Zero Turn Mower Maintenance.

[mouthpiece]

I just scraped my deck this past weekend when I put new blades on the mower okie4570 gave me.
probably had 5 gallons of dirt and impacted grass stuck to the bottom of the deck!

 

[Mr.Glock]

I just scraped my deck this past weekend when I put new blades on the mower okie4570 gave me.
probably had 5 gallons of dirt and impacted grass stuck to the bottom of the deck!

Haaaaaaa! I see you get all your money outta blades as I do!!

 

[Kev1Doggy]

My 50in Dixie Chopper Silver Eagle does the same thing........wonder where the blade heels end up??????????

 

[Cowbaby]

It's why I like goats and trees. Lawn work is waaaay overrated as a pastime.

 

[User_3155]

I scrape my 60" Super Z after every single mowing. If you don't it will pack up like concrete. I attribute it to an actual good design of the deck. With high lift blades, it's doing what it was designed to do - vacuum then cut and sling vs just run over and hack at it. You can get low lift blades that won't have quite the suction and pack up as bad, but you'll still have to clean it out occasionally.

I have a ramp I drive one of the front wheels up until the wheelie bar wheels on the rear touch, then lay under it and gitter done.

 

[rawhide]

Mine does the same thing. Why do you think the tire air pressure helps? I haven’t tried that.

I'm not sure, but may have to do with the proper draft. I researched it quite a bit and that was recommended by a Hustler rep.

 

[Mr.Glock]

@jfssms PM‘d some info on Deck level. The back of the deck should be 1/4 inch or so higher than front and needs to be level from side to side on level ground, so I got the mower out and checked the level. This mower is about 5 years old and last year they put a brand new deck on it, as the serial number had it as part of a customer satisfaction deal on it, as they had a issue with some paint issues and mine was flaking off. So I thought hey they may have not got it adjusted right. Well it was spot on!

And @rawhide and @jfssms stated the air pressure in the tires needs to be the same, one of my rears was 4lbs low and one front was 5lbs low. I topped them all to 12lbs.


So I had cleaned the deck the other day a put on newer blades “photos above”. What a mess I scraped.

Today I got it out and mowed, pulled it in shop and jacked it up. Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. But it had a bit of build up already started packing in it.

Then I installed one of the wash out connections that was suggested by @Gunbuffer and @rickm so I bought one and put it on the non chute side. Tossed a full BBQ tank on the seat to keep it running, fired it up and let it run with the water on for about 5 minutes. Pulled it back around and jacked it up once again. It was surprisingly clean!

So thanks for all the suggestions and I think now I will just not miss hooking up the water to the deck.

 

[Mr.Glock]

Oh! If you have a Fast Trak and the paint is coming off the deck, they have a customer satisfaction recall on certain serial numbered decks. I was in the serial number range and got a new deck when it was 3 years old.

So if you own one and the paint is coming off. Call and see about it.

 

[rickm]

The seat safety switches is the first thing i disable by either building a jumper at the plug or taping the button down to engage it. along with the reverse switch.

 

[C_Hallbert]

Mowing about 5 acres of complex terrain, I’ve used an old (5000+ hours) Commercial Gasoline Powered 28hp/72” Toro that came with the property when we moved to Alabama about 2 1/2 years ago. I haven’t experienced problematic buildup of crusted grass under the mower deck. perhaps because I only mow when the grass is dry. Because the Toro developed a problem with throwing off its drive belt, I purchased a 26hp Diesel Kubota ZD1211-3-60 (60” Deck which runs with a higher rotational blade speed. The potential for grass buildup under the deck will bear watching. I wanted a 30hp ZD1511 with a rear discharge, but there were none to be found. To my disappointment, the Kubota we got has a side discharge with an extended rubber chute thing that has already gotten torn off. I put the old Toro in for repair at a Toro Service Center and I’m giving it to our UPS Driver after it gets fixed. It can be a little bit hard to start (sometimes needs a spray of Starting Fluid), but it’s still powerful and doesn’t burn or leak oil.

Our property in Oklahoma is now mowed by one of my son’s with an old 16hp 4x4 Diesel Bolens/Iseki Tractor pulling a PTO Driven, 60” Finishing Mower. The mower deck on this equipment does build up with crusted grass and weeds which must be scraped off periodically.

I’ve seen videos on Youtube discussing grass buildup that suggest changing blade types can greatly reduce grass buildup while simultaneously reducing the incidence of windrows and stringers. However, finding the right combination of mower blades to match the vast selection of mower designs creates a dilemma for those of us who don’t employ commercial mowing services.