I just replaced my blades on my Turf Tracer. Went to the dealer and they were determined to sell me aftermarket blades. I emphatically declined and insisted they order me the Exmark high-lift. Yup, I paid a bit more, but the quality is there and OEM design is important.
Good video. About time this was explained...I tried explaining this. All blades are not the same. And sharp blades are important. Even getting ride of them when there done. Iam a big believer in sharp blades.
I'm a huge believer in sharp blade.. I sharpen mine every few days. it's pretty easy when your Walker deck flips right up with convenience and you use your impact wrench and a grinder- takes hardly any time at all .. hell, I've even been known to sharpen brand new blades. I like a super sharp rotary blade... the results speak for themselves. the Sharper the blade is, is one of a few factors that helps bring cut quality closer to the results of a the Ultimate king, the reel mower ... In my opinion you don't have to use OEM manufacturer brand blades, but you do have to keep them sharp
Ordered my exmark blades three weeks ago... still waiting. The parts delivery guarantee is a wee bit of a lie. Dealers are often out of stock on the blades for 60 inch mowers.
Dealers are full of crap. half of the employees often don't want to be there.. they are pretty good when it comes to selling you a new mower and making a lot of promises about how they will take care of you... The fact that the gentleman above with Carl's replied with that comment was something more dealers should do...is give a damn It's not that they're terrible if you're dealing with the right person, it's always just a hassle and several phone calls that you're mower is next in line and it'll be running a few days late with repair... or their favorite line, we're waiting on parts... which really means we haven't gotten to working on your mower yet and the parts were waiting on haven't even been ordered yet 😂
My work bought a exmark E-series commercial v-twin 708cc with ultracut series 3 48 and it wont cut most of the grass have to do 2or3 passes the blade is brand new and we bought another one thinking the different blade better cut but still same issue
A Rockwell score of 40 is not very high for a knife... I guess that's a good thing because you don't want your blade being brittle...really depends on what steel they are using... I bet 40 on the Rockwell could be pretty hard for a mower blade though... I want an m390 blade 😂 Too bad they probably sell for 1300 a piece
Hello Jim - thank you for reaching out. The blades should not come into contact with the deck. We suggest you have your local Exmark dealer look at your mower immediately.
Hi Jimmy- thanks for the message. The best type of blade for you will depend on the application. Please refer to www.exmark.com/Service-And-Support/Parts/Blades for a breakdown of the different types of blades and their usage. You can also talk to your local dealer. Thanks!
Some great information here.... someone please explain to me what he means by if you change the color of the blade you take the temper off... I know exactly what he means about Heat Treating etcetera and not overheating the blade while you're sharpening it in quenching it is actually a good idea... but after several sharpenings the red color of the blade which is just a coating of some sort I assume, is going to rub off and expose the the raw steel underneath, correct? is that not changing the color of the blade? which is inevitable if you sharpen it just a few times the coating will come off changing the color from red to steel no....
@@Penton4-2s exactly! the red coating on the leading sharpened Edge that contacts the grass is going to come off in one mowing.. He explained everything else so well.. you're correct the whole "change the color" thing was kind of odd Cheers
@Jackman you're 100% on the right track. He's referring to the metal color under the paint, not the paint. He is not clear that he's talking about the metal, he's just assuming that we know. Most blades are not painted red, too, LOL. For anyone else who may have the same question but not the knowledge: When grinding, which is heating the blade, this can cause the metal to turn from clean shiny steel to blue. That's taking the metal from a hardened metal to an annealed/softened state. If the metal turns blue while grinding, you have removed the heat treatment and softened the metal. The temperature point between the two, once the blade has been quenched isn't a lot. Different metals have different hardening/tempering temp points, Iron vs. Carbon Steel vs. Stainless etc. I just always look for the metal to change color (blue) to know. Read up on the heat treatment and annealing process, it's pretty interesting. Color is everything. To hard and the metal is brittle. After hardening, you need to temper the blade, softening it a bit. That's annealing/tempering. Taking the metal past the annealing point will ruin the hardness. Grinding will cause that to go bye-bye if you heat the blade, when doing so. Hence his cautioning about quenching the blades often while grinding.
I have an Exmark Lazer Z and can’t get reduced discharge like other same mowers that seem to obliterate the discharge to near nothing. I cut at 3 3/4 or 4 inches. Deck is clean and positioned correctly like new. I just tried the notched blades in thick spring grass and discharge is clumpy and worse. I guess I’ll go back to high lift. Any other advice? I use Exmark blades.
Hi Drew- thanks for the message. Have you tried adjusting the rake of your deck? A positive deck rake (back of the deck is higher than the front) helps in lush spring grass. It will add more air to the equation to increase discharge abilities and help with clumping.
@@ExmarkManufacturing So just to be clear about choice of blades… if I want to obliterate the clippings and minimize discharge on the lawn, I should use the straight high lift blade and not the 3-notches (gator type) blade, correct?
Hi Drew- We would put our UltraCut decks up against any other deck on the market for its ability to reduce clipping size and its discharge velocity. However, in lush spring grass, this can lead to deck packing and then some clumps. The grass clippings get reduced to the point that they ball together. Open deck systems have much longer clippings that don't tend to ball together as bad. Two things can help 1. Increasing the rake to increase air-flow to the deck while also allowing some clippings to escape out the back. 2. Reducing blade tip speed by pulling back on the throttle which reduced likeliness of deck-packing. This keeps the full volume of the deck to process clippings. Extreme (gator style) blades are typically the worst for clumping in spring/lush grass as the small clippings get mushed in "fins" and you end up with little clipping "snowballs." Our standard hi-lift notched blade is the best one to start with, but you can try the medium lift if the deck packing continues to be an issue. All that being said, adding positive rake is going to have more of an impact than any of the above suggestions. Thanks!
so early spring grass and later August cuts are not the same mowing. All I want is to do@@ExmarkManufacturingthe job as fast and nice as possible. And the blade type can get me to the next job quicker? Thank you
I just replaced my blades on my Turf Tracer. Went to the dealer and they were determined to sell me aftermarket blades. I emphatically declined and insisted they order me the Exmark high-lift. Yup, I paid a bit more, but the quality is there and OEM design is important.
Amen. I’ll gladly pay $80 for a set of OEM blades knowing the deck was designed with the OEM blade selection in mind. Buy once, cry once.
this gentleman really knows his stuff....
Good video. About time this was explained...I tried explaining this. All blades are not the same. And sharp blades are important. Even getting ride of them when there done.
Iam a big believer in sharp blades.
I'm a huge believer in sharp blade.. I sharpen mine every few days. it's pretty easy when your Walker deck flips right up with convenience and you use your impact wrench and a grinder- takes hardly any time at all ..
hell, I've even been known to sharpen brand new blades. I like a super sharp rotary blade... the results speak for themselves.
the Sharper the blade is, is one of a few factors that helps bring cut quality closer to the results of a the Ultimate king, the reel mower ...
In my opinion you don't have to use OEM manufacturer brand blades, but you do have to keep them sharp
This guy is awsome
Ordered my exmark blades three weeks ago... still waiting. The parts delivery guarantee is a wee bit of a lie.
Dealers are often out of stock on the blades for 60 inch mowers.
Sorry you are unable to get the parts you need for your Exmark. We currently have several hundred of the 60" blades in stock.
Dealers are full of crap. half of the employees often don't want to be there..
they are pretty good when it comes to selling you a new mower and making a lot of promises about how they will take care of you...
The fact that the gentleman above with Carl's replied with that comment was something more dealers should do...is give a damn
It's not that they're terrible if you're dealing with the right person, it's always just a hassle and several phone calls that you're mower is next in line and it'll be running a few days late with repair...
or their favorite line, we're waiting on parts... which really means we haven't gotten to working on your mower yet and the parts were waiting on haven't even been ordered yet 😂
Trust me I have the Radius 44 inch and I use these highlift and the Exmark wavy mulching blades. These blades are heavy duty for sure. I recommend it👍
HERE AT MR, GREEN ACRES IN ST.JOHNS,FL. WE RUN ONLY EXMARK MOWERS THEY WORK GREAT,
Exmark Blake's are the best made
I've tried others
Great video l always use oem 😁
My work bought a exmark E-series commercial v-twin 708cc with ultracut series 3 48 and it wont cut most of the grass have to do 2or3 passes the blade is brand new and we bought another one thinking the different blade better cut but still same issue
Why do my blades keep coming off?
A Rockwell score of 40 is not very high for a knife...
I guess that's a good thing because you don't want your blade being brittle...really depends on what steel they are using... I bet 40 on the Rockwell could be pretty hard for a mower blade though...
I want an m390 blade 😂
Too bad they probably sell for 1300 a piece
I just put 3 new blades on my 60" Exmark mower and notice as I hand spun them around they were slightly rubbing the deck. What's up with that?
Hello Jim - thank you for reaching out. The blades should not come into contact with the deck. We suggest you have your local Exmark dealer look at your mower immediately.
I have a exmark mower 52 inch which blades are good
Hi Jimmy- thanks for the message. The best type of blade for you will depend on the application. Please refer to www.exmark.com/Service-And-Support/Parts/Blades for a breakdown of the different types of blades and their usage. You can also talk to your local dealer. Thanks!
Some great information here.... someone please explain to me what he means by if you change the color of the blade you take the temper off...
I know exactly what he means about Heat Treating etcetera and not overheating the blade while you're sharpening it in quenching it is actually a good idea...
but after several sharpenings the red color of the blade which is just a coating of some sort I assume, is going to rub off and expose the the raw steel underneath, correct?
is that not changing the color of the blade?
which is inevitable if you sharpen it just a few times the coating will come off changing the color from red to steel no....
What thinking the same thing... Just one light pass would strip the red coating. he should have explained that a bit better.
@@Penton4-2s exactly! the red coating on the leading sharpened Edge that contacts the grass is going to come off in one mowing..
He explained everything else so well.. you're correct the whole "change the color" thing was kind of odd
Cheers
@Jackman you're 100% on the right track. He's referring to the metal color under the paint, not the paint. He is not clear that he's talking about the metal, he's just assuming that we know. Most blades are not painted red, too, LOL.
For anyone else who may have the same question but not the knowledge:
When grinding, which is heating the blade, this can cause the metal to turn from clean shiny steel to blue. That's taking the metal from a hardened metal to an annealed/softened state.
If the metal turns blue while grinding, you have removed the heat treatment and softened the metal. The temperature point between the two, once the blade has been quenched isn't a lot. Different metals have different hardening/tempering temp points, Iron vs. Carbon Steel vs. Stainless etc. I just always look for the metal to change color (blue) to know.
Read up on the heat treatment and annealing process, it's pretty interesting. Color is everything. To hard and the metal is brittle.
After hardening, you need to temper the blade, softening it a bit. That's annealing/tempering. Taking the metal past the annealing point will ruin the hardness.
Grinding will cause that to go bye-bye if you heat the blade, when doing so.
Hence his cautioning about quenching the blades often while grinding.
Are all x mark blades red
Hi Robert - Exmark blades, depending on the type of blade, come in both red and black. Thanks.
I have an Exmark Lazer Z and can’t get reduced discharge like other same mowers that seem to obliterate the discharge to near nothing. I cut at 3 3/4 or 4 inches. Deck is clean and positioned correctly like new. I just tried the notched blades in thick spring grass and discharge is clumpy and worse. I guess I’ll go back to high lift. Any other advice? I use Exmark blades.
Hi Drew- thanks for the message. Have you tried adjusting the rake of your deck? A positive deck rake (back of the deck is higher than the front) helps in lush spring grass. It will add more air to the equation to increase discharge abilities and help with clumping.
@@ExmarkManufacturing So just to be clear about choice of blades… if I want to obliterate the clippings and minimize discharge on the lawn, I should use the straight high lift blade and not the 3-notches (gator type) blade, correct?
Hi Drew- We would put our UltraCut decks up against any other deck on the market for its ability to reduce clipping size and its discharge velocity. However, in lush spring grass, this can lead to deck packing and then some clumps. The grass clippings get reduced to the point that they ball together. Open deck systems have much longer clippings that don't tend to ball together as bad. Two things can help 1. Increasing the rake to increase air-flow to the deck while also allowing some clippings to escape out the back. 2. Reducing blade tip speed by pulling back on the throttle which reduced likeliness of deck-packing. This keeps the full volume of the deck to process clippings. Extreme (gator style) blades are typically the worst for clumping in spring/lush grass as the small clippings get mushed in "fins" and you end up with little clipping "snowballs." Our standard hi-lift notched blade is the best one to start with, but you can try the medium lift if the deck packing continues to be an issue. All that being said, adding positive rake is going to have more of an impact than any of the above suggestions. Thanks!
@@ExmarkManufacturing Thank you. Great prompt advice. Much appreciated.
so early spring grass and later August cuts are not the same mowing. All I want is to do@@ExmarkManufacturingthe job as fast and nice as possible. And the blade type can get me to the next job quicker? Thank you
Gatorblade g5 or g6 mulches and bags
Yeah but can it hydrate like Gatorade? 😂 I'm choosing the Gatorade during a hot day of mowing
@@BuffaloNickel9 yes a blade of grass is 70% water it mulches thus hydrating. It has what plants crave.
@@yzrippin right
Are the exmarks reverse threaded?
No sir
Because we make more money that way!
Come on Exmark. School me
Exmark makes a tough blade
$40/blade in 2022