Re: Anti-Scalp Roller Mod\'s?
RET,
While we are waiting for those wheels to arrive...let's take a look at the mowing situation again. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
You are trying to get a perfect cut on a rough surface by your own description. So the question is, should any mower without some kind of exotic self-leveling, automatic elevation stabilizing system be expected to do what you are asking? Personally, I doubt it.
Let’s look at your example of the pothole in an otherwise smooth lawn [my simplification, you have lots of them].
Take a MMM mower that rides on the ground on its own wheels. It is essentially just dragged along by the tractor, with the tractor supplying the power to turn the cutting blades. The tractor falls into the pothole, the mower rides on the surface. But when the mower wheel falls in the pothole, the mower itself drops (at that corner) about the same depth as the pothole is deep. And the mower jumps right back up that same amount when the wheel comes out of the pothole.
A suspended deck, moves up and down with the tractor, but since the edge of the deck is a greater distance from the tractor wheels [farther than the MMM that rides on its own wheels is], the deck edge does not drop as far downward, as the ground-supported deck would, for the same size pothole.
The tractor frame is like a lever, and the deck is at the midpoint. The midpoint of the lever moves half the distance as the end, if the lever pivots at the other end. When the front wheel drops in a hole, the tractor essentially pivots on the rear axle. So it looks like a suspended deck should average out the roughness of the cut, as compared to a mower that rides on the ground on its own wheels [which are closer together than the tractor’s wheels]. For this reason a suspended MMM deck should provide a smoother cut on rough ground than one that rides on its own wheels.
So now what role do the anti-scalp wheels play on a suspended deck? I am having a problem expecting them do anything other than what they are designed to do. That is, in an extreme situation they keep the mower from digging in. I don’t see them as being there to turn the suspended deck into a dual function suspended/ground-riding deck. If this is true, then the anti-scalp wheels should be as high as possible, and only contact the ground in extreme situations.
Like I mentioned above I am very interested in your project and look forward to the continuing reports of your progress. Just thought it might be fun to analyze the situation a bit while you are waiting for those wheels from castercity.com.
As I am thinking through this, I am leaning towards the conclusion that the real solution to the problem of a good, even cut on your rough lawn is for you to spend some time leveling the uneven surface you are mowing. I doubt that any improvement you come up with to make the anti-scalp wheels more bulletproof will result in a better cut of the lawn. And I am not sure you really want them to be hitting the ground all the time. If they are doing this you are forcing them to perform the much heavier duty service of a ground-contact-mower wheel. This is not what they were designed to do.
I don’t want to sound like I am saying that the wheels don’t need any improvement. I do believe they should have bearings and grease fittings. These are mower decks that cost more than 20 HP garden tractors (which come with mower decks attached) from Sears! They should be top notch, high quality product in all respects. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Bottom line? Sounds like what you are cutting really requires something that is somewhere in between a brush hog and finish mower! You may be using your finish mower in a service situation that it was not designed for. In other words, you may actually be abusing it, and seeing the results of that abuse. The root problem may not be the fact that the wheels have failed.
Hey, I’ve done similar thing at times too /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif, so I am not being critical, just trying to state a possible fact. I don’t know how hard you are working that MMM. I am just going by what I think I heard you say.
Like everyone else, I look forward to hearing your coming report on the wheels from castercity.com. Should be a very positive improvement for all users. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif