Has anybody tried running X-blades on a BX2380 w/ a 60” deck? I see a lot of articles with people using this set up but they are all using commercial mowers (zero turn / stand up).
just curious.
just curious.
X-Blades on a BX2380 / 60” deck
- Thread starter ripray92
- Start date
Never heard of X-blades and had to Google it. These are 2 blades on one spindle in an X pattern. I have never heard of the practice before so I have no idea how good they are.
Honda commercial mowers come with X-type blades standard (for mulching).
Generally the OEM picks the best blades for the job, mower deck design, and price point; pretty much everything else is a fad that fades in 3 years.
X-blades work, but the material flow under the deck has to handle the blades and stacking height, otherwise clumping or some sort of poor cut can occur.
Generally the OEM picks the best blades for the job, mower deck design, and price point; pretty much everything else is a fad that fades in 3 years.
X-blades work, but the material flow under the deck has to handle the blades and stacking height, otherwise clumping or some sort of poor cut can occur.
85Hokie
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BX-25D ,PTB. Under Armor, '90&'92-B7100HST's, '06 BX1850 FEL
I have never heard of them either,
But back in the 90's I had a ol Murry rider - took and placed two sets of blades on each spindle and boy would it throw the grass and leaves across the yard! I am sure they were not balanced perfectly but they did do the job.
I agree with what you say, but man....sometimes I just want to believe there is something out there that is better then we've seen so far!
How about the Meg-Mo blades? They put a hub on each spindle with four short rotating knives. They are set up just like the blades on a disc mower, they rotate on a hub. Most all the reviews I see just say they don't do a good clean job of cutting one's lawn, and they are expensive.
On a disc mower the grass may be two/three feet tall and it's cut off 2" above the ground and is laid flat and the mower moves forward., come back next day, rake and bale so it's two different outcomes desired.
GreensvilleJay
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BX23-S,57 A-C D-14,58 A-C D-14, 57 A-C D-14,tiller,cults,Millcreek 25G spreader,
This is what $100 on Amazon.CA buys you ! Plus S+H+13% taxes and customs and duties and ......
Someone overseas is making them in 10-12 seconds from 'quality' steel......sigh
PT B was right.
Someone overseas is making them in 10-12 seconds from 'quality' steel......sigh
PT B was right.
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I get the best cut with Oregon G6 fusion blades. Better cut then oem blades. The BX blades spin pretty slow so they won't give a nice zero turn quality cut. A zero turn has much higher high tip speeds and some that want a better cut change the gears to increase tip speed. I always mow at 3200 rpm for best cut.
I suspect OEMs select the best blades for the widest variety of mowing conditions, safety, blade lifespan, etc. and that for certain mowing applications some aftermarket blades do better than OEM, and conceptually that makes sense that some blades do some things better than others, even if it's a narrower range of application (like toothed blades for mulching). (But my relatable experience is in the car/motorcycle/truck world, so am only taking a guess tractor engineers follow the same general guidelines.)
I am surprised the blades on the Kubota 60" mid-mount deck aren't longer, maybe to keep tip speed down as @Sidekick references--longer blades might help cut grass better (though potentially be "less safe")? I don't know and wish I did. (more information)
Something I've read about on a lawn forum is high-lift blades, if conditions allow for the extra suction that should help?
The best I've personally found for lawn grass is Honda's commercial mowers with high-speed dual blades (X-blades).
I've seen Meg-Mo blade ads and would guess they have similar results to a brush hog, which "isn't fantastic" for lawns, but obviously brush hog blades have a purpose and fit that purpose well. I would guess a smaller version of a brush hog blade (Meg-Mo) would mow smaller fibrous stalks well, but not necessarily mow grass well (and likely ball tall grass up). The real-world testing videos I watched match your impression implying that's the case.
On two foot grass I understand from others a flail mower with Y-blades works quite well, chopping cuttings finer and distributing the clippings more evenly than a horizontal mower like a brush hog.
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Similar to you I've been trying to learn what works better than what and why, mainly because I have lawn to care for and would also like to maintain walking paths in a woods. I've seen people cut paths in with a chainsaw and then mow them with a lawn mower somewhat regularly (beating up the equipment in the process), and thought there had to be a better way, and of course a brush hog is what many people with a sub-compact or larger tractor use so I learned about those and how/why they work. Searching for something even better I learned about flail mowers. Learning by watching is great, but there's a lot to be said for seat-time, and I'm still working on that.
Years ago I fabricobbled a couple X blades. Wasn't impressed, but I may not have engineered it properly.
The 7-1/2' rear discharge RFM on the L4240 has 5 Gator blades and they work very well. This is the mowing machine of choice.
The 5' side discharge RFM on the Ford has regular blades to which I added small wings to increase air flow (pic below). The main purpose was to make it better at blowing the leaves off the yard in the Fall. It works well for that and the occasional normal mowing.
The 7-1/2' rear discharge RFM on the L4240 has 5 Gator blades and they work very well. This is the mowing machine of choice.
The 5' side discharge RFM on the Ford has regular blades to which I added small wings to increase air flow (pic below). The main purpose was to make it better at blowing the leaves off the yard in the Fall. It works well for that and the occasional normal mowing.
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Interesting. Did you make a jig to get the same life on each blade end? Did you experiment with the angle?
I cut the add-on pieces as uniformly as I could. Then clamped them to the existing blades for welding at the same angle as the factory upturned part of the blades. Following welding, I balanced them by griding material from the heavy ends. They work well enough that I scrapped my homebrew 3-point leaf blower.
Apparently there's a not-yet-available Artificial Intelligence robotic mower with dual-layer blades (that's new) for better munching (mulching),
I do not see robotic mowers as viable given how small the blades are verses the expected rate of wear for a reasonably sized lawn, but I could be wrong. A hand clippers has more cutting surface than the six blades of the latest robot mower, and I would think I'd have to sharpen the blades every mow (I sharpen knives, so not that big of a deal).
I have a Toro Titan 60” ZT mower and tried the X-blades with the adapters that were shown above. For my machine, it was too much weight and it sounded horrible starting the blades. Once spinning, the cut was great. The debris shooting out was absolutely destroyed.
I used them just one time and went back to single blades. I ordered all of the stuff from Ballard, and their gold blades are very nice. For the price, I’ll go back to Oregon G6 though.
I used them just one time and went back to single blades. I ordered all of the stuff from Ballard, and their gold blades are very nice. For the price, I’ll go back to Oregon G6 though.