Rear Finish Mower Qestions regarding finish mower(s)

[drajj5]

I own a Kodiak 4' 3point hitch rotary mower. Pulled it out and greased for the first mow of the season. Popped the blades off and sharpened. went out and began to mow....

I was and have been a little frustrated at the cut, you know the appearance of the grass afterwards. The unit works as it should (540rpm) and still it seems to not give the finish that I was hoping for. I didn't want a "bush hog/brush cutter" as I wanted a better result from a finish type mower.

I looked on Youtube to see how other brands mow, and for some reason theirs looks like a better cut. My finish mower looks better than a brush cutter but not as good as those finish cuts I see on Youtube.

Perhaps I am doing something wrong, I sharpened the blades no differently than you would on a small riding mower.

One last note, I run the mower a 540rpm and for ***** and giggle ran up the rpm well ahead of the 540 rating. She spooled up and seem to cut much better at a higher than recommended rpm. I wonder if I could change some pulley's to achieve a higher blade speed? She certainly does not sound like an Airplane when in use...

Thanks

 

[Halftrack]

I'm referring to a similar situation that a friend had with his mower and blades. He had replaced the blades with what he thought were the right blades, but were in fact made for the opposite rotation mower. Then there's my father in law who put the blade on up side down after sharpening. Both blamed it on a "senior moment".

 

[leonz]

If you have that brush cut look on the lawn the chances are your blades are downside up.

 

[chim]

It's a little difficult to picture what you hope for versus what you're getting. I usually sharpen my blades after the first few mowings in case something decided to hide in the grass since the last Autumn mowing.

I've been using RFM's since about 1991. The three I've had experience with each has its own personality. Blade section affected the performance on mine. The current Landpride (6 foot, rear discharge) does real well with Gator Blades. The Caroni and previous Landpride (both 5 foot side discharge) didn't seem to like them. The 5' Landpride preferred hi-lift instead of the regular blades.

Normally with the rear discharge I can mow to either right or left of the last pass of cut grass, but if the grass is tall and or moist, it works better to mow to the right, or clockwise to eliminate windrowing.

 

[drajj5]

It's a little difficult to picture what you hope for versus what you're getting. I usually sharpen my blades after the first few mowings in case something decided to hide in the grass since the last Autumn mowing.

I've been using RFM's since about 1991. The three I've had experience with each has its own personality. Blade section affected the performance on mine. The current Landpride (6 foot, rear discharge) does real well with Gator Blades. The Caroni and previous Landpride (both 5 foot side discharge) didn't seem to like them. The 5' Landpride preferred hi-lift instead of the regular blades.

Normally with the rear discharge I can mow to either right or left of the last pass of cut grass, but if the grass is tall and or moist, it works better to mow to the right, or clockwise to eliminate windrowing.

I am not the best at drawing picture(s), but will try. The old worn-out Husqvarna lawn tractor that I use cuts grass in one pass- no need to go back to re-cut the lawn due to missed patches. The mower on the tractor will not chew the grass up and leave a 'finished cut' - blades are installed correctly and sharpened with a flap disc grinder.

When I first got the mower it did a terrible job, I pulled the blades and they were blunted and dull, sharpening them helped. However It seems that whatever I do I cannot achieve a cut like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcps6s7naqU

I think that the blade speed may be a factor, It just doesn't sound like it is "taking off" when I engage the PTO. I have seen commercial mowers and MMM and when engaged they sound like propellers on an Airplane. The only thing that I can hear is the gear drive on the mower doing its thing.

While reading another persons post he said that increasing the pulley size gave him a better cut and I am thinking that this will rectify the issue that I seem to have. One clean cut in one pass should be obtainable with a 3pt mower.

Am I wrong in thinking this?

 

[Leejohn]

Maybe your belt is loose.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Blade tip speed will make a Hugh difference for sure. Is it possible someone changed the main drive pulley to slow down the mower?

 

[gwstang]

"Then there's my father in law who put the blade on up side down after sharpening. Both blamed it on a "senior moment". ""


Hey! I resemble that remark!!!! Yes, I did put one of the bush hog blades on upside once. Was hitting the side or something and making a heck of a racket. I finally went back to the barn and got to looking at the underside and realized what I had done with just the one blade (other one was right...lol). Turned it around and who would have thought....the noise was gone...and it cut a whole lot better too! :confused2: Some days i just ought to stay in bed! :ashamed:

 

[4570Man]

I have two finish mowers. One has a blazing fast tip speed, the blades are 24 inches long and turn 3,800 rpm. The cut quality is excellent on that mower. The other mower has a tip speed of probably half that speed, and has an decent cut.

 

[chim]

...................It seems that whatever I do I cannot achieve a cut like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcps6s7naqU

...................

The grass appears to be too long and wet in that video for the deck to do a decent job. Either that or the mower isn't satisfactory. Here's a picture of the 5 foot Landpride deck on the B7500 I had while mowing and blowing the leaves off the yard. I'm happy with this performance.