Mowing excessive leaf blowout

[karlos1]

I have a relatively new Craftsman tractor (model #13AL78XT099) with a 46" deck using mulching blades. Now that the leaves are coming down, when I mow I get a lot of blowout from the mowing deck. Not so much from what's already been cut underneath the deck, but more that the air from under the deck blows some leaves away before I get a chance to run them over.

It's not as noticeable in the summer with just grass clippings (though I do get plenty of dust kicking up) but in the fall now with the leaves it's very prevalent. I am even using an attached cyclone rake which vacuums and mulches the leaves, and leaves still blow away from the front and sides of the deck. It does not seem to matter much what height I am mowing at, though it does seem to blow less away at lower heights... of course, at the lowest heights I'm pushing leaves away and not running them over.

My old Craftsman LT1000 never had this issue. With that old tractor, any leaf within a couple inches of the deck would get sucked in. Any suggestions? Thanks!
-Karl

 

[Dftodd]

I had the same issue with my 48" cub cadet with mulching blade. Got a set of straight blades with my bagger. Wouldn't chop leaves very well with the mulching blades, but would pulverise them with the straight blades. Closed off the shoot with a piece of tin and some tech screws, and those straight blades would really chop stuff up nice and fine

 

[karlos1]

Thanks Dftodd. Very interesting that your straight blades would mulch better than the mulching blades. I actually have regular blades that came with my mower, but I switched to mulching blades because I was getting so much blowout from under the deck with those straight blades earlier this summer. At the time it wasn't leaves... it was grass clippings and dust/dirt. I would finish mowing the lawn and my legs would just be covered in dirt and clippings. The mulch blades helped reduce the clippings and dirt that blew from under the deck, but it still produces a lot of air blowing out from under there. I would have guessed that mulching blades were supposed to produce an air flow that sucks things up into the blades... but I guess that air that it sucks up has to go somewhere.

Do you think the blades might be the issue, or more it's the design of the airflow within the deck?

I see that Deere sells an attachment that you can bolt to the edge of the underside of the deck to help prevent blowout, but it does not look like Craftsman makes such a thing. I've seen some DIY solutions online which I might try, but still I'd love to actually have any leaves within a couple inches of the deck get sucked up as opposed to getting blown away.
-Karl

 

[Dftodd]

I feel your pain. I still get quite a bit of blow by. Actually fixing the cub cadet up to give to one of the kids. Bought a 60" rear dishacharge finish mower for the tractor. Cut the mowing time way down. Will try that out on the leaves in a few more weeks. From the few i ran over the last time i mowed it seems to do a really nice job

 

[Dftodd]

I think some of it has to do with blade design. My neighbors got a newer cub cadet, and the mulching blades for his had half the angle of mine and almost smooth on top. And they did a fantastic job. I was really jealous with how fine the cut was and how well they chopped the leaves.

 

[Colt_Cowboy]

Just be careful going after those leaf piles with a riding mower. My FIL managed to catch my Craftsman rider on fire while trying to mulch a deep pile of leaves. Burned the mower up completely, melted the lead from the battery and several aluminum parts. Luckily he was not hurt and the fire department guys just shook their heads.