John Deere rider deck always cloging up with caked material

[super55]

What you are describing is very typical of not just JD but any mower. When I worked for a lawn care service years ago there were some lawns that we would mow that no matter what the bagger wouldn't work and by the end of the lawn the deck was filled to max with buildup from clippings. The culprit was alway the same. Very thick lush lawns that had irrigations systems.

I don't know if you have an irrigation system or not but if you do don't run it the day you mow. 75-85% of the weight of grass clippings is from water. Heavy clippings not only cake up on everything it makes it extremely difficult for a bagger to work properly and virtually impossible for a bagger to work that does not have a blower on it.

Clean the deck up really well with a power washer if you have one and then spray a heavy coat of PAM cooking oil on it. Next time you finish mowing you will be able to rinse it off with a garden hose to get the clippings out than once dry apply the PAM again. Trust me I know cleaning the mower deck is one of the least desirable jobs out there but if you want it to function properly it requires a little bit of preventative maintenance.

 

[chriswheeler]

I can appreciate the wet grass thing not working with the bagger. Here in Nevada water is in short supply and I always have 2 or 3 days of no water on the lawn before mowing. We use a old fashioned walking sprinkler, nothing automatic here, and as dry as it gets. Still have the problem. Yes there is some residual moisture in the grass itself, but I'd think that should hardly be enough to cause the cement like cake. Getting underneath this thing without removing the deck is not a option, getting to it without removing the deck to spray pam or WD40 isn't much of a option due to access. About the only viable thing I can see to be done is to add a fresh water washdown port to try to break it loose before it sets up and to make the underside of the deck slick enough to make it hard for the cuttings to stick to begin with. Sure wish there was something else. That Devcon epoxy ceramic coating costs about $250 for 2lbs of the stuff.
Chris

 

[dieselbob69]

My fault for clogging this time-barely getting chance to mow with all the rain we've had this summer. I at least had some standing water in some parts of lawn where I could clean the deck....... I have one of those Mo-Jacks-they are ok,but removing deck from mower is better. On the 3204 Cub I used to have,I took the deck to a local guy that does the spray-on bedliners-I had him do the underneath in a smooth finish-I think it cost me $100-$150-it did help for a couple years,but it did eventually start to peel off a little-made cleaning deck a little easier.

 

[Yellowfever440]

More your grass more often or less often depending on how you mow it now. A rotary cutter or bush hog style mower is a completely different animal than a lawn or garden tractor deck. I mow 2 to 3 ft tall grass in waterways and roadsides with a 15 ft batwing and it never builds up even in the morning when the dew is heavy. But yet again I am not chewing it up like a lawn mower.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

On my JD GT235e, I've just accepted cleaning the deck after every mowing as part of life.

I can now remove the deck from the GT in about 2 minutes, flip it over, remove the blades, spend about 10 minutes scraping it thoroughly with a putty knife, install sharpened blades, flip it back over, and then spend about 3 - 4 minutes re-installing it.

I'd rather scrape the deck and dump the crud on my vacant lot than wash the deck and have a soupy mess all over my driveway or lawn.

 

[DrBill]

On my JD GT235e, I've just accepted cleaning the deck after every mowing as part of life.

I can now remove the deck from the GT in about 2 minutes, flip it over, remove the blades, spend about 10 minutes scraping it thoroughly with a putty knife, install sharpened blades, flip it back over, and then spend about 3 - 4 minutes re-installing it.

I'd rather scrape the deck and dump the crud on my vacant lot than wash the deck and have a soupy mess all over my driveway or lawn.

I agree all the way.. That soup is 10 times worse to deal with than the clumps.. I do the same as you do except I have one of those lifts the front wheels fit in.. I only bought it because of the deck cleaning chores..

A lot of people are posting that it's going to happen to all decks,, but I've got 3 mowing machines and the gt245 of mine is the only one that does it.. The other two stay clean and it's the same grass and mowing times...

 

[Yellowfever440]

Maybe it's rpm. Maybe the engine needs tuned but a little bit for more speed? I don't know what the different is. I have never had this problem. But dealt with it a lot when I worked at a dealership we could usually always clear up the problem. We didn't usually spray the decks with anything either.

 

[chriswheeler]

Had to pick up some trimmer string this morning in town. Had a chance to give a new Husky riding mower a look over while there. Noticed right away that they had installed a factory wash out setup from the factory. This hose fitting is located on top of the deck just 6" or so from the outside of the blades. So I guess I'm not the only one to think of this to keep the build up down some. Going to weld on a fitting in the next week or so and give it a try, can't hurt. Lots less work than removing the deck after each use.
Chris

 

[GPintheMitten]

Please report back on how well it works.

 

[pacerron]

Had to pick up some trimmer string this morning in town. Had a chance to give a new Husky riding mower a look over while there. Noticed right away that they had installed a factory wash out setup from the factory. This hose fitting is located on top of the deck just 6" or so from the outside of the blades. So I guess I'm not the only one to think of this to keep the build up down some. Going to weld on a fitting in the next week or so and give it a try, can't hurt. Lots less work than removing the deck after each use.
Chris

Some of the John Deere decks have hose fittings as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfIdjzl0MeE

We had one years ago on a rotary push mower. Didn't work very well, but perhaps if you use it in combination with a high lift blade it might be helpful.
We have a JD L120 with a 48" deck that cakes up badly. Wife and I have put over 1000 hours on it, her mainly, with 5-10 hours per week mowing the yard, around barns, along pasture fence, and on top of the pond dam, and pulling a trailer for garden and flower bed work ( anywhere our 92" woods finish mower won't fit ). This summer has been the worst year for caking up but it has rained all summer and the grass needs mowed 1-2 times a week. We never mow with it till the dew has dried off in the afternoon but the grass has so much moisture inside it still cakes badly.
We jack up the front end and scrape it out every couple weeks or when uncut lines start to show in the main yard.
The deck underside is designed with many protrusions, spring end holes, and bolts, in addition to the spindles, that catch the grass and begin the cake.
The top of the deck grabs a lot of cut grass as well. I drilled a couple 1/4 holes in the sides of each of the outer spindle covers so I can blow the grass that accumulates under them out with an air hose as I'm blowing the grass buildup on the top of the deck off as well.