[Old Machinist]

I've been wanting the try out the dual blade idea on my finish mower for some time. My current blades didn't really need sharpening but I touched them up while they were off. I sharpened an old set and put them on top of the better blades. I tack welded them together to keep them square if I hit something.

The tractor is a 3 range hydro and the mower is a 6' Agmate. I usually have to run about half speed in the mid range for a decent cut. With the double blades I was able to get about the same quality cut at full speed in mid range. I can only run full speed over about 2/3 of my property but that should cut mowing time down a bit.

I eventually plan to make some blades using disc mower blades. Not sure if I will do it using bars or a round plate. I would prefer a round plate. You can get a dozen replacement blades for about $20 with those. Not sure how long they last compared to regular blades so that will be another experiment.

 

[ridesdirt]

Looks like it works really good. Good job on the pictures.
I have a friend who does some grass cutting on the side, he has done the double blade trick and likes it.

 

[Old Machinist]

After mowing the whole field I wasn't as impressed as I was to begin with. I did push it as fast as possible to test results. I am finding some areas with uncut strips so I will probably have to slow tractor speed next time if I let the grass get that tall.

 

[ridesdirt]

Not busting on your grass (mine is way more coarse than yours), but those mower blades will probably work excellent on a blade type grass you see in a subdivision. What I see is some taller stalk type growth, in my experience nothing other than a disc cutter (or maybe sickle) will get it all at high speed. the mower deck just bends it over too much for it to stand back up quick enough.

That field looks really good to me, pretty close to a finely manicured lawn, and I bet it looks that way to anyone driving by looking at it. out of curiosity, what height are you cutting?

 

[RayLagrange]

I've been wanting the try out the dual blade idea on my finish mower for some time. My current blades didn't really need sharpening but I touched them up while they were off. I sharpened an old set and put them on top of the better blades. I tack welded them together to keep them square if I hit something.

The tractor is a 3 range hydro and the mower is a 6' Agmate. I usually have to run about half speed in the mid range for a decent cut. With the double blades I was able to get about the same quality cut at full speed in mid range. I can only run full speed over about 2/3 of my property but that should cut mowing time down a bit.

I eventually plan to make some blades using disc mower blades. Not sure if I will do it using bars or a round plate. I would prefer a round plate. You can get a dozen replacement blades for about $20 with those. Not sure how long they last compared to regular blades so that will be another experiment.

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If by disc mower blades, you are talking about rotary hay mower blades, I tried that and they don’t have enough lift to get the grass up to cut. Cutlassblades.com has what you’re looking for but pricey.

 

[Old Machinist]

If by disc mower blades, you are talking about rotary hay mower blades, I tried that and they don’t have enough lift to get the grass up to cut. Cutlassblades.com has what you’re looking for but pricey.

I don't think lift is always necessary. I worked at a JD dealer 25 or so years back and we sold a lot of flat, no lift, mower blades. Also known as sand blades. 70% of our business was commercial lawn care businesses.

I built a ground powered finish type mower years ago and ran it 15 years with flat blades. Cut was fine.

 

[RayLagrange]

The tip speeds on commercial mowers is higher than what they sell for consumer products. I don’t know about your rear finish mower but I made a set of blades for my then 60” deck on my 425. I took a set of blades and cut them to length and had the holes punched in to use the rotary blades so they would swing just like on the hay mowers and the cut was awful. Pretty sure there wasn’t enough tip speed. Hay mowers don’t have wheels that run over the crop before being cut and you have four so there’s that issue as well. Not trying to rain on your parade and will be following to see how you do it and how well it works. The disk idea and adding more blades might just make the difference.