are the special mulching blades worth the money ?

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been getting my lawn mower ready for the sprung. its a older toro super recyler 21 inch. it needs a new blade. i mostly mulch my lawn. i can get a new toro blade for $20. i can get the special mulching blades for $30.

So are the the mulching blades worth the extra cost?
 
I think it depends on what you are munching. Grass, the toro blades are probably fine. Now if its leaves, i do like the oregon gator blades, they shred leaves rather than blow them out the chute. This on my riding zero turn. Be aware that some mulching blades can cut 1/2 lower even at the highest setting. I use the gator blades spring and fall, the regular blades during the summer.
 
For a non-discharge, mulching mower, I think you need the mulching blade or it will just get clogged up and leave clumps everywhere. Am I right? They also work well on leaves if you don't like raking.
 
Put on a set of Gator blades, Thought I would just use them for leaves. Worked so good I use them year round on a mulching deck. No clumping and well worth the cash.
 
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I changed my regular blade to Gator blades and have never looked back. They do an awesome job and are sturdy and stay sharp. Spend the extra for this blade and I think you will agree.
 
Nothing like the original "steel" blade that comes with the mower. Aftermarket blades in my opinion are worthless/junk. Also, I prefer just a standard push mower for mowing grass. Everybodys situation is different but for my use -- standard mowers cut soooo much better than a mulching mower.
 
Depends on what blade you have on there now. The blade on my 21" was supposed to be all in one but it was really just a bagging blade, so when drought season came around the cut quality deteriorated due to lack of vacuum.
 
I use the Oregon Gator blades too. Have two sets and would not bother with anything else for my JD F510 front mow. Mulch 100% of the time.
 
A good mulching blade is worth it's weight in money. Look at the higher dollar Honda's. When they mulch, it's almost like dust. To take full advantage of using mulch is you want those clippings to be cut up as small as possible so they decompose faster. I good blade will do that. 30 is cheap for a mulching blade. It's worth the money in what you'd save in having to fertilize your yard. Good mulching blades will actually have 4 blades.
 
Get the Toro blade. I love Gator blades and run them on most mowers and they do very well. On the Toro Recycler, for whatever reason, it mulched best with the Toro blade.
 
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
Generally, a mulching blade is a higher lift blade.
The bagger blades are higher lift still.
Noisy the both of them.



Mulching blades are lower lift blades. You only want lift to discharge out the side as quickly as possible or shoot into a bagger as forcefully as possible. High lift under a mulching deck = blow out.
 
Use the Toro OEM blade. It is designed for the Toro Recycler system. You are going to have a lot of difficulty mounting any other aftermarket blade on a Toro and it could be very unsafe.
 
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