Not enough air movement for grass catcher

[LaVita]

Hi,

I have a JD L100 riding lawn mower that just can't seem to push the cut grass all the way up the shute into the catcher. I haven't looked at the blades yet, but was thinking the blades need replacement or sharpening because not enough air is moving. Anybody else have or solve this problem? If the grass is wet, forget about it. But even if the grass is not wet it just jams at the junction between the mower deck and grass catcher shute. I have raised the deck all the way and it is better, but every 5 or 10 minutes I need to manually clear the shute. What a pain.

 

[unit40]

Do you have high lift bagging blades on it? If you do, look at them and make sure that the lift isn't worn down or gone. It would probably vibrate if it did.Is your belt way too loose and not turning the blades enough? Are you trying to take off too much grass at once? Do you have the engine at full throttle when you are mowing?

 

[LaVita]

Thanks unit40.

I don't know if I have high lift bagging blades or not. I got the unit used. It doesn't vibrate. How can I tell if they are high lift blades. My throttle is wide open and I don't think the belt is loose, but will check it. The problem is definitely worse when I try to take a deeper cut, but even at the highest deck setting the grass catches in the shute.

You have given me a few ideas, thanks.

Please let me know how to tell if I have high lift blades.

 

[dooleysm]

I recently installed a bagger on my cub cadet and as part of the install I had to replace the blades. The blades that came with the bagger had an upturned chunk of metal right behind the cutting edge. I assume this is a 'high lift blade' and I assume that upturned metal edge creates the airflow needed to shoot the grass up the chute.

That said, if the grass is too long or at all wet, my chute still clogs very easy. It's very frustrating.

 

[unit40]

The standard blades that usually come with the machine are not straight. They have a mulching capability that can be seen as a raised section of the blade usually along the middle of the blade between the bolt hole and the end of the blade. A bagging blade is usually flat on the bottom, it will lay flat if you put it on a flat surface. And the lift on a bagging blade, the upturned portion near the outside of the blade, is more pronounced than a standard blade. This creates suction under the deck and good air movement which helps propel the grass up the tube.