Mowing Poor cut with MMM

[timswi]

I agree that some odd mechanical issue is happining here. Mine will leave a small steak when doing hard coners when mowing, but nothing major. Straight line cuts and wide turns are perfect. I cut in low range WOT and the pedal floored unless I hit high grass, then I slow down. A three inch cut is not going to produce perfect results most of the time, although I've done it going slowly.

The PTO being in mid and rear is a good check, although I doubt it would sap much power if nothing is connected to the rear PTO...Never tried it, so I don't know.

 

[Toolguy]

Mowing speed should not be a problem. I mow in M range with the pedal all the way down on my B3030 most of the time. Does a great job. It sounds to me like the deck is not level front to back, with the front being too high. Just my .02. Good luck.

 

[aczlan]

We have a BX2660 with a 60" deck and it was cutting 3/4 of an inch higher on one side than the other. What we had was that the "scalp wheels" on the 4 corners needed to be within 3/4" of the ground when you are at your cutting height. Otherwise, one side will get too high and the other will scalp.

Aaron Z

 

[Cooldmax]

I'm guessing your dealer leveled your deck with the loader on and now your mowing without the loader. My dealer did this and when the loader is off the front of your deck is at least 1/2 inch higher. When the deck is not lower in the front it will leave streaks. It took me a while but I leveled mine myself and it mows great as fast as I can stay on the seat.

 

[rdsaustintx]

Reilly,

Your grass sounds like the rangy-azzed stuff I have on half my property. The stalks will bend down and stay down. An hour after you mow you can see where the tires and the anti-scalp roller were, because those suckers stand back up. I have sort of given up on a perfect mow. The seed heads just pop back up anyway, especially in hot weather.

I have a little st. augustine and am seeding bermuda as well. Mower works great on that stuff.

 

[The Haymaker]

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

Did it myself on a side blade. It's all NH's fault for not sharpening both sides.

 

[fredhargis]

I get a little of that effect with my B2920. I was thinking it's a matter of heavy tractor (compared to a lawn mower) and the front tires (R-4's in my case. It almost looks grass in the front tire track doesn't get cut as short as the untracked grass. I've rightly or wrongly guessed the grass was flattened by the front tires and didn't spring up fast enough to get cut as short as the rest of it. In my case it's not so bad that I care, so I don't recut.

 

[mantis]

I get a little of that effect with my B2920. I was thinking it's a matter of heavy tractor (compared to a lawn mower) and the front tires (R-4's in my case. It almost looks grass in the front tire track doesn't get cut as short as the untracked grass. I've rightly or wrongly guessed the grass was flattened by the front tires and didn't spring up fast enough to get cut as short as the rest of it. In my case it's not so bad that I care, so I don't recut.

This is what I see too. For me it is more typical on the left side of the tractor/mower, so when I mow I overlap passes by about 1/3, and it gets a second cut. The worst times are when the grass is either long or damp, but I know you (RTII) said that your grass was neither of those. Hopefully the dealer will be able to help you solve your mystery.

 

[keyman1808]

I get the same thing with my Husky mower. Grass is thick and lush and the tire knocks it down and wont come back up fast enough.

 

[EE_Bota]

I think all mowers that have heavy wheels in front of the deck are likely to have the smushed grass effect to some extent.

I find that if I use blades with good lifting capacity (suitable for baggers,) so long as I have the revs up, and do nothing to block the exhaust air flow (no bagger or mulch exit plate,) the problem is greatly reduced

If I put a mulching exit plate on either the Kubota or the John Deere L105, the problem is much worse, and not only where wheels have been.

My Kubota mower deck manual tells how to set mine up, and it is pretty easy to do.