Longer lasting mower blades? Frontier RC2072 rotary mower and John deere 4066R
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- In this episode I test a theory on how to make mower blades last longer and stay sharper.
Hardfacing welding rods: amzn.to/3CClPjg
#mowerblades #sharpeningmowerblades #frontierRC2072 #frontiermower
#rotarymower
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Should try hardfacing powders
Weld the bottom of the blade all the way across, using multiple passes (not just one wide weld). We did this on an industrial level in a sugar cane processing mill. This allows the top edge to wear a little faster and makes your blades "self-sharpening". I'm surprised youtube doesn't have more videos of this process. Many people do this with lawnmower blades.
Also read up on how to apply hard facing rods. Most require that you preheat and maintain a certain level of heat when welding on the metal.
The biggest thing to remember is, while this isnt a problem for Andrew where he is at, the harder steel will throw sparks if you hit rocks and pebbels. If you are in dryer, fire prone areas, do not hard edge your blades. Not as much an issue in a green florida field but back in the brush, could find some tinder enough to start somethin.
I need some cattle egrets. So many grass hoppers. Crows eat some but not like those egrets.
They are bug eating machines
Those birds are o graceful. Your property is so green and beautiful. I love watching your mowing videos.
Thank you
Your pets are following you lol
Right!
It’s funny you this video comes up my buddy and I just the other day he was talking about wondering if he could hard face his mower blades to get longer life out of them so he was going to try it and see and pops this video two days later Great work Andrew keep it up
That is funny
That cool little computer in your pocket is ALWAYS listening... Always.
Are you gonna have a video of you mowing the dove field
Absolutely! That's next month
Thanks Andrew....very interesting
This will be neat to see long term. Thanks Andrew. My rotary mower blades probably need sharpened too. On the to do list now.
Back in my early snowmobiling days when I was stationed up in Baudette, MN; I had a friend that did this with his wear bars (on the bottom center of the skis) and swore by it. They definitely held an edge and lasted longer than steel bars, but not enough of a difference for the hassle, in my opinion. I opted for carbide wear bars, which are many times more expensive than steel bars, but they would typically last an entire winter. My welding buddy was running a new bead and grinding almost every week.
I go thru mower blades down here like crazy. I mow just under 4 of our 10 acres, and half of it is very sandy. The blades and deck are literally getting sand blasted when I mow... The blades actually stay fairly sharp their entire life, but the "lift" part of the blade in the back of the cutting surface gets sandblasted away. Once that's gone, a new set gets installed. I used to go thru 3 sets a year when I bought blades from the local dealer here. I decided to try the Maxpower brand sold on Amazon (Made in the USA) and surprisingly they hold up much better than whatever the dealer was selling me, and they cost less.
This Florida sand is a killer to blades.
Thanks Andrew! I always enjoy your experimentation and idea developments.
Glad you enjoy the content
Congratulations on 59K! Up up and away!!!
Thank you Crystal!
Reminded me something, my dad had a blacksmith sharpen our bushhog blades. If I remember well, he could only do it once as there was something that made it very difficult to get the blades back to a good temper a second time.
Heating does change things
Great video Andrew. Thanks for sharing. Take care and God Bless.
Thank you for watching
like the video. keep on testing. we learn something new ever day in life. be bless and love. SAVANNAH TN.
Andrew you need to hardface the whole wear surface both top and bottom. It doesn't need to be an overlapping weld, you can leave about 1/2 inch between each weld.
That will be an awesome mower for your property. 🤠
Hi, Andrew! Is there anything you can’t repair? You’ve got skills.
Lol plenty of things I have not tackled.
I haven't arc welded since high school back in the 90's lol. I don't remember either. Interesting way to sharpen blades.
I think that was everybody's first experience with Arc welding.
@@TKCL Yeah true, I also did oxy/acetylene welding too, wasn't too bad lol. Never got to do any mig welding
What's the difference between a rotary cutter and a bush hog?
Nothing, Bush hog is an actual brand name.
👍👍
Great information again 👍
Thank you
Thank you for watching
what the deal with the random rows of pine trees
Easement was put in next door so those were planted for privacy.
Did you run a bead on the bottom of the blade? I could imagine the stock material wearing away and leaving the hard surface.
I use to race flat track motorcycle and we used a "steel shoe" on the left boot to slide through the turns, these were special built and hard surfaced. The main "hot shoe" man was a gentleman from Cali named Ken Maley his shoes were the best wearing. These shoes were used on all surfaces, limestone, red clay and everything in-between.
Very interesting! As for the welding, I burnt all the way through the edge and had to also grind from the bottom.
Hi Andrew interesting review on the lawn more blades, interesting. See you at 7:00pm. 🌞🇨🇦
See you then
I have that exact same rotary cutter. I have a question since your shield is off the pto shaft at the gearbox end… mine is still on. Do you have a grease zerk on that end?
Yes there is always a fitting on each end of the shaft.
I feel like having only one side welded, it’ll be heavier and won’t be balanced, and will wobble on the bearing / shaft.
My imagination or overthinking it?
Don't forget I ground almost all that back off other than what penetrated the factory steel. I personally feel the difference is negligible on a machine like this. Rough cut mowers have never been known to be smooth operating or very well balanced.
What size tractor were you operating?
66hp
I’ve never been a knife guy or a blade guy but I have studied sharpening a little bit and talk to some people who are and I know as far as knives and machetes the changing the angle or degree that you sharpen the mat makes a big difference. Grass does not need a sharp sharp blade like a razor. I’ll be honest, I never sharpen mower blades I just use them dull and if they’re horrible in the blades are still in good shape I might hit them with a grinder quickly but the grass cuts fine, those people that striped airlines in with the perfect complain and say it makes the grass a tiny bit browner or tatters the end of the grass a little when you cut it but living in Tennessee in Kentucky, are usually have to mow more than twice a week in the peak season and the grass grows so fast I just don’t care what it looks like I just want it gone but in Illinois my neighbor had a gravel driveway and it turned which means every time they drove by and kicked a couple rocks in my yard and I used to go through blades pretty frequently. Metal they use is pretty cheap and what you’re doing makes a lot of sense how many engineering standpoint and I think it’ll work. Not just sharper in general but hopefully it will last longer as well plus if your blades are old or have a chunk out of them Welding is a pretty good way to balance them and that will prolong the life of your spindles. Your blades are a lot thicker than on my riding mowers so they probably last a lot longer and it’s pretty good modification.
On another note. My blades for for a John Deere L1 30 and the original blades in the John Deere blades would last me 2 to 3 seasons even with the rocks and they would take a beating but they were much tougher metal much harder to grind. I bought blades off of eBay and Amazon and They’re usually gone in the first season and they’re not that much cheaper so the blades aren’t all the same and then those having a harder metal clearly made a huge difference. The harder metal if you’re going to be hitting a lot of rocks can also be more brittle but in this application I think it should make a pretty big difference. Plus when they do wear down you can just add another bead and grind it off and you’re good for a few more years.
I've had mixed results myself with different brand blades. Copperhead blades have been excellent for my mowers.
@@TKCL your mowers are a lot bigger, I’m using a 48 inch deck on a riding mower. I’m sure there are good brands out there but from what I found the bigger name brands are just as much as the John Deere parts which on my mower is only about 30 bucks or under $40 I think for the whole set of three. I think on a bigger mower you have much better options for real equipment but every brand I’ve ever tried was inferior to the OEM which isn’t anything spectacular it’s just a little higher grade steel and old is edge and doesn’t break up as easily, especially on the rocks. I’m sure there are some aftermarket brands that are probably much higher quality but I never see anything like that for my little riding mower, I’ve just been buying either John Deere or parts off of Amazon or eBay, that’s all I’ve ever seen really
For ruff cut and sharp blades that was looking real smooth they mow deer lease big lanes once a year and they don't look nothing like that I am not talking about grass but the tall stuff
Yea I do a lot of blade changing on big mower's like this for the company i work for and we tried this some time ago and didn't get the result's that the bosses wanted so we stop doing it and let me tell you what we go though a pile of blades when we mow in the summer time.
Good to know
Can you get more close ups so we can see better. Thanks. Love yall keep up the great videos
Yes, I'll remove them completely after several more mowings.
If you check JD web site about the blades, I think they are already hardened blades. It was an interesting experiment though, I'll say that. Thx for the effort and I'll be interested to see your later inspection.
Might be time to try this on my mower blade.
Wow you really put the blades through the test with that brush. When you are cut the “normal grass” do you run the same speed with all the different mowers.
The speed does vary some with each type.
A different point of view, for what its worth... Another TH-camr, Mike the Tractor Guy took his bush hog blades to Jerry Knetzke, owner of Tech Central in Nixa, MO, 4 years ago. In that video, Jerry warned against doing anything to sharpen or straighten the blades. The reason was that pounding, grinding, or welding heat treats the blade and makes it more brittle, which may make it more subject to fracturing or breaking. Better to let it round off and just keep using it. Given that you have heat treated the one blade and have a factory blade compare it to, you are set up to make the comparison yourself. Nice video. I enjoy watching you crawl on the ground. Also, did you have to double cut those tall weeds? It looked as though some of them had just been pushed over onto the ground.
Super tall weeds almost always requires a second pass to get everything. The tractor tires really mush things down.
I don’t know if it makes a difference or not but I do both sides of my blades. Yes it take a while to put the edge back on there but it is what it is. This is on my zero turn with three blades and I’m running the original blades now since new in 2015 and it now has 107 hours showing.
Wow that's awesome! The lifting surface on the rear hasn't wore through?
Just a heads up hardfacing rods put off some nasty fumes.. I’ve had better luck heating with a rosebud hammering out edge preheat again then hardface
You've got beautiful property Andrew I'm looking forward to seeing the full grown chicken coup and all the animals your planning own having!
Thank you, we love our property.
@@TKCL glad you appreciate what you have , you and your wife have worked for it
Testament to the stock blade, it did very well, so far... :-)
Yes it did
See everyone on the livestream
Hardness may help with wear resistance but a impact ..ie roots,rocks ect...will shatter and chip the edges....in my experience
That's my gut feeling too
@@TKCL what was the actual metal of the rods...? I used to work in a industry that used all types of hard facing material....different applications..but it's definitely worth trying
Just says blue demon 7000 hard facing rods for general purpose.
Yup
You got it
Did you balance the blades? Could you feel any vibration?
I've never ever seen any of our rotary mowers be smooth. Too much mass, metal and beating around I believe. They are not horrible, but I've always experienced some minor vibration on big rough cut mowers. Lawn mowers are the only ones that seem to be very smooth.
interesting another great video, Catch ya later on the live.
See you then
If those are John Deere spec'd blades, I'm sure they have done the research to use the proper blade material treated to proper hardness to get the best combination of life with chip proof performance. If you had a cheap blade, hard surface welding would potentially show a significant performance improvement over that cheap blade. Just my 3 cents worth (inflation is crazy).
You are probably correct.
It is my understanding that lawn mower blades are already made of high carbon steel. That is why mower blades are a top choice for those who hand forge knifes.
They very well might be, but hard facing rods are supposed to be on another level of durability.
Your fields look to be in finish mower condition, are you using the bushhog just for testing?
Yes for now, I almost always mow with my finish mower because it's very wide.
2nd?
"Cash" I don't think you should count as the 1st pertain to comment 😉 😄 😜
@@relaxingtimeswithmav6485 ahahaha but Chris away does it🤷🏽♂️
Where did you get that safety jack? I’ve needed that a thousand times.
It's a camper slide out jack. Very cheap on Amazon.
Need some cows, turn that grass into something you can eat lol 😂
That's the plan, waiting for fencing materials to drop.
IMHO not worth the time and effort to hard face your blades mowing grass and what little bit of brush you have to cut. Factory blades are easy to touch up with a course sanding wheel on your grinder. I generally give mine brush hog blades a quick sharpening at the beginning of each mowing season. I also never go to the trouble of removing them either.
If I could only have one, it would be a Flail mower. But, I bet you don't sit there and hard face all those fail mower blades.
Oh heck no! 🤣
Woo hoo #36
Winner!