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gator blade ?

11 years ago

I have a JD LT180 with a 42C deck with oem mulching blades.This mower is at a cabin that we only get to on the weekends so sometimes the grass is wet and/or fairly tall when we mow.I was wondering if there are gator blades that would fit this deck and if so, would they be a better choice than the oem blades?

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Comments (8)

tomplum
11 years ago
Yes, Gators would be a good blade for that deck from what I've seen. 96-340 is the OEP part #.
flh69
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the reply. Would it be better to use those gator blades with the mulch plug or would it be better to use the side discharge?
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I bought a new Craftsman 42" tractor this spring with a mulch kit. I was sorely disappointed with the cut and clumping. Lawn looked terrible. I ordered a set of Gators and the difference was night and day (left the mulch plug in). The cut is lovely, instead of clumps, the clippings turn to dust and I'm a happy camper. The leaves are starting to fall here and I'm pleased with how these blades pulverize them into submission. I love these blades. And, not only do the Gators cost less than the OEM blades, they're MUCH heavier duty. The OEM blades weighed 26oz, and the Gators weigh 41oz each.
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twelvegauge
11 years ago
flh69, Gator blades are fantastic - I've used them for years. HOWEVER, mulching blades don't do their best work in tall grass, and if I were frequently cutting 3" or more off, I would not use mulchers. While I'm not familiar with your particular deck, Gators work best for me using just the side discharge - the plug causes too much backup and bogs the engine down.
tomplum
11 years ago
You may be able to get away using the cover on your deck, but verify that you have good clearance. Normally they are meant to be used w/o the cover. Deere decks that have Tri-cycler kits installed can be damaged by the Gator type blades.
grass1950
11 years ago
I can't speak to using the gators without a mulching plug, but I was not happy with their performance for mulching. I never mowed more than 1/3 and they always left a small windrow (is that the right term?) on the plug side of the deck. The OEM mulching blades performed much better for me. The new owner was very happy getting an extra set of (gator) blades with most of the paint still on them. :)
Toronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
11 years ago
I replaced some worn factory blades on my old Simplicity mower with Gators. No big difference.
flh69
Original Author
11 years ago
My oem mulching blades work fairly well but sometimes the grass will get a lttle too high and or wet but I have no choice because I can only get there on the weekends. Also the leaves will be falling before long and I use this mower to mulch them up.I was just wondering if I may be better off to use gator blades, if nothing else to use them for the leaves?
KubotaMaster
11 years ago
IMHO for what you plan on doing as far as mowing goes O.E.M and gator blades work pretty much the same they will not mulch tall grass (pretty much anything above 3") even i side discharge when my grass gets real tall and i use a beast of a mower which is a Kubota ZD331. Not very many mower (none that i have seen so far) will mulch tall grass. Now the leaves is a different story.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kubota gator blade specs

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