Mowing Poor cut with MMM

[dodge man]

We have had a lot of rain this summer, for me to get a real good cut as fast as the grass is growing, I really need to mow about every 3 to 4 days. I only mow once a week usually, so I feel I have to slow down a little. If I didn't mow at least once a week, I would really have to slow down. It just depends on how thick your yard is, how much rain you get, and what kind of grass you have. This time of year I start to get crab grass, and it cuts even worse as far as being even.

 

[teg]

I'd also just check to see if the blades were mounted with the right side up!!!!!!

I've seen two riding mowers with the blades on backwards... and the cut wasn't too bad either

 

[BeezFun]

Not sure what the belt configuration is, could the belt be slipping on the pulley driving one blade?

 

[Tdog]

Good answers. Also be sure you are mowing at full or near-full throttle - - - but I bet there is some other cause.

 

[MoreCowbell]

I guess it could be worse - the MMM could be giving your lawn a Brazilian rather than a Mohawk .

Seriously, since the middle blade is forward of the outer two blades, maybe the front link is too tight causing the front of the deck to be higher.

 

[Just2quickz28]

Ive seen the Mohawk when mowing too fast and the mower deck low. The front scalping wheel pushes the grass down and it doesn't stand back up fast enough for the blades to make a good cut. I have also seen this with the tries when the grass is damp.

 

[rdsaustintx]

I've only used the 60"mmm on my BX2660 three times, yesterday being the last. From what I can remember of previous posts, most of you with the same deck seem very happy with the quality of cut. My deck however leaves a mohawk look after each pass and requires a second pass to level the grass. Grass was always mowed dry. Is this normal? What could cause it and what might be the fix? Dull blades? Some sort of alignment issue?

Reilly, any chance you are cutting KR bluegrass? Ya know, the rangy stuff with the wiry seed heads that stand up over the turf? If so, mow slower or just make two passes. All of the other advice here is great, but the grass down here can be different from what most users are familiar with.

Russell in BubbaLand

 

[RTII]

Reilly, any chance you are cutting KR bluegrass? Ya know, the rangy stuff with the wiry seed heads that stand up over the turf? If so, mow slower or just make two passes. All of the other advice here is great, but the grass down here can be different from what most users are familiar with.

Russell in BubbaLand

Hey Russel,

The grass here is a mixture of whatever was here before I bought the land(maybe bahia or bahia like) as well as bermuda that I'm just over seeding with. Some areas are thick, some thin and also in between. Doesn't seem to matter to the mower. There is still streaking even in the thin stuff and even when I'm mowing slow. at the moment I'm making two passes and it seems to do the trick but my goal would be to cut the mowing time in half by only mowing once. If the dealer can't find the problem, I'll narrow it down to operator error but hard to go slower than I already am and really don't think I should have to unless I let the grass get really long. Due to work conflicts, At the moment I am only mowing about once a month. This may sem like a long time between cuts but in this heat the growth isn't really significant. Probably not even six inches and I'm cutting down to 3 inches.

 

[radioman]

ok - glad nothing is loose. I forgot to add to check to rocking of the blade, maybe spindle(s) has bad bearing. Did you make sure it has grease pumped in before you reattached the deck? What about the blade length? The blade should barely passing each other but the way its setup, it has a good overlap.

Are you cutting grass that is not more then 6 inches taller then what you cut ? Ideally you should be cutting grass 1/3 each time. is the RPMs in 2800-3200 range? hi/lo gear doesnt matter, you should be able to do things in one pass in hi or lo. I disagree with others that lo is only way to get better cut unless the grass is 3" or higher. Mine cuts just fine in tall grass like that.

BeezFun- it a good idea to check the belt slipping, but the BX decks has a tensioner that keeps whole thing tight. Unless there is a problem with tensioner and its not greased......

just something to think about off hand-- is the pto selecter on MMM pto only? not both rear and MMM pto? it might be sapping the power for MMM when rear is on too. I gotta check mine in that pto selection- but I think it doesnt matter.

 

[TigerfaninAR]

How wide is the mohawk? I'm using a RFM but noticed a streak while mowing yesterday. I tried slower and it didn't help so I got concerned. What I noticed was the part that wasn't getting cut as nice was the part that my right front tire was rolling over. Grass wasn't too long and sure wasn't tall or thick enough to cause the tractor to work extra hard. Only difference was it had been almost two weeks since I mowed instead of only a week when I cut last time, and it looked great then.

Just2quick mentioned the scalp roller, is the mohawk about the same width as the roller? Don't know just throwing stuff out there.