straight razors and axes .A straight razor will split hairs but doesn't cut very long on manila rope before it dulls . An axe cuts for a long time before it gets dull but doesn't produce as clean of a cut .You take those broad axes they use in the timber sports things .You could shave with them and they do good for a few cuts in pine .Try that out on standing dead ash trees and see how that works out ,not too well .

 

[RI Chevy]

Lol. Very true. Most of the edge retention is based on the metal used and the heat treat process.

 

[Al Smith]

I'm old enough to remember when rotary mowers were a new thing on the market .The blades I think were recycled tin cans not too good,soft .Every so often they'd hit a rock or something and break the end off a blade which would wound somebody 40 feet away .They weren't too safe .In that aspect blades have improved over the years .They are about like spring steel these days .I've bent them but never broken them .

 

[RI Chevy]

I grew up cutting with a manual push rotary mower. Lol
We had not enough money for fuel. That mower with those blades gave a good cut though.

 

[ucm931]

80 grit flap wheel on an angle grinder then a cheapo blade balancer. The heavy grit helps prevent heating and ruining the temper on the blade. A light touch on the last pass with the 80 grit leaves a very decent finish in my opinion.