[bunjamins]

the gator blade does look like it might chew up the clippings better, but I bag with my toro recycler, so it doesn't really matter. You can easily sharpen the normal cutting edge, I do it with a 3" grinder, the little mulching cutting edges can also be sharpened the same, but i don't touch mine, mostly because I bag, but also because I tried once and the angle with a grinder wasn't that easy. If you hand file sharpen, it might be easier.

If you don't mulch, i'd go with whichever is cheaper and pay attention to edge durability with the oregon one, not sure if their steel hardness compares to a original toro blade.

 

[bunjamins]

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Thanks for the response bunjamins... I have never sharpened my own blades but Im looking at an angle grinder so that I can do it myself. How hard can it be...right... Found this one on sale at Northern Tool...

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200641833_200641833
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an angle grinder is faster, but to do it right you need a jig, and a bastard file or a bench grinder are much better for precision. but I still do mine by eye and with an angle grinder like the link you posted. if you go sharper than 40 degrees or so, you have to sharpen more often, and thereby replace the blade more often, and with a rotary, the sharpen angle has diminishing returns, but i still do mine at about 30 deg. helps to have 2 blades per mower, so you don't get caught sharpening when you just want to mow.

 

[bunjamins]

another thing to be aware of when you sharpen, don't ignore the outer 1/4 inch of the blade, the most important bit, and the bit that does 99% of the cutting, if your mower spins ~3000 rpm, the blade rotates ~50 times a second, if you mow at 2.5 mph, that's around 3 or 5 feet per second, which means less than the outer 1" of the blade makes initial contact with any bit of grass. if the outside tip is dull, the grass gets mangled, no matter how sharp the inner 3-4 inches of blade are.