# Steel-Poly-Rubber cutting edge



## Boutallnite (Dec 7, 2003)

Yes, I know there are other threads on this topic, but I am sure one more will not hurt anyone.

I have a Snoway St and need to change my cutting edge. I had the steel one from the factory. I do all residential work, and have cut down my work load to about 10 - 15 driveways. One of which is all pavers and lots of them, it is my biggest account, the rest of my accounts are regular driveways. I did fine with it last year, just by keeping the blade little of ground.

I keep hearing that the poly lasts longer than steel and performs almost the same. The Snoway dealer is suggesting I go with the Rubber, because of the account with the pavers, but I am not sure of the performance and life of a rubber cutting edge. Not sure what I should get, but need to get something fast.

Any suggestions or if you had any experience with either a rubber or poly vs steel would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx alot to all.
Its almost here, I can smell it I meanpayup


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## justme- (Dec 28, 2004)

Boutallnite said:


> Yes, I know there are other threads on this topic, but I am sure one more will not hurt anyone.


All I am going to say is rubber sucks for anything but slush- and it doesn;t last. For the rest read the other postings you ADMIT to knowing about......


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## Boutallnite (Dec 7, 2003)

I did read them, and I guess didn't get enough info. Sorry for wasting the precious minute of your life.


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## Boutallnite (Dec 7, 2003)

Ok, so if poly vs steel have been beaten to death, how about the Rubber cutting edge. Anyone ever use that?


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## Dwan (Mar 24, 2004)

it is time to go through it again for the new guy. But this time I would like to see a compairison between overall price -v- waer is poly cost effective not including labor to put them on.


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## justme- (Dec 28, 2004)

Ah yes, let's re-discuss every topic for the new guys each season shall we? Incidently- he's not a new guy.
If it's not the "can I plow with an 8" lifted truck" question it's "Steel versus Poly".:angry: 

Rubber is for squeegeeing- it has no ability to scrape because it's too flexible and since it's flexible it deforms under the weight of the blade sitting on it when not in use so you NEED to block up the cutting edge of the blade when it's not pushing white stuff. Rubber also, by flexing, degrades quickly- the sharp edge doesn;t stay in contact with the ground, rather it tends to fold under in use so performance can quickly degrade. Often recomended for pavers because it is the most gentile of the three edges. 


Steel is cheap, durable, widely available, available in several compounds and sizes, etc. We all know about steel.

Poly costs roughtly twice as much as steel and reportedly wears about twice as long as steel. It does not dig up grass, create sparks, or shock the drivetrain as bad when a solid object is encountered because it is semi flexible. It squeegee's better than steel and scrapes ALMOST as well as steel.

A poly edge is very thick- 1/3/4 inches on average (which probabily helps with it not digging up grass...), and must be mounted a certain way (the overhang below the moldboard must not be longer than the thickness of the edge) or else it WILL chatter (sometimes violently) and can tear and chunk off as well as plow generally poorly (because of it's flexibility). Poly edges also require a flange on the face for mounting- the most commen is a used cutting edge of steel which means a poly edge is heavier than a steel edge when mounted. Poly also must be "shaped" to an edge before use to avoid chatter (drop the blade on dry pavement and drive for about 50 feet , preferibly backdrag it instead of forward to establish a bevel)

Poly will be better than steel on the pavers, obviously if the pavers have settled there is more risk of damage. Consider you're vehicle and weight concerns, if there are any. Never run poly- I have weight concerns prohibiting it. Pavers, being dangerous to salt would probabily be a good application for a poly edge. There are several dealers/manufacturer's of poly edges- including some of our site sponsors.


As to overall cost versus wear- I can only reason it this way: If the poly costs 2x the steel and lasts 2x as long the steel edge (talking about the normal carbon steel edges we generally use) the mounting and remounting costs will be the increase. They both have to be mounted the first time (with the poly being more work initialy), and when the steel is worn out and being replaced would be the same time frame that the poly would be being remounted (if you bought a double edge poly) which should be the same work as mounting a steel edge. 
Now I have seen 2 different types of poly- one center mount like the municipal steel edges with center holes that simply flip over, which should be the same as a steel in terms or mounting and remounting and I have seen "drill your own" type poly edges which obviously become alot more involved in the initial install, and subsiquent remountings would be the same process of redrilling new holes to lower the edge.

I am pretty sure all of this has been covered in previous threads, but I may be wrong. Did I miss anything?


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## Boutallnite (Dec 7, 2003)

Wow, what a post. Thank you. That answered all my questions. And yes some of the things were in other threads and some were not. You put it all together in a very nice way. I am going to order a poly edge later today.
This should be put into a common questions thread.


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## Dwan (Mar 24, 2004)

Thank you for putting it all in 1 post.


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## Big Nate's Plowing (Nov 26, 2000)

first off it depends on the grade of rubber edge, it is like Urethane, some is harder and some is so soft I can bend it in half widthwiseas for rubber scraping poorly I have found out that it is about the same as poly.. if you think I am jokng here is a pic of a freshly plowed lot with a u-edge









unless your plow has downpressure the u=edge results will be ******


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## NJ Plowman (Dec 10, 2003)

Use a steel edge, keep our "Steelworker Union Brothers" in a job!


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## justme- (Dec 28, 2004)

Big Nate's Plowing said:


> first off it depends on the grade of rubber edge, it is like Urethane, some is harder and some is so soft I can bend it in half widthwiseas for rubber scraping poorly I have found out that it is about the same as poly.. if you think I am jokng here is a pic of a freshly plowed lot with a u-edge
> unless your plow has downpressure the u=edge results will be ******


While I agree Nate, I have yet to see any rubber edge hard or soft with anything for normal plowing and that hasn't needed to be replaced many times in a season. I have been often concerned that aploy edge would tend to float over the pack more, as your picture shows, since they are so thick, and many other poly user's have commented on that in some cases, however I get the same results with steel a fair amount of the time.

My trip edge and cutting edge are at the same point (didn't wear the trip edge before installing a cutting edge) which makes it wear like iron, consequently it has alot less scraping ability because it floats more with more surface area in contact with the ground, which is why it wears so much longer. I am on 6 season's with the same steel factory Fisher edge and it's only worn about 1/2 inch!

Steel in my configuration will still damage pavers and dig up gravel, so poly is still the better choice IMO. I will agree, tho, the stiffness could be a factor in which edge to buy. I'm guessing you use the edges you sell, so what brand edge was that in the picture?


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## Boutallnite (Dec 7, 2003)

Ok, I found out the prices and there is a big difference. The steel edge is $96 +tax and the poy edge is $192+tax. Now I am not sure if I really want to spend that much more. The sales guy also told me that the poly is not very popular in this area. That mostly people get steel and some rubber.

I do have down pressure, so if I do get the poly hopefuly I will not have the same result as in that pic.


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## Big Nate's Plowing (Nov 26, 2000)

if you want to give poly a shot without breaking the bank I have that edge in the pic for sale I am going to put it on ebay tomorrow, $100 and it is yours (7') I took it off after that storm because of the complaints

I myself dont sell them anymore but it is a Superior Edge... however I still sell Goodyear Rubber Products


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## PAGE2004 (Feb 19, 2004)

I just found a guy in Maine that sells everything poly - cutting edges - Pro wing edges - salt spreaders all made of poly .

His name is Allan - heres his email [email protected]

I just bought a set of poly edges that replaced the rubber edges to my Pro wings .


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