Finishing Mower Windrows

DK_Farms · Jul 28, 2003

I have a Befco rear discharge 6' finishing mower that I am just getting the hang of using (been a rotary cutter type u guy till now). The mower leaves a little windrow of clippings slightly to the left of centerline when viewed from the back. I have the mower set for 2.5 inches but it doesn't seem to matter what the setting is. Also, I have tried different speeds of mowing. If I go faster, the windrow seems to disappear but the quality of the cut goes to heck. Basically, if I go slow enough to get an even cut, I get the windrow. I tried mowing both clockwise and counterclockwise with no change. Is this peculiar to Befco or all grooming mowers? Any advice?
Thanks
Ken

MDSteve · Jul 29, 2003

I have a landpride and don't have a trail unless the grass is very high. As long as I mow ever 10 days or so I don't have a problem.

Steve

Freds · Jul 31, 2003

I mow once a week and the lawn looked like hell when I was done with my Brush Hog rear discharge. It too was clumping and dropping the grass. I don't know if this pertains to you and I won't tell you or anyone else to do this, but I took the chain guard off the rear and even the neighbor said what a big difference it made. The grass disperses much nicer.
I am thinking of using the rod and chain and putting it on the front of my bushhog where it can do more good.

Fred

HayDR · Jul 31, 2003

There are 3 different blades for this Befco unit: Standard lift, High Lift, & Mulching or Gator Blade. You will need to match the blade to your grass type and normal mowing height in relation to your grass height. If a baffle is bent underneath the mower this can cause the air turbulence to cause windrowing. Remember the speed you use to mow and the moisture content has a lot to do with distribution of the material. Last you must run the tractor at the speed the tachometer says is 540 RPM on the PTO. If your tractor is designed to operate at 2200 RPM and deliver 540 RPM’s and you just run the tractor at 1500 RPM, then you have not supplied enough RPM to the mower. The mower is designed to be operated best at 540 RPM. This often happens because the tractor makes more noise & vibration at 2200 RPM, while the tractor is more comfortable to the operator at 1500 RPM. You also have to remember that the tractor’s torque range is predicated on delivering the most HP at the engine speed required to deliver 540 RPM to the PTO.

DK_Farms · Jul 31, 2003

My RD6 has the standard lift blades. The mower is only 2 months old and I haven't damaged any of the blade shields as of yet so airflow under the deck should be as per Befco spec. Right now I'm cutting a fairly well established patch of St. Augustine grass with some fescue mixed in with it. When the new place is finished,I'll be cutting about 4 acres of bermuda. I only cut when it's dry. As for proper PTO speed, daddy beat that in to me at 13 years old when I choked an auger on a rice cart after I idled the tractor because the exhaust was blowing in my face. After that, 540 was burned in to my brain and butt. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Now the chain guard, that is an interesting thought. The chain guard on my rotary cutter doesn't get all matted up with clippings but the RD6 seems to get alot of grass caught in between the links. I may experiment with that.

BradK · Jul 31, 2003

I had some of the same clumping problems on my rear discharge Brush Hog finiosh mower. I raised the rear of the deck 1/2 spacer higher than the front and got some blades with more lift, left the chains in place. It seems to have cut down the clumps. The blades also stay sharper longer.