Total Landscape Care Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/85694
equipment matters BY LARRY WALTON steps to maintain mower blades for safety, quality cutting and machine longevity. K eep your mowers up and cutting by performing regular blade maintenance. Blades can lose sharpness, wear thin, crack or bend out of shape, which can cause safety issues, fray grass and damage mowers. Your ongoing blade maintenance program should include cleaning, inspecting, sharpening, balanc- ing and replacing the blades. How often you check on your blades "entirely depends on the mowing conditions," says Craig Horstick, product support representative for John Deere. "The most typical conditions result in blade sharpening every 30 to 50 hours, or whenever it is most convenient for the 42 TOTAL LANDSCAPE CARE / January 2012 landscaper to service the blades." In less typical conditions, such as coastal or desert regions where wind can carry debris into the turf, maintenance intervals are more frequent. "In our Phoenix and Las Vegas markets, the blades take more of a beating because of the sand," says Howard Mees, vice president of operations and equipment for ValleyCrest Landscape companies.