I wasn't that impressed with Gators on my machine.
Maybe it's like when a movie get's a lot of hype and you go see it with high expectations but it wasn't that good?
Gator's just didn't seem to cut any better than standard JD blades to me but they made the deck pack up with grass quicker indicating they have much more "lift". I went back to the standard blades and am happy.

 

No idea about the JD mulching blades. I had assumed that they were made by Oregon, who makes the Gator mulching blade. I put the Oregon Gator blades on my X320 before I mowed the first time. They cut the grass very nicely for me, and leave no trail at all, even when I wait a week or so longer than normal before I cut. No idea about any grass buildup under the deck. I never mow wet or even damp grass, and have never had any grass sticking to the deck of any consequence.

 

You are using the mulch blades with the complete mulch kit, correct?
That is how they are meant to used.
I have the full mulch kit on mine and I am very happy with the results,
no clumps and no clippings left on top and no uncut strays.
As for Gators I've had good results from them also, clippings are smaller
than OEM side discharge blades and a lot of lift, OEM also have good lift,
but don't expect the clippings to totally disappear if using side discharge.
Going to try them with the mulch kit to see how well thet work that way.
Jim

 

EVERY year about this time, people (me included) start complaining about the quality of cut they're getting. I have experienced this EVERY year for the past 3 years. I honest think it has a LOT to do with the amount of moisture in the grass. In spring, when it has plenty of moisture, it is fast growing and luscious. As it dries out over the summer, it grows more slowly, gets tougher and more difficult to mow. Again, this is just my theory. YMMV

If you do decide to take the Gators off, you should give them another try early next spring. Just my 2¢... I could be wrong!

 

I don't have gators, I have the JD mulch kit with the blades that come with that. I want to try gators.

Your theory may have some truth to it, but in my case I've noticed these problems since the beginning of the season and I decided I'd work with them through the season to see what I could improve as time moved along.

I'm still left with the same conclusion. I'd like to try another blade but I won't do it before next spring.

 

I'm not completely happy with mine either but I prefer it to the alternatives.

 

I have tried the combo blades, the hi lift blades and the mulching blades. During the summer I use the combo's and in the fall I use the hi lift. The mulchers stay in the shed year round.

Just my experience.

 

My gators do a better job at cutting and dispersing the grass than the OEM blades, however, they are no better at lifting the grass where the tires have squashed it.

 

couple of questions
1) are you mowing a WOT?
2) how fast are you mowing?
I still have OEM blades on my 317 and gators on my Murray. The gators work great but not sure I want to put them on the JD..to many mixed reviews.:fing32:

 

1) Yes
2) Slow. Very slow.

 

This might seem silly but the symptoms you mention, it almost sounds like they are backwards.

 

Yea I agree but I am certain I double checked them. I'm going to pull the blades this weekend and I'll be able to double check.

 

I put the mulch kit on a couple months ago. Some areas of the yard grows quicker than others so I mow the whole property when those "high" areas need it.

WOT, nice and SLOW. Clippings on either side if the grass I'm cutting is fairly long. I travel a lot for work and can't get at it right away sometimes. I don't think they lift very well. I've had some (not a lot, mostly due to heavy rains) oak leaves falling lately and the mulch kit does not seem to lift and shred them like I've read others claim. That is part of the reason I got the mulch kit; to make leaves in the fall "dissapear" as others have stated. I will keep it on for now, but may have to suck it up and spend big $$ on a bagger. :banghead3

I hear ya biz. :fing32:

 

I'm with X485NOOB I mow about 10-12 yards and I have the rotary brand mulching blades and the grass is just not cutting good and clean this time of year. We've had a lot of rain over the past month but the grass has quite a bit of stem to it and is tough. I have customers who insist only on mowing every 14 days and right now its tough to mow their yards because I usually have to over lap my passes because of streaking. my every 7 day customer yards are mowing up pretty well though.

 

I have found that the problem with my cut was not enough blade tip speed. I installed a speedup pulley and my wife has commented many times how nice the cut is now. You can try adjusting the governor to see if that helps and if so try a smaller pulley and put the governor back. Good luck.

 

I have always used JD High lift blades, and discharge the clipping back into the uncut grass. I can do this in 4th gear at 3.5 MPH with a quality cut. When I finish if there is excessive clippings left in the middle I will hook up the grass catcher and pick up the grass. Usually only one load worth that goes into the compost pile :trink40:

 

That is odd. :dunno:

I have the full mulch kit on my Z445(54" mower). The engine runs at WOT and I cut my lawn at almost full travel speed. The grass is fully clipped and mulched. It does a great job.

 

As a follow up ...

Today I pulled the blades off, sharpened them (maybe a half season of draught weather mowing on these new blades) and cleaned all of the grass from under the deck. The mow was definitely improved from before.

Hopefully this will be a consistent finding. Thanks for all of the suggestions.

 

As a follow up ...

and cleaned all of the grass from under the deck.

:fing32:

I should have mentioned this earlier, but a build-up of grass under the deck will not help matters when it comes to doing a good job at mulching.