Does This Odd Mower Blade Actually Sharpen Itself? Let's Find Out

[@Saved_The_Day]

My favorite!! Lawn Mower Mysteries and Oddities!! Thank you Taryl!

[@ThrashNC]

On a crisp quiet night I can hear my mower blades dulling themselves.

[@micky8ball]

They intro always makes my day. I didn't know rubber could be sharpened.

[@dougpursell9591]

Wonder how you would sharpen it. File or a grinder ? Or was there a special tool for sharpening. Very neat idea for a small manicure lawn that has no trash or stumps. 😂

[@howardgarrett4104]

Not bad

[@Myself-yh9rr]

That blade had a lot of false advertising. Just imagine seeing the ad for that on TV. Most people would realize that these things are junk.

[@Flyinghook]

@@dougpursell9591 probably a flap disk

[@tonysheerness2427]

@@Myself-yh9rr Back then weed wackers were relative new and used nylon string so why not a rubber blade?

[@dukebacher1216]

My dad bought roughly 1/2 case of those things at a local park and swap in Mesa AZ. We put those things on every mower we could, including Grandpa's 8hp Wards rider. they lasted forever, and the trick was to grind an edge before installation. I never saw any of them get chewed up like your test blade. That 1960's riding mower had the same set on it for over 20 years. I love 'em. it's a shame they stopped making them. I would have put them on all my mowers when I had my business. Glad you were fair with your review, heck, that one was 40+ years old! Take Care!

[@oxyfee6486]

Dwight Yoakam would still be alive in Slingblade if he was hit over the head with this.😂

[@DoyleFuckinHargraves]

I know that's right...

[@oxyfee6486]

@@DoyleFuckinHargraves 😂🤣😂🤣This is awesome!!!!😂🤣

[@donaldkline8162]

Carl?........

[@glennschlorf1285]

Uh huh.....

[@oxyfee6486]

@@donaldkline8162 The moms boyfriend, the guy Carl killed.

[@SuperJamster1]

I found this from Farm Show magazine. Kind of wish they still made these. Rubber Mower Blade "Our rubber mower blade cuts grass as well or better than steel thanks to the nylon fibers that run through it," says John Chung, representative of Safe-T-Blade, Inc., manufacturer of a new rubber lawn mower blade that virtually eliminates danger to toes and fingers from spinning blades and reduces the danger from thrown rocks and other ob- jects. The combination rubber-nylon blade has a steel mounting insert at center. One size replaces any 17 to 22-in. blade. You simply trim off the ends of the blade to fit. "It'll never rust, chip or break and you never have to sharpen it because as the rubber wears the nylon fibers that do the cutting are exposed. It's the only lawn mower blade that's self-sharpening and self-balancing, requiring no maintenance. It also works better in damp grass because grass won't stick to it as easily," says Chung, noting that the blade virtually eliminates danger to operators. "When the blade strikes an object, it absorbs the impact, greatly reducing the chance of injury and reducing the danger of flying rocks or objects. It also protects the crankshaft" They used to advertise them in Farm Show magazine. I always thought they would be good for my rocky mountain property in Vermont. Hidden tips of rocks, and boulders destroy my blades and spindles. Might be worth a try. I believe a different company sells something similar today.

[@kwomack5399]

A nylon string on a weed wacker works about the same.

[@57Banjoman]

My Dad was a Lawn Boy man-love hearing it run-wonderful memories-thank you!

[@chris2790]

Maybe you should edit that monstrosity of a sentence to make sense without having to re-read it two or three times! Hint, a hyphen without spaces is NOT a substitute for a comma.

[@greaniebeaniez3070]

​@chris2790 calm down mr boomer

[@DinDooIt]

@@chris2790 You had to read that three times to understand? Lmao... I guess reading between the lines is difficult eh.

[@chris2790]

@@DinDooIt punctuation, word and sentence structure gives meaning, eh? At first I thought your dad had some kinky man-love thing going on with his lawn boy. And I had just gotten up and was still bleary eyed sitting on the can, so yeah, two or three times. 😄

[@frankvucolo6249]

12.95 in 1970s dollars is a little over $100 today. That thing was expensive back in the day! For a blade that can’t be resharpened and has no lift. One season of homeowner use, at best.

[@DinDooIt]

Only because purposeful inflation has devalued the dollar by 90% since then, if we didn't have SOOOO much corruption it would be around $20 today!

[@verbonloucks6498]

It did say you may sharpen if so desired, it did have a kickup on the back of blade end, and like tarrel said its fourty years of age! When new i bet it was a force to be reconed with!

[@Supertech-86]

That little Lawnboy cuts better than one of the newer Ego Power electric mowers.

[@deathb4digital]

8:12 mark. That squirrel ran for its life!

[@blk77sunshn]

I was wondering if anybody saw that too. He was outta there !!!

[@austinwagoncompany]

He was afraid Taryl would say, "let's see what it does to this squirrel"

[@gavmansworkshop5624]

From over here in Australia, I'm glad you kept that thing. That compression "bounce" once the blades were on says that rebuild I watched you do was a good one.

[@KennyWilliams-o8u]

Thank ewe for that demo!! Reminds me of my two neighbors. Mrs Wessel had the Lawn Boy and Mr Johnson was working on a circular ring with 4 blades . He was using a Blue Boy mower that was made in Largo Florida in the 50’s to mid 70’s. Our Blue boy had a 5 hp Techimish on it! In 73 dad was mowing down by the lake and parts exploded all over thelake!! 0:51

[@redmondjp]

Some OEMs did have a four-blade flail (short blades that pivot on one end) setup, I think Jacobsen rotary mowers used them.

[@patthesoundguy]

That thing ranks up there with Briggs Check-n-Add 😉 That won't cut your foot if you hit it, it will bluntly tear it off 🫨

[@theamerican7080]

Remember the 'Flymow"?

[@thisisyourcaptainspeaking2259]

The upside-down wheelbarrow, a big favorite!

[@jeffclark2725]

i remember those

[@gavmansworkshop5624]

My grandfather's mechanic's invention? Yep. Used to race in speedway and his mate who maintained his car said check this thing out. Wow, don't run over that cord! We got to see engines instead of motors and that really made the things a lot safer. Down here in Australia it all happened.

[@FireMarshalJim]

There was an old hardware store that closed in my city. They have a Flymow hanging on the wall. Currently trying to buy it from the owner.

[@douggolde7582]

I think they still sell those in Europe.

[@andrew4403]

I bet if you look at the grass that you cut tomorrow. The tips of those blades of grass will be all brown and frayed.😊😊

[@DinDooIt]

Yup, lol.

[@HIFlyer-wx7mn]

Thank you mr.malden It always facilitates me to see what people have dreamed up over the years...good and bad.

[@DAS-Videos]

You put it through the torture test. I think it did good. It looks like the main safety feature is, it doesn't send rocks off like bullets. The rubber blade absorbs most of the energy when it hits something hard.

[@MariaEngstrom]

lel! 8:11+ Squirrel is like: "There goes the neighborhood."

[@garylee9738]

That Lawn Boy™ sounds great.

[@fredsvlogandreviews5867]

This is entertaining to watch. I didn't know blades like that existed but was neat to watch what it could do.

[@VernonTate-y1i]

My dad liked those old law boy mowers because he had a bank at the end of his yard and on 4 strokes all the oil goes to one side great videos 👍🏻🤘🏻

[@TheOzthewiz]

There is nothing like a "dry sump" engine when gravity is working against you!

[@RaleysSmallEngines]

Neat find, nope I've never heard of that. I'm betting it would still cut your foot off 😆. Kinda looks like it was made out of the same kind of rubber like a tire??? Who knows?? Cool video Taryl!!

[@edwardranno7119]

No mower blade sharpens itself!!

[@chrisbrown7362]

Yuh huh! Back in the '70s they said if you put a razor blade inside a pyramid made of straws or wood dowels, it'd sharpen itself! I'm sure a lawn mower blade would work as well!

[@iwanaGoFast2010]

I walked into the garage my blade was sharping itself. Really going at it too.

[@MrGordy61]

Have you seen the newish JD self sharpening blade? It has a hardened layer on the bottom and softer steel on top that wears away, leaving the lower hardened steel as the cutting edge $$$$

[@garyfowler3393]

It looks like with just a small amount of wear, it will be robbing horse power from a mower due to the rough edges.

[@edwardscott3262]

Seeing this makes me remember all the hours I spent fighting a Lawn Boy mower as a young kid. Even today the useless drive wheels slip on flat ground. Somehow only finding traction when they can fight you. Yet whenever that assistance would come in handy they just spin. It easily stalled too just like I remember. That was always fun trying to yank the cord hard enough to get it going again. Or even better having to push that heavy thing back to the front or back door to get help. I remember the very first time I got to use a "cheap" push mower. I was still young enough to struggle with the weight of the Lawn Boy. Yet this "cheap" mower we bought for our camp. I found easier to mow with on steep ground. I could pick it up when I needed to. It was so much lighter. So much easier to move around. So much easier to start. So much better in every way. I wondered why anyone would buy a Lawn Boy. They were really overrated and underwhelming to use.

[@Third_eyee]

Man I love lawn boys, I have a 1982 2 stroke lawn boy and that thing can rev so high it never bogs on ANYTHING, crazy you had the opposite experience

[@chairrider2462]

Just wanted to say I'm a subscriber and love your work here. Last week I ordered a NOPE shirt and a mouse pad. Your store shipped them out the next day! Great service! Thank you!

[@robertjohnston472]

As soon as they cut it to length there goes the balancing aspect. Another gimmick in the good ol’ days. Thanks for sharing. Watching from Sydney Australia.

[@KarlUppianoKarlU]

When I was in high school, we moved into a house where the previous owner had left a rotary mower behind, since they couldn't use it where they were moving. It was a nice mower, so we used it for another 20 years. After the first season, we were putting it up for the winter. We flipped it over and cleaned out the deck and sharpened the blade. It was then that we realized that the previous owner had put the blade on upside down. So the dull side had been cutting our grass all summer. We never noticed anything wrong. It worked fine. Needless to say, we didn't have to sharpen the blade. We just turned it over, and used it the next season. It did seem to cut a little better with the blade installed properly, and bogged down less. But the take-away is that you really don't need a very sharp blade to cut grass with a rotary mower.

[@choccolocco]

I mean, if you think about it, we’ve were cutting weeds with round cord for years….thats about as dull as it gets, lol.

[@scott9478]

Taryl! Thanks for your help today. I appreciate that you’re still a down to earth guy who is always willing to help!

[@crossthreading8157]

There’s no blades made for anything that my brother-in-law can’t destroy.

[@briannelson6259]

SO WHAT YOUR SAYING IS HE CAN BREAK A BRICK IN A SANDBOX 😂

[@crossthreading8157]

@@briannelson6259 Exactly!

[@VintageGearMan]

It is not theirs. They could care a less. Been there done that.

[@andyharley2525]

Or my wife. 😂

[@hogscattle7877]

Mine too bro! My brother-in-law gives lawn & garden equipment a tough way to go LOL

[@ShaneZettelmier]

So it basically turned your mower into a giant weedeater. lol. Nice.

[@jeffpiatt3879]

I had a lawn mower just like that Lawn Boy back in theearly 90's. I loved it! Super light weight. Great drive system. Lasted more than 10 years.

[@michaelglynn2638]

Impressive! Lawn Boy is running well too, who fixed that up! Could maybe try it on Ronnie's foot! 😂

[@patjohnson3100]

Interesting that this blade comes from AZ where home lawns are scarce because of water scarcity. Landscaping at homes typically consists of desert plants, cacti and crushed rock. Maybe they had golf courses in mind.

[@Uncle-Duncan-Shack]

Just the thing I was looking for, to mow my rock garden in the desert.

[@AAa-qd8hb]

I going to stay with my old school metal blades for my mowing. Thanks for the odd rubber blade test. All blades on mowers are dangerous.

[@wilmarbarrick3194]

"It's just a flesh wound" comes to mind.

[@Nick-b7b9s]

It will cut your hand off no problem, it's just grass it doesn't damag5

[@jonesgang]

One of the best movies ever!!

[@AAa-qd8hb]

Beware of the killer rabbit 🐰🐰🐰. Best movie.

[@iMacMan54]

🤣

[@Thomasploeg1968]

Good God son you lost your foot. But it's only a flesh wound😅

[@ericmuller3323]

Love the pro job Like cutting hair with a butter knife.

[@randallross3989]

Their line of rubber roto-tiller blades work well too!

[@garyruark9506]

It seems pretty good especially for being 50 yrs old. The rubber is pretty high quailty to still be flexible. I could use it on my lawn because I have nothing to hit but I have a 33 inch blade. Good video grass rat.

[@heyherb]

If that was sold today,some idiot would put it on their mower then put their foot under the mower to test it out

[@DinDooIt]

Then the dolt would sue and the "progressive" judge would award him damages, clown world!! Just like the Mckey D's hot coffee lady!

[@Killerean]

If it had been made by Tesla or Apple then yes. :D

[@maggs131]

That's precisely why you won't see this today. The tide pod generation and millennials would be slapping their toes off with this day 1 after buying it

[@antoniomarc7174]

WoW now that’s an interesting one that I’ve never seen before I wonder who sold these and how many did they end up getting stock with…👀🤷🏼‍♂️

[@jasonzamagni110]

I really enjoy the mysteries and oddities!!! keep them coming :)

[@carolscott6644]

Rubber blades, plastic cams, composite airplanes...where's your dinner?....Al Scott

[@EricBlairMRERICBLAIR]

Like good BBQ : " LOW & SLOW" no self propelled at 0- 4 MPH ? OR "SLOW TO LOW" 😅😂❤

[@keithbox1684]

More mowing footage please and a mower cam would be nice!

[@jeffvickers9390]

Yeah 👍🏼 a mower cam. A great idea.

[@btwbrand]

Do you not realize how much every mower vibrates? Maybe you are asking for a point of view cam or first person perspective. Mounting a camera to anywhere on a push mower would be a horrible view and possibly destructive to the camera.

[@jeffvickers9390]

@@btwbrand SO, you’ve tried it. ?

[@tebbi67]

When the Blades are sharpen correctly you can hear a hissing noise when you cut!....thx for the vid

[@jacobishii6121]

I find it fascinating they garunteed "no serious injury" with this product.I wonder if they were sued out of existence?

[@MarkEye-r5d]

I think that it would ware down to fast,and you would have to replace it to often for the money back than. But i do think it would cut down on how far it would lunch thing that you run over.

[@russell154]

Pretty neat,, definitely an oddity. Oh and I got my z bender today, thanks taryl and crew.

[@dkeith45]

It's amazing what a 'dull' blade can do. I just changed blades on my Toro Wheel Horse 520h a couple of days ago, for freshly sharpened ones (someone at Taryl's shop sharpened them all for me) and the old ones were so dull they could not have possibly been any duller. Yet they were cutting grass last season, not perfectly but they were cutting.

[@christophermeyer6414]

They were NOT cutting, they were tearing the grass off.

[@johnnymnemonic69]

I miss all the cool stuff written on packaging back in the day. Got a Domino's pizza yesterday and the box was pretty cool like that.

[@jasonbrindamour903]

@6:00 Uses the ole bad boy Dewalt 24v XRP. I am our building manager and the guy who fixes everything. Those drills are WAY better than the newer ones!

[@robertflanagan6117]

Hey Taryl great video just wanted to say I was introduced to the Rubber Blade About 1978 - 1980 and it didn't take off in sales I was living in Phoenix Arizona at the time repairing sm. engines.

[@rverro8478]

I'm more interested in a 2 stroke mower. I have ditches that have nasty angles thus, starving engines from proper lubrication.

[@scottw5253]

This is exactly the kind of absurdity I have come to expect and appreciate from the Taryl Fixes All channel. Plastic mower blades that require the end user to complete manufacturing for fitment, from a company based in an area of these United States known for being remarkably devoid of grass or anything green for that matter. In the south someone would most likely pat them on their head saying, "Ah bless his heart."

[@kb9ndb]

love that you used the lawn boy to test this blade, one of the best mowers ever made

[@donmoore7785]

The real test would be to run over your bare foot. Seems to work relatively well. Love to hear the ole Lawn Boy - used them for many hours of mowing back in the day.

[@andyharley2525]

I remember as a kid seeing them cutting grass along the highway with Bush hogs that had rubber slats for blades. Mid 70s

[@blk77sunshn]

That was Excellent !!! 🤔 Not so sure that it would reduce the chances of phalangeal departure, whether it be the toes or the fingers. Just say'n........

[@mjg263]

Truly a mysterious oddity. I wouldn’t want to use it on a really nice lawn, probably leaves a raggedy cut that would turn all brown the next sunny day. Seems fine for field mowing though.

[@heyherb]

Waiting for a male Karen to say (in Taryl’s high pitched comment voice) “You should recycle those bottles,not chop them up”

[@hoovercamaro]

😂

[@tractorman7733]

I feel like this would be great for saving push mower engines when hitting stumps or sidewalks, but in terms of it being safer for people, absolutely not. It will cut your foot regardless of it being flexible or not; you MIGHT have a chance if your wearing proper steel toe boots. I haven't seen the whole video yet, but I guarantee its going to be self dulling, not sharpening.

[@TomM73]

I remember those blades, they also said you could use it in the winter to blow snow up to 4 inches of it.

[@donkimble1417]

Tayrl at 12.99 back in day when that blade was being sold, I would think that would have been 3 times the price of a regular steel blade.

[@samkitty5894]

I sharpen mine going over tree roots and rocks...

[@glenharper3136]

Thanks for the video.

[@gearhead366]

WHY IN THE WORLD would you litter your yard with broken glass?

[@henrysmith8012]

My neighbor has Magic Blades. Have not been sharpened in 6 or more years. He says they dont need it. Gravely 60 inch zero turn.

[@goaheadmakeourdayscooterpe9644]

I think Trojan was the parent company trying to branch out back then. 😂

[@briannelson6259]

Nah, you're thinking of GOOD YEAR 😂

[@life_of_riley88]

You're thinking of DUREX

[@OcotilloTom]

I found them online back in 1975, they probably go back further...and yes we do have grass and lots and lots of golf courses and ball parks etc.. El Mirage, Arizona

[@ralphwatten2426]

Safety blade brought to you by the same folks that provide the county snow plow trucks with their rubber plow blades that leave those nice, packed. shiny patches of ice that we all know and love. Makes plows last forever.

[@mikehors7351]

Cool but the big thing I would where it shines it would have a better chance of saving your crank shaft if you hit a big rock or metal. Keep up the cool vid's.

[@sed6]

I love this series! I subscribed just so I could see more please!

[@jim4448]

I used to own one of these two cycle lawn boys. Yes I did buy a brand new.

[@4bangerlove]

Lawn-boy should have put the shut off switch a little closer to the blade

[@davebur3350]

KIBBLEs&BITTs....

[@chris2790]

Nice, you just made your lot trashier by pureeing the trash that was already there and you have broken glass!👌

[@liberty4617]

Ive got this big area on my yard that really kicks up the dirt and dust when you mow it so i took 3 of those aftermarket string trimmer heads "shakespeare" brand and modified them to fit my 48 Inch craftsman deck to see if they would work and they work pretty good cutting the grass and kick up 0 dirt or dust . id get caked with dirt and kick up a big dust cloud now none at all . they usually last 2 times before needing to replace the strings.

[@jasonbrindamour903]

You know what's really neat, that rubber is way better than today's products. Granted some of that might be due to regulations however I have an old "indoor horse shoe" set that has rubber pads and they are still extremely pliable! If they were legally allowed to make the same product today it would fall apart inside the original package withing 8 years. That probably 50 year old rubber horseshoe set is fully pliable and almost zero cracking anywhere on the surface.

[@rickhelbig630]

There is nothing safe when it's spinning very fast and has sharp edges. Keep body parts away from sharp spinning objects.

[@AAa-qd8hb]

Running over an empty old shoe would show that all blades are dangerous. Too many people have lost body parts from power mowers. Thanks for the safety demo.

[@cujoedaman]

The claim that it won't cut your foot reminds me of one of Bill Engvall's "stupid" skits. "There was a guy inventing a shark-bite suit. There's only one way to test that..."

[@ginozizza9548]

Nice video, Tarly. The lawn mower blade is a sold by evil marketers, but the Idea is good, so you don't bend a crankshaft when you a rock by accident. It is sort of like making a regular lawn mower into walkbehind string trimmer.😢😱😌🤔

[@sethburgin5994]

What a trip back in time. We had Berrnuda grass in Phoenix in the 1970s. It goes dormant in winter and it makes you itch like crazy when you roll around in it. I never bought one of those rubber things, but I do remember them. Ryobi, Ryan & Dyna weed eaters were made in Chandler , just south of Phoenix. Good gas weed eaters.

[@DarryllC]

Taryl, you shoulda done a meat-test with it. Like run over a turkey leg or something.

[@adamvanostrand2664]

I just like regular blades that work. Metal sharp blades. When you have a riding mower 60in. Deck and 3 blades 2 hrs of mowing, no time for mickey mouse crap.

[@terrywitt5543]

When I was a kid in the early 70 s the was a mower blade metal except the ends were turned up and rubber so you could blow snow

[@LittleT34606]

Thay made this blade especially for the guys that like to hit rocks and stumps with thair lawnmower.

[@ralphfusco8888]

I used to mow yards my dad said it was safer one if my customers brought over some grass said it's not cutting it it's beating it to death 😅

[@andrewkoehler5386]

BTW, I’d almost always prefer a solid metal high RPM spinning device (in this example a blade) over a composite that can fragment and shoot high-velocity fragments suddenly in a given direction.

[@WilliamGleeson-xh2dy]

Almost looks like it’s cords in there like a tire like an old bias tire

[@JS-kd7jf]

I always liked those old 2 cycle lawn boys,,, I think I have one that was given to me around 25 years ago,, I think the crank seals are in need of replacement,,, TARYL CAN YOU STILL GET ANY PARTS FOR THOSE ANYWHERE??? I MIGHT LIKE TO TEAR IT DOWN AND GET IT GOING AGAIN..... If so can you provide any information on where to get them etc.and maybe parts numbers etc,, same goes for rings etc and carbertrator parts???

[@johnchadwicktilton]

I think it might be good for someone who has a small lot to mow and maybe has a lot of obstacles that if hit might damage the mower, but you would have to replace the blade and inspect it pretty frequently. As far as something like a commercial application it would not work. It would NOT hold up to being used 40 hours or more a week. Neat concept. The problem was a small customer base.

[@rickhelbig630]

The way it looks now after mowing beer cans, bottles and stumps, it wouldn't last 40 year of use.

[@ronhalvorson1313]

The rubber blade was a bad idea.......as was running over a beer bottle on purpose!

[@goofe.washington953]

I am currently working on something that will make that self-sharpening blade obsolete, although my progress is sketchy. Grass that will cut itself.

[@briannelson6259]

With Lazers 😂

[@goofe.washington953]

@@briannelson6259 Excellent idea. I was thinking photon torpedos, but your idea is better.

[@andyharley2525]

I have goats.

[@ray2895]

Does the rubber blade protect the mower from Std's?

[@MrTrailerman2]

No,but it protects the consumer from MTD's.

[@jaxonjaxonfied1931]

I'm gonna do that thing with the bottle. That should keep the neighbors dog from coming over

[@JeffreyRodante]

I have never heard of the safety blade before