I purchased the Gator blade for my 28" Snapper Hi Vac about a month ago.First I put it on straight out of the box - terrible cut.The grass was ragged and it totally missed blades of grass sticking up 2" in spots.I sharpened the blade (it wasn't very sharp from the factory) and it's a bit better, but in no way would I consider it acceptable.
The standard Snapper Hi Vac (non-mulching) blade has an excellent cut - even better than the John Deere 445 I had a few years ago at a different house with 3 acres to cut.I bought the Gator because from what I could find online it was the best mulching blade.
If it's the best, I'd sure hate to see the worst!I tried the Gator both without and with the mulching cover on the Snapper.Without the cover (basically a plug that covers the discharge) it has a decent cut - IF you cut at the slowest possible speed - but it gets progressively worse if you try to cut at a normal (2nd or 3rd gear) speed.
With the discharge plug, it's simply unacceptable at any speed.Even going over the same area 2 and 3 times it leaves blades of grass sticking up uncut at any speed.
The blade is super sharp, and no, it's not installed upside down.I'm typing this while letting the motor cool off before I stand the mower on its' end and remove the Gator blade once and for all.I would not recommend this to anyone for cutting grass - it might work ok for chopping leaves in the fall, but so does the standard blade.
From my observation, it doesn't appear that the Gator blade has enough lift.It doesn't "suck" the grass up straight so it can be cut cleanly. To me, the Gator appears to have a bit more lift than the standard Snapper mulching blade, but not much more.And the standard mulching blade also works fine for chopping up leaves.
Bottom line - save your money and use the standard hi lift or mulching blade.The high lift blade gives a great cut, and the standard mulching blade chops up leaves.No need to purchase the Gator, which doesn't do anything well from my experience.
Click Here to see more reviews about:
Oregon Gator Mulcher 3-N-1 Lawn Mower Blade For Snapper 28 Inch 99-928 96-628Product Description: GATOR MULCHER BLADE SNAPPER 28IN
Buy cheap Oregon Gator Mulcher 3-N-1 Lawn Mower Blade For Snapper 28 Inch 99-928 96-628 now Get 25% OFF
Be sure you have the orginal frame, the product replaces only the fabric bag. A little work pulling it over the frame, but it's the real deal. A perfect replacement.
The bag that I ordered was not as advertised - it did not fit on my Snapper mower -and when I returned it, they never credited me with what I paid. So I have no bag and no refund.
Although not a Toro OEM blade, it's an identical replacement and seems to be of equal or better quality.Arrived quick and faster than expected.Blade was 2 bucks more than on their web site (same shipping cost) but I won't quibble (saved money on gas).Overall very pleased.
Needed a filter for my Lawnboy mower and was surprised that these filters were not available at Home Depot. Since that was where I bought the mower. I bought the four pack since it is always a good practice to change these, works great.
CUTS NICE , BUT DOES NOT LIFT, LEAVES SMALL TWIGS AND BRANCHES ETC. CONSTANTLY HAVE TO GO BACK AND FOURTH TO PICK UP. WILL BE CHANGING TO ORIGINAL BLADE.
My Toro is over 6 yrs. old. I've had the original blade sharpened 2 yrs. ago but thought I would opt for a new one. Thus, I ordered this one that looked IDENTICAL to the the factory blade. When I rec'd it, it did NOT look like the picture (the one I rec'd was solid at the ends, unlike the picture and my original blade).I did not want to go to the hassle of returning it as it was only $25 (free shipping) so I removed the old blade and attached this one.It was definitely sharp and I could see the grass blades mulched to practically dust! Thus, I would recommend but picture is deceiving vs. what you receive.
Amazon is beginning to sell more and more replacement parts for Swisher mowers. I am glad to see this because I own a couple of Swisher Z-Max mowers. I mow a lot of grass and usually these blades last me about a season. These are made for Swisher mowers and they are exactly the same blade that came on the mower. They are priced less on Amazon than from [...], lawn parts store or any Swisher repair center. 
The item was received quickly and installed in a matter of minutes. The new blade works great on my lawn.
Even though these are called "mulchers" - they do not operate quite the same as the traditional mulching blades and closed decks.These really shine in full discharge mode where they can disperse the clippings in such a way as to appear that the mower was in mulching mode.This works great for tall or wet grass where a mulch plug would cause the mower to load up and/or leave clumps.Although I do mulch with the blade occasionally, its mainly to avoid spreading clippings where I don't want them.Also, I think they are the near perfect solution for mowing up leaves in the fall.These also seem to last longer between sharpening than stock blades.