Walker's F Series Thread

[walker450]

I installed my prototype baffle after removing two of the existing ones. I mowed for about an hour and right away I could tell a night and day difference regarding blowout from the front of the deck.

There is a very small amount of blowout at the front left of the deck so I may add a lip like on the other side to see if that'll disrupt the airflow enough to prevent it.

I welded the baffles directly to the deck to make sure they work. We got rain overnight so I will have to wait a few days to test in drier conditions. If they pass that test, i can cut the tacks and weld some tabs and bolt them in place.

 

[Doug Vee]

I installed my prototype baffle after removing two of the existing ones. I mowed for about an hour and right away I could tell a night and day difference regarding blowout from the front of the deck.

There is a very small amount of blowout at the front left of the deck so I may add a lip like on the other side to see if that'll disrupt the airflow enough to prevent it.

I welded the baffles directly to the deck to make sure they work. We got rain overnight so I will have to wait a few days to test in drier conditions. If they pass that test, i can cut the tacks and weld some tabs and bolt them in place.

Glad to hear you have made successful progress. I look forward to seeing the final product.

Doug

 

[two_bit_score]

Thanks for the update Walker450!

 

[Hay Dude]

I need that baffle pretty bad. I would say of the few minor complaints I have on my F, this is the worst one.
I wonder if Kubota offers something? They must have more than a few similar complaints.

 

[walker450]

Yes there is a baffle kit available for the 72" anyways, not sure if you have that or a 60". Google your deck model number and messicks parts and it should find the messicks parts diagram where you can get a part number.

Here us the one for my deck: Kubota RCK72P-F36 (72" SIDE DISCHARGE MOWER) Parts Diagrams

 

[Doug Vee]

Thanks for the info Doug, very helpful. I will investigate the driveline and gearbox a little more and review Arto's thread.

My deck is actually a side discharge. The main issue is blowing out from the front. I checked Kubotas site and they have this on the F series page: "An inner baffle to prevent cut grass from discharging to the front."

I searched several forums and it seems that a front baffle helps prevent blowout. Messicks has a "Front Kit" bagfle option but it would cost nearly $300 to try out.

I looked at Skags website and they have a protruded front on the deck and then an internal front baffle with some flat pieces that come back between the blades. I'll attach pictures of all this, hopefully it'll make sense.

I've also noticed that on Kubota's website the pictures of the ZD and F decks show a small lip along the leading edge, only about 3/4" long, I wonder of that is for airflow or something else? Mine does not have that lip.

I believe I'm going to have to spend some time fabricating in the shop to get this thing working better so I'm not eating dirt every time I go over areas with thin grass.

One attached screenshot is of a post on a different forum where a guy took off the front baffles if a Kubota deck and it caused a lot of blowout so he out them back on.

I thought I would post an image of my rear discharge deck baffles, just for reference. See below.

Also, note the low lift blades.

 

[walker450]

I thought I would post an image of my rear discharge deck baffles, just for reference. See below.

Also, note the low lift blades.

Thanks for sharing that pic Doug. It looks like all the blades turn the same direction, is that correct? I thought rear discharge decks had one blade spinning the opposite way.

Looking at that picture makes me like rear discharge decks even more, so simple, just let it go out the back and be done, each blade for itself. I imagine in taller grass less HP is required to perform the same amount of work.

 

[Doug Vee]

Thanks for sharing that pic Doug. It looks like all the blades turn the same direction, is that correct? I thought rear discharge decks had one blade spinning the opposite way.

Looking at that picture makes me like rear discharge decks even more, so simple, just let it go out the back and be done, each blade for itself. I imagine in taller grass less HP is required to perform the same amount of work.

Hmm, I have not heard of one blade turning opposite the other two. All three of mine rotate the same direction.

The deck does seem to work pretty well, especially since I removed the two rubber flaps at each side and the long flat bar that ran across the back between them. With those parts installed, random piles would spit out the rear of the deck when the grass was heavy.

The only upside I could see for the discharge "flaps" and the flat bar is that the engine screen and the transaxle stayed cleaner.

 

[arto98607]

Here is a photo of my F3060 72" RD deck before cleaning - these blades rotate in the same direction.

Different baffle design - it's wide open towards rear.
This was a new replacement deck from Kubota few years ago and it's identical to the original design.

There is no forward blow to speak of, but lot of blowing towards rear.
This design was obviously not meant to do any mulching and it does not when driving forward, however it does pretty good mulching job when mowing in reverse!

Our Grasshopper mower has a factory 61" mulching deck with no grass outlet to speak of and ground speed has to slowed down a lot in taller grass, but in normal conditions all clippings just sort of disappear.
It takes lot more power to run good mulch mower in tall grass.

 

[walker450]

Thanks arto! It's neat to see the differences in deck design. If I had found a rear discharge in my proce range I would have bought it for sure.

I made another trip to my local Kubota dealer.... $86 total for grass deflector chute, pin, and spring.... I figure if it prevents a broken window then it is well worth it. I temporarily robbed the one off my BX but it isn't wide enough and builds up in a few areas and causes some to blow straight into the air where the gap is, so I figured I would put the proper piece on. I ordered the plastic one for a 90 series. I like the way a plastic one offers some flexibility when needed. Judging by the parts diagrams it should go right on. If it requires some modifications I will have to break out the tools.

Ultimately I'd like to build a custom block off plate that will have multiple positions: closed, open with deflector in normal position, and open with deflector raised up about 45 degrees to better disperse clippings if needed.