You are so welcome, John, I told several of my neighbors of your time and energy spent, on our behalf and benefit, what was most admirable. I would like, but don't expect, everyone to be as helpful as you, but that just makes my ''thank you' more valid."
you helped me make up my mind to purchase special mulching blades. I recently purchased a jack that uses a screw mechanism to tilt the entire mower, and for just under a hundred dollars it sure beats the hell out of having to take the deck off.
9:50 time; Correct, John. I have several push mowers, one 6 hp one with the very same 3 tooth mulch blade on it. It is painted yellow, a different brand, but works just like these 2 you tested. Cutting a 15 inch high abandoned yard, and hardly any '' evidence '' of the cut-grass. The neighbor cut his 'hayfield ' with a riding mower, and wow....what a mess. It never had any mulch blades on it. What a huge difference. Anyway, thanks for the work, in educating us. Take care of all in your power.
Great video, the Honda HRX217 is a wonderful machine, six years running without a hitch and always start on first pull. Buy quality and you only have to buy once.
Yep, can't beat a Honda mower. I purchased that HRB215 in 2000 so it's 22 years old now and is still working like a swiss watch with only yearly oil changes and I think I'm on my 3rd spark plug. Up to two pulls now to get it started so might be time to install the 4th plug... 🙂
The forks may have sharp edges to help shear grass but there main purpose is to direct air upwards which creates an vacum affect to lift grass upwards so it can be cut.
I have a JD with the 42 cut, I got it with the bagging kit and also a set of mulching blades. I quickly went to mulching, but was never super impressed with its mulching. The guy put the wrong blades on, all this time I've been using the wavy blades for mulching. I'm looking to upgrade my blades so your video helps I also don't remove the deck, I just jack up the front and use an impact gun. Blades on in 5 minutes
@Apaul - Yep, I look after all my stuff - makes it last longer and a penny saved is a penny earned. I purchased that little Honda push mower shown in the video back in the spring of 2020 so it's going on 22 years old now and still runs & looks great.
42" deck on Husqvarna "0" steer. I took the same Maxpower blades and welded 2 of them in a cross for each side. My clippings are all less then 1/4" when cutting 2" of the top of heavy grass. I do find they create a heavy load when engaging the mower deck but I think it is worth the results. Been mowing with this setup for 2 years now.
I have a mower with mulching blades on it with the chute closed! Do I have to close the deck as well? Or does it just mulch it and spit out nothingness?
Good info on the blades got some for my old cub they work great. You really have to get a mower jack combined with a impact 5 minute blade change now the only time my deck comes off is to blast and paint. 👍🇺🇸
Noticed that the angle on the gator blade you used looks like it pushes air out from the blade centre. Other gator blades, from Oragon I think, angle the blades to push air and clipping in toward the blade centre. Apparently this is to allow the cutting portion of the blade to repeatedly chop clippings into smaller pieces. Could be the reason for the poor performance???
Where did you get that blade balancer ? That looks way better than the stupid cone ones I have. Love the content . Think I'll get a set of those blades.
It's actually an RC airplane prop & RC helicopter Blade balancer (I fly RC helicopters) that I also use for checking mower blade balance. It's called the Du-Bro Tru-Spin balancer. amzn.to/2TuAit0 One caveat if you get one for mower blades - you will have to make some sort centering hub for the blade hole and the coned prop shaft (the white thing you can see in the middle of the blade hole in the video).
Hi Tom, I do mention pace in the description playing a roll in how well or how poorly mulching works; but yes, I tried very much to match walking pace.
As I said in the video, mulching plugs are an integral part of a mulching system. Mulching blades only work as intended when the grass clippings are circulated within the deck and not immediately blown out the side or back.
Why the heck does my mulching blade with little fingers sound so loud? When it gets a lot of grass underneath and recirculates to mulch, it sounds like its rattling really loud. Yet, the blade is solidly mounted and the engine rotor/shaft is solid as well. It just clanks and rattles like crazy. It does a fantastic job mulching though.
I experience similar (whole deck vibrates/rattles), but only when the grass is wet or overly long; basically clogging up the deck faster than the blades can chew the grass up and blow it back down. Not sure if that's the same thing as what you're experiencing or not, but to stop it on the little JD I have, I just have to go slower or raise the cutting deck and do two cuts.
@Rchelicopterfun ...That may be it. Here in PacNW, our grass grows a couple inches or more a week. I noticed initially it sounds great, but as you hit a thick spot and clippings build up under the deck, it gets really loud, like it's grinding rocks with a tuning fork. If I slow down, it goes away slowly until it's mulched up into very fine bits, with virtually zero clumping. Maybe it just requires mowing twice a week instead of only once.
I have the gator blades on my John Deere x570 .The cutting is ok BUT the build up of clogg under the deck is horrendous. So much so the deck belt jammed and broke. It takes me as long to get under the deck to scrape away the build up ,as the actual mowing. Help
Grass needs to be fairly dry and not too long when mulching for best results and to keep it from sticking inside the deck. You can also try treating the underside of your deck with something to prevent the grass from sticking to it. I use Boeshield T-9 once a season and it works great. I've heard others recommend car wax, furniture wax, ceramic coat, cooking spray, silicone spray, wiping it down with transmission fluid or motor oil etc. If the grass is really wet however, no amount of anti-stick coating will keep it from sticking & building up.
if you don't mind me asking, what deck are you using? actual poulan or husquevarna? i have a 38" poulan, needs a new deck, pretty worn out, was looking to upgrade to a 42 if it will work and what belt to use with it. i was thinking since poulan is no longer around, at least here in my area, maybe a husky deck would be interchangeable as in bolt on product without modifications.?. any advice would be appreciated. thanks.
They (mulching blades) produce less suction to move the clippings into the bag. For spring cleanup with the Honda push-mower for example, I always refit the regular blades as they do a much better job of sucking up all the crap into the bag.
Why in the heck would those forks clog? The grass is going over the top of those. The cutting side is on the other side of the blade. Those are air lifts to lift the grass up that has been cut so that it can cut it again. So clogging? No way. That should have not even been a thought.
Of course they could clog in the right conditions with the right kind of grass. And no, the grass is not going over those forks, *it's interacting with them*. They are what help chop it up finer as I stated. Yes, the forks most certainly can clog and they have clogged; clogged absolutely solid when I once had to mow long wet grass. Of course you should never cut long wet grass ( *especially when mulching* ), but sometimes life & poor weather get in the way forcing you to mow in less than ideal conditions. So that's absolutely one specific example of "why in the heck would they clog". There are more.
They will chop up the blades finer, but not to the same extent they would be with the plug in place because the clippings will be discharged much quicker than if they are kept circulating within the deck. It won't be much different from just side discharging with normal blades in other words. Mulching blades are meant to be used in conjunction with mulching plugs for them to work correctly.
Yes , they do work. If you keep going over and over the grass left on top will ultimately be put down into the ground and leave a nice clean cut lawn. Oregon G3 or G5 mulching blades do the best. Nice video, nice lawn.
I've found over the past year now, I've never have to double pass unless I leave the grass too long between cuts, or it's too wet. The only thing I don't like about these maxpower mulching blades as much as the JD mulching blades that came with the mulch kit is they do seem to have less suction. Last fall, I found they (the maxpowers) didn't lift leaves off the grass as well to mulch them and for that specific leaf mulching job, a second pass or very slow speed was indeed required. That is the one area where the original factory mulching blades definitely have the edge (pun intended). 🙂
Best to not cut your grass with the mower deck down to the lowest level on your tractor. Raise your mower deck up and allow the RPM's do their job on cutting and reciting the grass down to small particles, or residue on grass. I do have a push mower which is a mulcher mower, and the setting of it is up in the middle between high and low, and after cutting the grass with it, you see nothing at all by way of grass shavings.
Not well. The grass all gathers and clumps badly on the discharge/outlet side of the deck (the right side on this specific deck). With wet grass/long grass, it will actually clog that side of the deck up so badly without the mulching diverter, the belt will actually start slipping on the blade spindle pully (at least on this machine it does).
Link to the 42" John Deere Deck MaxPower mulching blade set I used in this video:
amzn.to/2ZSOexF
Will these blades fit John Deere S100?
You went through alot to make this video. Best,most in depth video I've found on the subject, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
You are so welcome, John, I told several of my neighbors of your time and energy spent, on our behalf and benefit, what was most admirable. I would like, but don't expect, everyone to be as helpful as you, but that just makes my ''thank you' more valid."
you helped me make up my mind to purchase special mulching blades. I recently purchased a jack that uses a screw mechanism to tilt the entire mower, and for just under a hundred dollars it sure beats the hell out of having to take the deck off.
Where did you get the jack
This is helpful. Showed how to properly install the MaxPower blades that I had gotten and also confirmed that they were a good choice. Thanks!
Easy to remember is grass grows UP, Blade wings go UP!
9:50 time; Correct, John. I have several push mowers, one 6 hp one with the very same 3 tooth mulch blade on it. It is painted yellow, a different brand, but works just like these 2 you tested. Cutting a 15 inch high abandoned yard, and hardly any '' evidence '' of the cut-grass. The neighbor cut his 'hayfield ' with a riding mower, and wow....what a mess. It never had any mulch blades on it. What a huge difference. Anyway, thanks for the work, in educating us. Take care of all in your power.
I run gator blades all year long here in Richmond VA. on my 48 hustler , when it comes to leaf season I can turn the leaves into dust
Thank you for the thorough comparison. We are weighing a variety of options, and your information is very helpful.
Glad it was helpful 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to do such a good test. I Just saw these new blades on Amazon and was skeptical until I found your review.
Glad to help
Thanks for all that work you put in to making this video.
Great video, the Honda HRX217 is a wonderful machine, six years running without a hitch and always start on first pull. Buy quality and you only have to buy once.
Yep, can't beat a Honda mower. I purchased that HRB215 in 2000 so it's 22 years old now and is still working like a swiss watch with only yearly oil changes and I think I'm on my 3rd spark plug. Up to two pulls now to get it started so might be time to install the 4th plug... 🙂
I never noticed a big difference in blades until used on dry leaves in fall the gator type and mulch blades really chop them much finer.
The forks may have sharp edges to help shear grass but there main purpose is to direct air upwards which creates an vacum affect to lift grass upwards so it can be cut.
Well done presentation, informative, and appreciative of this efforts to 'show and tell' so I could understand it! Kudos!
Appreciate the view 🙂
I have a JD with the 42 cut, I got it with the bagging kit and also a set of mulching blades. I quickly went to mulching, but was never super impressed with its mulching. The guy put the wrong blades on, all this time I've been using the wavy blades for mulching. I'm looking to upgrade my blades so your video helps
I also don't remove the deck, I just jack up the front and use an impact gun. Blades on in 5 minutes
Just be sure you do stick a stump of wood underneath just in case. Safty has no quitting time.
@@danbasta3677 I use a jack and always jack stands
Belts and suspenders
I also use my jack lift to power wash under the deck, Already replaced a deck, lesson learned.
I've got a mulching kit on this mower, I've had it for several years. That mower looks brand spanking new to me, you must look after it really well.
@Apaul - Yep, I look after all my stuff - makes it last longer and a penny saved is a penny earned. I purchased that little Honda push mower shown in the video back in the spring of 2020 so it's going on 22 years old now and still runs & looks great.
@@Rchelicopterfun buy good quality, look after it properly, it will last forever.
42" deck on Husqvarna "0" steer. I took the same Maxpower blades and welded 2 of them in a cross for each side. My clippings are all less then 1/4" when cutting 2" of the top of heavy grass. I do find they create a heavy load when engaging the mower deck but I think it is worth the results. Been mowing with this setup for 2 years now.
Thanks for sharing your experience with them - interesting idea pairing them up like that. 👍
wow.....i may attempt to do the same feat, on one 6 hp push mower i got....thanks.
I have a mower with mulching blades on it with the chute closed! Do I have to close the deck as well? Or does it just mulch it and spit out nothingness?
Good info on the blades got some for my old cub they work great. You really have to get a mower jack combined with a impact 5 minute blade change now the only time my deck comes off is to blast and paint. 👍🇺🇸
I plan on just purchasing the mulch kit insert along with the max power or predator mulching gator blades.
Noticed that the angle on the gator blade you used looks like it pushes air out from the blade centre. Other gator blades, from Oragon I think, angle the blades to push air and clipping in toward the blade centre. Apparently this is to allow the cutting portion of the blade to repeatedly chop clippings into smaller pieces. Could be the reason for the poor performance???
Great back to back comparison!!!
Can you please do a video on your lawn? Like type of grass and what you do to maintain it. It looks amazing.
Thanks very much for this video. You are to be congratulated for such a through job. Plan to order some MaxPower blades for My Ferris Zero turn.
Mowing & mulching fun. Hope the MP's work well for you too - thanks for watching 🙂
Great video,,going to order the max blades,you must have edited the part where you had a cold beer with all that deck removal,,,cheers
😄👍
Which way do they get installed? I Believe I see the little ripples pointing upward toward the deck
@6:45
Where did you get that blade balancer ? That looks way better than the stupid cone ones I have. Love the content . Think I'll get a set of those blades.
It's actually an RC airplane prop & RC helicopter Blade balancer (I fly RC helicopters) that I also use for checking mower blade balance. It's called the Du-Bro Tru-Spin balancer. amzn.to/2TuAit0
One caveat if you get one for mower blades - you will have to make some sort centering hub for the blade hole and the coned prop shaft (the white thing you can see in the middle of the blade hole in the video).
I've always used a screwdriver through the hole hold it straight and the blade will tilt to whichever side is off balance.
Very good video. Please try the original Gator blade from Oregon. They're the best on the market. Get the G5 or G6 if you can
Great video. One caveat I would add is the speed at which you ran your John Deer tractor. Did you move at the same speed as the Honda push mower?
Hi Tom, I do mention pace in the description playing a roll in how well or how poorly mulching works; but yes, I tried very much to match walking pace.
Do you have to buy the mulching kit AND the mulching blades or can you mulch with just the mulching blades? I have a JD LA105. Thanks!
As I said in the video, mulching plugs are an integral part of a mulching system. Mulching blades only work as intended when the grass clippings are circulated within the deck and not immediately blown out the side or back.
If your mulch cutting,you need to mow slower in passes than you normally would to get best results,I found😉
Yep, it's one of the items I mention in the description on what affects quality of mulch.
Why the heck does my mulching blade with little fingers sound so loud?
When it gets a lot of grass underneath and recirculates to mulch, it sounds like its rattling really loud. Yet, the blade is solidly mounted and the engine rotor/shaft is solid as well. It just clanks and rattles like crazy. It does a fantastic job mulching though.
I experience similar (whole deck vibrates/rattles), but only when the grass is wet or overly long; basically clogging up the deck faster than the blades can chew the grass up and blow it back down. Not sure if that's the same thing as what you're experiencing or not, but to stop it on the little JD I have, I just have to go slower or raise the cutting deck and do two cuts.
@Rchelicopterfun ...That may be it. Here in PacNW, our grass grows a couple inches or more a week. I noticed initially it sounds great, but as you hit a thick spot and clippings build up under the deck, it gets really loud, like it's grinding rocks with a tuning fork. If I slow down, it goes away slowly until it's mulched up into very fine bits, with virtually zero clumping. Maybe it just requires mowing twice a week instead of only once.
I have the gator blades on my John Deere x570 .The cutting is ok BUT the build up of clogg under the deck is horrendous. So much so the deck belt jammed and broke. It takes me as long to get under the deck to scrape away the build up ,as the actual mowing. Help
Grass needs to be fairly dry and not too long when mulching for best results and to keep it from sticking inside the deck. You can also try treating the underside of your deck with something to prevent the grass from sticking to it. I use Boeshield T-9 once a season and it works great. I've heard others recommend car wax, furniture wax, ceramic coat, cooking spray, silicone spray, wiping it down with transmission fluid or motor oil etc. If the grass is really wet however, no amount of anti-stick coating will keep it from sticking & building up.
I have those mulching blades on my Poland. It's a 42 inch now. When I got the Poland it had a 38 inch deck on it with the star pattern on the blades
if you don't mind me asking, what deck are you using? actual poulan or husquevarna? i have a 38" poulan, needs a new deck, pretty worn out, was looking to upgrade to a 42 if it will work and what belt to use with it. i was thinking since poulan is no longer around, at least here in my area, maybe a husky deck would be interchangeable as in bolt on product without modifications.?. any advice would be appreciated. thanks.
What’s the negative of ALWAYS using mulching blades. Even if you bag
They (mulching blades) produce less suction to move the clippings into the bag. For spring cleanup with the Honda push-mower for example, I always refit the regular blades as they do a much better job of sucking up all the crap into the bag.
Do you think these blades will help from cutting a lawn with weeds from carrying them over to the next?
I wouldn't think so unless you were to totally clean the deck of grass/weed/seed buildup between lawns.
gorgeous lawn
Why in the heck would those forks clog? The grass is going over the top of those. The cutting side is on the other side of the blade. Those are air lifts to lift the grass up that has been cut so that it can cut it again. So clogging? No way. That should have not even been a thought.
Of course they could clog in the right conditions with the right kind of grass. And no, the grass is not going over those forks, *it's interacting with them*. They are what help chop it up finer as I stated.
Yes, the forks most certainly can clog and they have clogged; clogged absolutely solid when I once had to mow long wet grass.
Of course you should never cut long wet grass ( *especially when mulching* ), but sometimes life & poor weather get in the way forcing you to mow in less than ideal conditions. So that's absolutely one specific example of "why in the heck would they clog". There are more.
Thanks
Do a leaf clean up
Great video. Lots of work is obvious put into this. Thank you for this information
Thanks for watching!
Thank you, great video, informative with not too much old man ranting.
Glad you enjoyed
Can you use these without the mulching plug? Will it still cut more finely?
They will chop up the blades finer, but not to the same extent they would be with the plug in place because the clippings will be discharged much quicker than if they are kept circulating within the deck. It won't be much different from just side discharging with normal blades in other words. Mulching blades are meant to be used in conjunction with mulching plugs for them to work correctly.
@@Rchelicopterfun thank you for your information 👍
Appreciate the effort!
Appreciate the view 🙂
fantastic video. thank you for the hard work!
Glad you enjoyed it
Nice video, I'm interested in converting my riding mower to a mulching machine what else is needed besides mulching blades please?
As I said in the video, you need a mulching plug as well for your specific deck. So that's all you need the blades and the plug.
Thanks for taking the time to answer.
Great video. Thank you for all the effort
So nice of you 🙂
Thanks for doing this!
Yes , they do work. If you keep going over and over the grass left on top will ultimately be put down into the ground and leave a nice clean cut lawn. Oregon G3 or G5 mulching blades do the best. Nice video, nice lawn.
I've found over the past year now, I've never have to double pass unless I leave the grass too long between cuts, or it's too wet. The only thing I don't like about these maxpower mulching blades as much as the JD mulching blades that came with the mulch kit is they do seem to have less suction. Last fall, I found they (the maxpowers) didn't lift leaves off the grass as well to mulch them and for that specific leaf mulching job, a second pass or very slow speed was indeed required. That is the one area where the original factory mulching blades definitely have the edge (pun intended). 🙂
Best to not cut your grass with the mower deck down to the lowest level on your tractor. Raise your mower deck up and allow the RPM's do their job on cutting and reciting the grass down to small particles, or residue on grass. I do have a push mower which is a mulcher mower, and the setting of it is up in the middle between high and low, and after cutting the grass with it, you see nothing at all by way of grass shavings.
Credit to u sir I hate taking the deck off
You and me both 😬
Great video. Ty
Original factory deck looks like it also sits lower than the others
Original factory deck/others? It's the same deck & same height for all 3. Only change was the three sets of blades.
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it
very well done!
Glad you enjoyed it.
Nice 993 ....😘😘
Probably have much better performance if you knocked off all that stuck on grass.
Nope, makes no difference.
@@Rchelicopterfun Be interesting to see how it performs without the mulching thingy in there.
Not well. The grass all gathers and clumps badly on the discharge/outlet side of the deck (the right side on this specific deck). With wet grass/long grass, it will actually clog that side of the deck up so badly without the mulching diverter, the belt will actually start slipping on the blade spindle pully (at least on this machine it does).
Thick yard.