If you flipped a 42inch mower on it's side by yourself, remind me to never piss you off! Seriously though, as with all blades, the beveled edge of the blade is what cuts the grass. This has to be mounted to the spindle so that it faces the top or inside of the deck. you want the completely flat part of the blade facing down towards the grass and the "bent" ears with the serations, facing up to create vacuum when you mow to stand the blades up straight. Hopes this helps you. You might want to buy a pair of BLITZ plastic car/truck ramps next time for about $30, rather than flipping your tractor on it's side. Will help you from leaking fuel or oil in your grass in which case you'll have automatic grass killer in about 24-48 hours.

The impressive feat of tipping a tractor on its side aside, you should be able to unhook the deck and slide it out. If you don't have your manual, you may want to look into getting it (this will help you for all sorts of other things, such as knowing when to perform regular maintenance.) You probably want this thing to last you- regular maintenance is the best insurance for doing this.

Anyway, pretty much what echoman said. The trailing edge of the blade is the part that has the teeth. these should be pointing to the inside of the deck, not the ground, when mounted. The leading edge is the side with the beveled cutting edge. The angle of the blade itself should essentially be pointing down when mounted (it's a relatively shallow angle)

Good luck!

Actually it was because I was pissed off that I put it on its side by myself. I have 3 brothers and a 30 y/o son and was thoroughly disgusted that I had to do this myself. One brother offered to let me use his ramps instead of offering to help so I marched out there, flipped it over, sprayed wd-40 on the bolt and just did it cussing them the whole way through it.

I bought the mower used from a friend who moved and misplaced the manual. Its a nice one with the grass catcher attachment and double bins on the back and I do want it to last. I've had it for a couple of years and change the oil myself, but I had never done anything to the blades. I think I can order a replacement manual from Sears and will probably do that. It would help alot in answering some of my questions. Thanks for your help. I'll check the blades today and pray I don't have to do a repeat performance anytime soon!

~~ the 5'1" blonde amazon woman~

Since we are talking about Gator blades, I looked into getting them since I mulch my grass and I am always interested in any advantage I can get. Reading about them didn't reveal too much. So as always, I checked with my local JD dealer and was informed that using Gator blades will void your JD warranty. Not only does JD want you to use their blades, but he says they have found that the Gator blades may not be balanced properly and if they cause problems JD doesn't want to have to warranty non JD parts. Don't know if this is true or not, just interesting. Needless to say, I am not buying the Gator blades. My blades are mulching just fine (even the very long thick stuff) and as long as I keep them sharpened, they should hold up. Just my $0.02

jrkahoona- that smells real fishy to me. The provisions of the Magnuson-Moss warranty act state that you cannot make a warranty contingent on service or parts from the manufacturer only. Futher, the burden of proof is on the manufacturer that a non-oem component led to the failure or a particular component. They can't say "well, you have these Gator blades, and your engine blew, so we're going to chuck the warranty." They just plain can't do that. If a shop tried to pull that on me, I'd call them on their bull$#!+.

About the only thing that could really be reasonably affected in this scenario using Gator blades are the spindles. If it helps you sleep at night, check the Gator Blades for balance before installing.

Oregon Products (the makers of Gator Blades) make a high quality product. They do a fine job of pulverizing my grass clippings.

I have used Gators for 2 years and really like them but Friday I was mowing near a tree with some surface roots...all the sudden...Bam!! ...I shut down the deck and saw one of my blades about 3 feet from me and the large washer spinning to a stop. I thought perhaps the bolt had come out so after spending 10 minutes searching for it I drove 25 minutes (round-trip) to buy a new bolt (only $1.50...whew!) ...upon trying to bolt the blade back on (needing to finish the yard...blade was toast) I find that the old bolt had sheared off 1/2" up inside the spindle!
Back to the dealer I go...new spindle and dusted off my original JD blades....I was amazed how much quieter these blades were....I guess thats my only complaint with the Gators, the increased air turbulence that creates the vacuum comes with that minor price....But, I will be ordering a new set!
{{gwi:318349}}

Gator blades voiding a warranty is pure bull. Dealers that spew this kind of bad info have little knowledge of warranty or of their own products.

My Gators have the words "Grass Side" imprinted on them. That is the side I have facing the grass. P.S. I would not make a habit of turning your tractor on its side. They were not designed for that and it could cause some real problems.