Marbain®

The MARBAIN^{^®} Advantage

Fisher Barton developed MARBAIN to give our customers the hardest, strongest, longest-lasting, and best material in the industry! MARBAIN is material resulting from our exclusive, patented heat-treating process. Many components and all blades are heat-treated, but no blade or component in the industry can advertise the hardness offered by Fisher Barton. The MARBAIN heat-treating process is a controlled, proprietary operation that creates ultra-hard properties without the brittleness associated with typical high Rockwell “C” hardness levels.

Features & Benefits

Exclusive, unmatched proprietary patented heat treat process

High hardness levels never thought possible!

No increased brittleness at 48-52 Rockwell “C”

Greater yield strength—the strongest mower blades on the market

Thinner/lighter components

No loss in wear resistance or field life

MARBAIN steel blades are stronger, harder, and require less time sharpening

Potential reduced weight

Faster start/stop

Less wear on PTO clutch break

Lower fuel consumption

Guaranteed impact toughness in every rotary cutter blade – 2.07 Kilogram force-meter (15 ft. lbs.) minimum!

Product traceability to the steel mill and all metallurgical tests

Austempered, not Quench/Tempered

Cost-effective even with superior material

Better impact toughness (ANSI-S483 compliant)

Fisher Barton leads the Agricultural Equipment Manufacturers blade working group.

Fisher Barton proposed standards changes in 1992 that are now adopted in the new standards.

Austempering Heat Treatment

The unique Fisher Barton austempering heat treatment process produces high hardness parts that are extremely ductile. The ductility is achieved through the elimination of quench cracks (macro and micro) that are common in most conventional quench and temper heat treat processes. When large (macro) cracks occur it is usually obvious. However, the micro cracks in the atomic structure are virtually impossible to detect. These defects inhibit ductility by setting up barriers in the atomic structure, preventing the material to flow plastically.

When steel is heat treated we expect: high hardness, wear resistance, strength and toughness. A transformation of the metals’ atomic structure occurs. During heat treating the metal is raised to a high temperature of 843 degrees Celsius (1550 degrees Fahrenheit) and is transformed to austenite (FCC), the highest density phase. The metal is cooled causing the austenitic phase to be transformed into three possible atomic arrangements or phases: BCC, BCT and Orthorhombic. In all of these transformation phases, expansion and a decrease in density of the metal occurs. It is this expansion that results in quench crack problems.

The conventional quench and temper process produces martensite (BCT), a low-density, hard, and very brittle phase. There are two factors that can cause quench cracks during the formation of martensite. They are reduced plasticity at low temperatures and the instantaneous shear characteristics of the transformation. Because martensite is not ductile at low quench temperatures and because of its rapid shear formation nature, the continuing transformation of austenite (FCC) to martensite (BCT)sets up very high stress factors in the initially transformed martensitic structure. When the martensitic phase can no longer absorb additional expansion stresses, cracks (macro and micro) can occur.