New Owner - Limited Distribution Husq. GT48DXLS Garden Tractor

[Lawnking]

The machine is a beast and it will handle your 2 acres without a problem.That's a crazy price for this lawn mower.Make sure there isn't anything wrong with it.

 

[Lawnking]

I tried the mulch plug as well and had the same grass clumping issue.I am using the Gator G5 blades but I might try the Husky mulching blades to see if it makes a difference.Side discharge is great.
.

So far I have 34 hours on the machine. This spring I had a sprinkler system installed and my lawn is growing like crazy! I can literately mow it every other day. That being said I have had issues with to much clumping going on. I mow 1 notch from the longest setting. Mind you my grass is always moist to some degree and that doesn't help. Recently I have shut the sprinklers down so they do not run in the morning if I am going to mow that day to see if that helped. I did see a big improvement with dryer grass but there is still a "row" of grass clipping on each pass. The clippings are very small though. I have not had a mulching mower before so I can't compare this to another one. Again my grass is very dense. I am considering getting the triple bagger. My concern is I will spend to much time dumping the grass and will be annoyed by that? I have been very happy with everything else about the machine. I have pulled a cart full of landscape pavers around that weighed about 800# no problem. The wife likes the machine too and mows the lawn as much as I do

 

[whizdbiz2]

Just as a matter of info, "Husky" is made by MTD and is a different animal than Husqvarna.

Agree, seems like "Husqy" might be a better way to shorten the name. The old MTD made mower I have (no longer in use) is "Huskee" but that might just be a Tractor Supply brand made by MTD.

 

[BlitZZwar]

The machine is a beast and it will handle your 2 acres without a problem.That's a crazy price for this lawn mower.Make sure there isn't anything wrong with it.

It's brand new so hopefully not

 

[dslanec]

I tried the mulch plug as well and had the same grass clumping issue.I am using the Gator G5 blades but I might try the Husky mulching blades to see if it makes a difference.Side discharge is great.
.

I was thinking about trying the gator blades to see if that helped. Sounds like it won't. I have the mulching blades that came with the mulching kit on right now.

 

[cruzenmike]

So far I have 34 hours on the machine. This spring I had a sprinkler system installed and my lawn is growing like crazy! I can literately mow it every other day. That being said I have had issues with to much clumping going on. I mow 1 notch from the longest setting. Mind you my grass is always moist to some degree and that doesn't help. Recently I have shut the sprinklers down so they do not run in the morning if I am going to mow that day to see if that helped. I did see a big improvement with dryer grass but there is still a "row" of grass clipping on each pass. The clippings are very small though. I have not had a mulching mower before so I can't compare this to another one. Again my grass is very dense. I am considering getting the triple bagger. My concern is I will spend to much time dumping the grass and will be annoyed by that? I have been very happy with everything else about the machine. I have pulled a cart full of landscape pavers around that weighed about 800# no problem. The wife likes the machine too and mows the lawn as much as I do

Thank you. That certainly helps. I do not have an irrigation system and my grass is not very dense. I have just under an acre that I mow about once a week. Over my septic field it is either extremely tall or not growing at all. My front yard I cannot get to grow over 3.5" because of clover. My chickens free range so chemical application is not possible. Anyway, I am currently using an older eXmark but I want to start using my GT48 for everything. I got it for the heavy duty trans as I like to roll and aerate my lawn and also use a wagon to haul stuff. Also in the winter I plan to use it for snow removal (torn between dozer blade and snow blower attachment at the moment). I am also in Michigan, but on the SE side. The past few winters have not given us much snow to deal with. It sounds like overall the GT48 has proven to be a decent machine. I was fortunate enough to get my unit still crated from the dealer so I got it home, leveled the deck, adjusted the air pressure in the tires, charged the battery, checked the oil, checked the lube points and filled it up with ethanol free gas. Just need to get out there and start it up for the first time!

Mike

 

[cruzenmike]

I was thinking about trying the gator blades to see if that helped. Sounds like it won't. I have the mulching blades that came with the mulching kit on right now.

I tried this on my Cub Cadet. For some reason the model I had only came with a mulching plug but no replacement blades. The factory blades are 2-1 for discharge and bagging (high lift). I ordered some Rotary mulching blades (similar to Gators) and they are simply a high lift blade with cuts in the sails. They did well with leaves and grass, but only when the plug was not installed. A mulching blade will have a longer edge and shorter sails. The primary issue is that decks are designed to move clippings out and away from the deck while a mulching kit is intended to keep clippings inside of the deck for recirculating. Your issues are most likely due to the density of your lawn and the height of the grass. If the clippings are not leaving the deck, you quickly run out of space to re-cut clippings while also pulling up and cutting the ones still rooted. My Toro TimeCutter had the kit installed and it worked great when I was only taking 1/2-1" off of the top. Beyond that it still clumped. I did see that in Europe Honda offers a riding mower with blades that rotate in the opposite direction of each other. This obviously helps with rear discharge as those mowers tend to have built-in rear baggers, but I imagine it would work better for mulching as well.

Mike

 

[Teachu2]

I rototilled my back lawn in the Spring, and killed off everything. It quickly returned to it's brutally hard native state, so I bought a 6' wide harrow from TSC to facilitate planting Bermuda seed. My first thought was to use my Rhino 660 to pull it, but I thought the GT48 would be even more nimble. It pulled the harrow easily and the harrow was incredible. I made two passes over the entire area, then broadcast seed, flipped the harrow over, and smoothed out the area. Keeping it wet (4 times a day) and waiting for it to sprout.....

 

[dslanec]

I tried this on my Cub Cadet. For some reason the model I had only came with a mulching plug but no replacement blades. The factory blades are 2-1 for discharge and bagging (high lift). I ordered some Rotary mulching blades (similar to Gators) and they are simply a high lift blade with cuts in the sails. They did well with leaves and grass, but only when the plug was not installed. A mulching blade will have a longer edge and shorter sails. The primary issue is that decks are designed to move clippings out and away from the deck while a mulching kit is intended to keep clippings inside of the deck for recirculating. Your issues are most likely due to the density of your lawn and the height of the grass. If the clippings are not leaving the deck, you quickly run out of space to re-cut clippings while also pulling up and cutting the ones still rooted. My Toro TimeCutter had the kit installed and it worked great when I was only taking 1/2-1" off of the top. Beyond that it still clumped. I did see that in Europe Honda offers a riding mower with blades that rotate in the opposite direction of each other. This obviously helps with rear discharge as those mowers tend to have built-in rear baggers, but I imagine it would work better for mulching as well.

Mike

That's good info. I never knew what made a mulching blade different from a regular one.

 

[dslanec]

Well my wife ordered me the triple bagger today for our upcoming anniversary. It should be here Thursday. Hopefully I'll be done dealing with left behind clippings. I'm wondering if I need to leave the mulching blades on or switch back to the stock ones?