[Boyd]

Lawn mower blade design does not vary wildly. Variations are how steep the wing is on the outer back side of the blade,, whether the blade is flat from one end to the other or stepped,,, gator type mulch blades,,, Ninja type bi-plane blades and MTD even had a mulch blade for its 30" rear engine riders that had 8 or 10 blades attached to one center hub (I would love to see one in action). How about one big disc with holes or slots in it like a cheese grater blade? I'm sure it would be heavy and hard on clutches and belts. It might be a pain to sharpen, but it might cut like nothing else on earth.

 

[Brad]

I'll bet it would have a lot more updraft that the conventional blades would. Might be interesting to try. Why not give it a shot?

 

[Ingersoll444]

The problem with that is that the disc part would push the grass down. it would only pop up right at the cutter. Not very effective. A normal blade alows the grass to stand up, and then the cutting edge swings by to cut the top off.

 

[gburnett]

Basically a bush hog with a stump jumper attachment

 

[LilysDad]

Something that heavy and big around would have to be well balanced. And how would it be sharpened?

 

[JRC0528]

Have you ever tried cutting grass with the tree saw blade on your trimmer/brushcutter?? Will it cut? Yes. Is the string better? DEFINITELY!!

A blade needs to do three things...

1) Lift the grass after the tires and front of the deck have pushed it over

2)Cut the grass

3)Propel the grass out the discharge of the deck

I think a regular blade or better yet a Meg-Mow (i think) setup like kevin has been reporting on this summer are about as good as you need in the cutting department.

The area for improvement is in the airflow under/through the deck. Perhaps installing a fan blade of some sort directly above the cutting blade to lift the air (and with it the grass) and blow it out the discharge chute would improve performance and cut?

 

[wurkenman]

A solid blade or disc like that will be heavy and will also give a gyroscope type of effect. It would be very hard on any bearing or spindle assembly. You will never achieve any type of lift, it would be more incline to swirl the grass and force it to NOT make contact with any cutting edge or edges you may have cut into the "blade".