Belly mower does a ragged job - why?

[sandman2234]

What you are expecting the MMM to do is another good point. It’s not a bushhog. Using it as one will lead to disappointment.

And to it not cutting grass as well after trying to use it as a bushhog!
David from jax

 

[CH4Ohio]

Every mower I've ever had except for REAR PTO driven mowers has been run at WIDE OPEN THROTTLE.

Push mowers, cheap riding mowers, tractors with belly mowers -- always run wide open.

Does anyone have a push mower that they don't run at WOT? Why would a belly mower be any different?

My RC72-27B (72") mower cuts really slick running at WOT. It would do a lousy / ragged job at 2100 RPMs.

 

[hube2]

Every mower I've ever had except for REAR PTO driven mowers has been run at WIDE OPEN THROTTLE.

Push mowers, cheap riding mowers, tractors with belly mowers -- always run wide open.

Does anyone have a push mower that they don't run at WOT? Why would a belly mower be any different?

My RC72-27B (72") mower cuts really slick running at WOT. It would do a lousy / ragged job at 2100 RPMs.

I don't go WOT, don't like the sound of my tractor there, but I do run it at the top of the green area on my tach while under load. It does not do as nice of a job running I run my 540 PTO blower the same way.

My FIL was complaining to me about the way the old tractor I gave him was cutting, said he needed new blades. It had a brand new set of gator blades on it when I gave it to him. Asked him if he was running at at full throttle and he said no and I explained, but he still refuses to open it up and instead keep telling me what a bad job of mowing it does.

Running it slower can actually cause blades to dull quicker as well and allow more debris to build up under the deck.

Not saying that this is the OP's problem at all, just saying that it can be a contributing factor.

 

[nyone]

Poor cut or leaving strips uncut is telling me your either driving to fast or your decks blade tip speed is slow.

Becids the obvious dull blades and I hope your mowing near max rpm.

Blade tip speed is one very key thing needed when mowing that's also left out of manufacturers specs.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Had to go look at my tach. On my tractor, I need to be running at 2600 RPMs in order to be at optimum PTO speed. As mentioned, I usually mow at WOT and that would have me about 200 RPMs above the mark indicated on the tach.

My tractor runs and sounds good at that speed.

No way could I get good results mowing at 2100 RPM as was mentioned in the original posting. That's on my tractor.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Not to beat a dead horse here, but . . .

Are we talking about a B2601 tractor? Does the dash and tach look like this? The operators' manual that I just looked at shows the PTO hash mark on the tach at 2800 RPM.

I'm not clear where the info about it redlining at 2600 came from, but looks to me like it's being run way too slow to cut grass. Simple fix.

 

[marhar]

Are your blades on upside down? Are they reasonably sharp and the bottom side of the deck pretty clean? A belly mower should do a pretty good job. Something is definitely going on.

I bet you have the answer...upside down or backwards.

As a side note I had a friend put a chainsaw blade on backwards....the results were as expected. Every time he had a blade go dull we joked with him and asked what direction the blade was in.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I bet you have the answer...upside down or backwards.

As a side note I had a friend put a chainsaw blade on backwards....the results were as expected. Every time he had a blade go dull we joked with him and asked what direction the blade was in.

I can visualize putting the mower blades on upside down by mistake, but how do you put one on backwards?

Wouldn't it either be "right side up", or "upside down"?

 

[marhar]

I can visualize putting the mower blades on upside down by mistake, but how do you put one on backwards?

Wouldn't it either be "right side up", or "upside down"?

You are correct. I was thinking of a single spindle rotary mower that has one side that cuts and the other side that does not. A belly mower blade is more like a push mower in that both sides cut, correct?

 

[zzvyb6]

If you put a chainsaw blade on backwards, you have 2 choices: Run the motor backwards (takes a different recoil setup), or leave the motor off (save the environment) and use it like a handsaw. If you are REALLY handy, you can change it back to normal without shutting the motor off (in case of hard starting machines). Either way, "Life is Tough, and tougher if you are ...".