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Blade Speed, zero turn vs conventional?


bruker1

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The other day I mowed the inlaws yard with their Ferris zero turn with a 60" deck. The clipppings flew much further and the clippings were almost dust compared to my Prestige with the 50" deck. Do zero turns have a higher blade speed compared to conventional mowers?   

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49 minutes ago, bruker1 said:

Do zero turns have a higher blade speed compared to conventional mowers?   

Without a doubt!

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16 hours ago, bruker1 said:

Do zero turns have a higher blade speed compared to conventional mowers?   

Depends on the manufacturer. At one time, a nationally known company sold their Zero turns with the advertisement of "fastest blades on the market". They were right, I checked. Has nothing to do with style of machine, just the size of the pulleys. A buddy of mine bought one of the advertised machines. Got rid of it kind of quickly because the bearings apparently did not hold up to the speed of the shafts and had to be replaced often. The company quit selling with that slogan, or, I have not seen it in their brochures for a while.

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Being curious, I did some research.  Per this article:

https://www.lawnsite.com/threads/engineering-question-why-19-000fps-blade-speed.21711/

The maximum ANSI blade tip speed is 19,000 feet per minute (216 mph).  (It was 21,000 fpm (239 mph) - the change occurred in 1995 I believe).  

For the late model 48" Sovereign deck with gull wing blades, I calculate a tip speed of 14,750 fpm at 3600 engine rpm.  Parameters used:

1:1 BGB ratio

0.942 center arbor/center PTO rpm ratio (based on belt wrap)

16-5/8" Simplicity OEM blade tip diameter (diagonal measurement) 

While Googling, I bumped into this 2011 TT discussion :

https://simpletractors.com/forums/topic/37941-fast-mowing/

 

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