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Anyone tried using double blades on their mower?


Kent

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I've heard of commercial guys putting on double blades, with a high lift blade on top and a normal blade underneath, rotated 90-degrees so that the blades make a perfect cross "+" .... Supposedly the high-lift blade helps stand the grass up while the regular blade cuts it. I talked to a guy who used double high-lift blades. He always put the new blades on the bottom, and the used ones on the top. Said he gets a cleaner cut, more "vacuum" capability, and smaller clippings, using regular high-lift blades -- not Gators or the Simplicity Eliminators (or whatever they're called). When you combine the possibility of Gator or other mulching blades, it would certainly be an interesting experiment, and it provides a use for the old blades. Anyone tried this a Simplicity deck? How did you mount them?
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Stoneheartfarm
Let me know if it works. Seems like you'd need longer mounting bolts and some different bolt patterns. Steve
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mowerman1193
Kent I use them on my Wheel Horse tractor like that....It has a treaded spindle shaft and the blades are held on with about a 7/8 (I am guessing) nut so it is simple to do on. The Simplicity decks use the two bolts and makes it not so easy to do.I am sure it can be done with some mods though.One thing to consider though is that it will make your cut a little lower.If you are like me I like to cut as high as I can and the highest on the Simplicity decks is a little to low for me (not so low that I choose to mow with the Wheel Horse though...Got to have them nice Simplicity stripes LOL). Also it does drag the motor down some on the lower HP motors to turn those extra blades.Dont really notice it with the 16HP on the Wheel Horse though. I will say they do a great job of cutting like that.I have a section of yard out back of the garage that got about 8 inches high and I use the double blades on the Wheel Horse and it did a good enough job that I did'nt really have to rake or anything.
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I've heard of doing it, and have seen photos, but never tried it myself. How about the Meg-Mo system? > http://www.meg-mo.com/ [img]http://www.meg-mo.com/images/DeckPhotosmall.jpg[/img]
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It seems that you could use longer mounting bolts and bolt both sets on, with the top blade underneath the bottom one. Then, use two small rectangular spacing blocks bolted onto each side of the top blade (using the two mounting holes, one on each side) to keep it positioned correctly, and to balance its weight in comparison to the bottom blade sitting on the arbor shaft....
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Any body try the mega mo system? Wonder if they are swinging blades like on a discbine for cutting hay.
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papamerkle
For the owners of newer mowers check out this posting: www.simpletractors.com/club2/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17270 My Son and I tried Eliminator blades out last night and like results.:)Eliminator Blades cost $60. 8D Meg-Mo System looks slick - little pricey. I can buy 2 1/2 sets Eliminator blades for the start-up cost of the Meg-Mo System.
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The "grass blade" for my gravely walk behind (30") is set up similar to what Kent is describing. It sets on a single shaft and has only one keeper nut. To hold the blades at 90 degrees there is a small washer with ears sticking up and down on opposing sides. With a two-bolt mounting system, this might be difficult to do. You will probably have to be absolutely perfect on your modifications to keep the things in balance.....
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  • 2 weeks later...
Hi all, I have a Prestige and I tried the double blades. It seens to work good. You get a lot of vaccum and they cut the grass finer. As far as mounting goes I took the old blades put up top and tacked welded a 1/4 rod at opposite corners of where the bottom blade would intersect. I did that so the blades would not move and stay aligned. Ive done this now for a while and it works great. I have a cutting business on the side and ive gotten great results.
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After reading this it got me thinking. I took an old set of blades and put them on the spindles, then a newer set at 90' offset to the old ones. I then welded 2 washers onto the old blades to act as stops so the newer blades wouldn't rotate under load, and then balanced the blade/wahser combo. I then bolted the setup to the spindles and started to mow. What an improvement! I hadn't been able to mow for nearly 3 weeks here in NJ because of all the rain and clay type soil. So needless to say the gras was 8-10 inches tall. Nice performance for about $.25 in parts, & 10 minutes of time.
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mowerman1193
Yes I really like to run the double blades...I still have not taken the time to try it on my Simplicity tractors yet,but they work great on the Wheel Horse...
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Funny this should come up right now.... Last weekend, upstate mowing my g.f.'s property, with a rear engine, 8 horse Sears riding mower. I was putting on a new blade, so I could mow the high grass lower, the second time, and my g.f. asks me, out of the blue, "What if you put both blades on?" So, in experiementing with how they would both go on the single shaft (it's probably a 30-32" cut--a big single blade) I noticed that the new blade, which I ordered from Sears, has the oval shaft hole oriented 90 degrees off of the orientation of the old blade's. As if they intended for you to run two blades. Has anybody heard of this being acknowledged by a mfr.? Or is it just the luck of the draw that one of Sear's vendors got the hole's orientation wrong?
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mowerman1193
I had a 1995 MTD 12.5/38 and I bought a multch kit for it..The kit contained a plug to cover the discharge shute and a set of blades.The blades had like the normal blade with an adapter with another smaller/shorter blade across to make it a + shape.The mulch kit worked much better with the double blade but did do ok with out them...
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Well here is a poor mans picture of the blades. I didnt have time to take the deck off & take a picture. I put the old blades on top and the new or the good ones on the bottom. As you can see by the diagram I tack welded a bolt/screw at opposite corners to keep the blades from rotating off of 90 degrees. I tacked welded to the top or old blades for simplicity sake. Keep in mind it is a small tack that way it keeps the blades in balance more than putting a bead on the blades and messing up the balance. The vaccum is outstanding and the mulching is 3- 4 times better than just 1 blade. One thing I really like is the sound... being a retired farmer it sounds like a turbo.. a thunderous roar. I hope this helps! Kenny:)

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