Grading Z-force 42 throws blade belt mowing over gumballs

[bjdjriddle]

Hi! I'm new to this forum, but I've owned a Z-force 42 for about two years now. It's a great mower, but I have a problem that I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced (and hopefully found a solution for). My yard has quite a few gumball trees that drop round prickly balls all over the place. These are about the size of a golf ball and when I mow over them, they get thrown up on the top of the mowing deck.

This usually results in the blade drive belt being thrown off the drive pulley. If you've ever had to replace this you know that it's not the easiest job to get it back on the pulley because of the tension.

I wondered if anyone has come across a shield of some sort that could enclose the blade belt pathways so that debris like this doesn't get between the pulley and the belt.

Thanks for any suggestions that you may have! /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[diesel_nut]

I recently thought of putting a flat sheet of (anything) on the front of my mower deck(kinda like a mud flap but on the deck itself) to keep the front tires from flinging cut grass up onto the deck. Maybe that would help in your case?

 

[bjdjriddle]

That might help, but the majority of the problem is coming from the gumballs being ejected from the discharge chute or under the deck and bouncing onto the top of the deck.

Thanks for the suggestion.