Rider blades - aftermarket

[hanz63]

I buy more OEP blades than Stens or Rotary. I don't know that I like those tapered sails that they started to go to a few years back. Anyone else have an opinion?

[KE4AVB]

Could you give an Oregon example? I need to see what you are referring to.

[hanz63]

Anything that they added a 1 to. IE 192-106 VS 92-106. 195-039 VS 95-039 The sails are lighter and tapered. I see so many worn blade sails, these just seem to going backwards.

[bgsengine]

Oh, you mean the double edged blades (as in, they sharpened the lifts and formed the blade so it could just about be installed upside down or right side up and still work) ...

KE4: Hanz's "Sails" appears to mean what you and I may call "Lifts"

When I first started getting those it was pissing me off because of the inventory changes and stock tracking problems I had to fix manually, it was rare for blades to even last long enough to really experience any problems beyond getting bent or massive chunks taken out of the edges from hitting rocks, and it was sorta irritating to me on some blades where there was no way they could be installed upside down - those still only go on one way but the lifts were still sharpened for some stupid reason... Then I realized it was simply the manufacturing process - cut out the flat metal blank, then they sharpen the edges first, (not that they were THAT sharp) before sending the blade through the forming & stamping process followed by heat treat & temper, then powder coat or paint.

I saw no problems reported as far as any changes in lift design, but then in my market, most people are like "long as it cuts, I don't care" and most of the owners concerned with cut quality would buy OEM blades which meant going to the local dealer that sold them anyhow.

[KE4AVB]

The sails part I figured out. I tend to stick with blades that have longer lifts in the first place. It just seems to provide better discharge on larger decks. Now I think it loads down the engine more but not very noticeable. I also don't care much for the notched versions either.

But I have seen a few double edge blades and it is just where manufacture is removing one step or combining two steps in the process of making as they are pre-edging the blades. Not as much as sharpening as it is a flatten process. I have both OEM and aftermarket done this way.

I do see a lot missing or split air lifts here. Mainly cause by wear at the root of the air lifts. Not much point in sharpening some blades as they worn out when they come in. And 1/4 thick blades takes longer to sharpen and more feasible to just put a set on at $5 more per blade than my sharping fee.

What I see is where they are clipping the lifts now to save on metal on top of the notching. Those tends to break off a lot quicker. Just have to pay attention to what we are buying; therefore, get what we want in the blades and not just to take whatever they want to send us.

When I looked up the Oregon number my distributor is superseding every one to the newer style ie PNs with the leading "1".

And top this some manufactures are trying to sneak in slightly shorter blades too. I remember a Cub Cadet mower where the blades were the blades were 1/8" shorter. Installed them and the customer had problems cutting with them so I had go back to the OEM blades.

[bgsengine]

Yeah, generally the blades where the lifts are so worn that they break off (at the root of the curve where lift starts up from blade) is caused by mowing in abrasive areas (I.E. lawns that go alongside dirt roads are the worst offenders in rural areas around here) and others the lifts tips wear down fast when the owner just does not clean out grass from under deck (couple or three years of grass clogging all dried out and hardened makes great sandpaper!) but yeah, I always preferred OEM blades where they could be had, as they were simply better in every way.

[hanz63]

On aftermarkets, what does everyone use and why? I used to think the overall quality of the OEP blades were better, not so sure now. They are more convenient to get for me though.

[bgsengine]

I believe it would be Rotary's own (they also make blades for OEM's) so they seem to generally be the better blades, IMHO. But that is based on something like 5-10 years back, I have no recent experience with them.