Sharpness of bush hob blades

showcrop

Well-known Member
The post on tool talk about balancing bush hog type mower blades reminded me of a recent post about sharpening them. This sharpening post went into great detail about the need to and how to get them sharp. Well, I broke a blade last years so I had to put a new set on, and they were not what I would call sharp. Beyond that I seem to recall that they are supposed to work better for the intended use if they are not "sharp". You would need to have them sharp to mow the grass in your lawn, but that is not the intended use. I grind mine every other year or so to get the major dings out , but I don't try to get them sharp. What do you do?
 
I also use angle grinder to smooth out
blades once or twice year. Not making them
sharp but smoother and to shape. Use a 6ft
Landpride mower for tall grass and woody
weeds mostly. Cuts outer areas lawn grass
pretty good too.
 
I use an angle on my Woods bush hog. It is 5 ft in diameter . I just smooth down blades and no more. Works well an I have done this for over 20 years.
 
We use a Corsicana 7ft rotary cutter.

A grinder is used to put an "edge" on the blades that have been "rounded" from use.

The better "edge" makes a better cut on both grass and brush.

The blades are checked every time before use.

Probably takes no more than about 10 minutes to put an "edge" on the blades.
 
I only mow clean grassy pastures with my shredder. When I mow I want a lawn appearance or I mow with something else. I use a hand
grinder with the mower on the tractor and propped up sufficiently and grind to a fine point from the exit chute which has no chain to
prevent clumping.......don't need one as I don't meet the requirements for the need. Never balanced one, never felt I needed to.

If I were going into heavy brush and saplings, then the OEM recommended blunt blade face would be my choice.
 
I do some custom work with my rotary cutters. After every job I run a 4 1/2inch angle grinder on the edges to sharpen them up a little. I never know what I'll be cutting the next time I use it. Goes along with the territory buying a new set of blades for them now and then.
 
I have purchased two new sets of blades for a
rotary mower.
First time was about 10 years ago for the 5'
Bush Hog model 405 I used to own and about 3
years ago for the 6' Bush Hog model 406 that I
have now. Both sets had about a 3/32-1/8" flat
on the cutting edge.
I use my mower for heavy mowing and brush
control - not as a lawn mower and never sharpen
the blades or maybe did it one time on the old
mower.
 
New Woods blades are quite sharp. New Bush Hog blades less so. It depends on what you are cutting and the job you want done.
 
I went to Bushog's web page. I looked up a mower that was close to the size of mine. I down loaded the owners manual. It was saying to sharpen the blades like you would for a lawnmower. Put a sharp edge on it and get rid of any dings. Go back in on the sharp edge and grind it back until it is about an 1/8" wide all along the sharpened area. That is the way I did mine it mowed much better. My take on that way to sharpen the blades is it is not a mower, but a frail.
 
If used to cut brush down, a dull edge it will shred the stubble and it will be less likely to sprout back. Cutting grass in roadside ditches would require a sharper blade and for a better job, so it depends.
 
I put a edge on my ford 901 brush
cutter blades, not a razor sharp knife
edge like on a lawn mower but an edge
that'll stay, makes a night and day
difference in tall thick grass as far
as power needed to run it..
 
I understand the new ones are kind of dull so people don't cut themselves handling them, avoiding a liability. I have sharpened ours but
then I seem to hit a rock soon after, so I have kind of given up.
 
(quoted from post at 09:10:08 02/21/18) I understand the new ones are kind of dull so people don't cut themselves handling them, avoiding a liability. I have sharpened ours but
then I seem to hit a rock soon after, so I have kind of given up.

That sounds strange. Butcher knives, pocket knives, mower knives, in fact every kind of knife that I know of last I knew still come sharp.
 

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