Oregon Gator Mulcher 3-N-1 Lawn Mower Blade For MTD 21-Inch 98-931 98-631

 (9 customer reviews)

I bought this blade so I could always have a sharp blade on hand to swap out as needed.

Besides the visually aggressive uplift tines, three things are immediately noticeable about this blade.

First, it is much heavier and thicker than the original blade. It feels at least twice as heavy as the OEM blade. This should provide some flywheel effect, and may help the motor to resist bogging down in tall grass.

The downside to the heavier blade is that if anything solid is hit, say a tree root or a drain pipe, instead of ruining the blade you may ruin the engine crankshaft.

Second, this blade ships dull. Seems to me a new blade should be nice and sharp, right out of the box.

Third, the hole in the middle of the blade is rectangular, and does not exactly match the "bow tie" shape of the original blade. Maybe this is a patent issue? Anyway, it made buying the blade a bit scary, as I wasn't 100% sure it was going to work on my mower. But...Read more

I have a Troy Built mower. Most reviews are correct that the square mount on the blade does not look like it will work with the factory star. It does. I also agree with others about the blade arriving dull due to paint buildup. I did not file it down, but probably will eventually.

The blade performed well. It works slightly better than my factory blade, but not by much. For a couple of dollars more than a generic replacement it is worth it, but I am not going to run and tell my friends how great this blade is. Maybe once it is sharpened I will have different comments, but for now I am pleased with the product, but not blown away.

When compared to the factory-installed blade, the Gator Blade from Oregon is a cut above! Blade was easily fitted to my mower, and did not produce any additional vibration (balancing issues). Mulching performance was outstanding on lawn grass plus a heavy covering of fallen leaves (dry, maple). I would easily recommend this mower blade for customers who are interested in better mulching performance than the factory blade(s) provide.