I mow a 4.5 acre yare area with my Deere 4210/60 inch 7-Iron MMM combination. When I purchased my machine back near the end of 2002, it was after careful research and comparison between several brands and models. The salesguy I finally purchased from was someone I knew from a prior purchase, so I trusted him when he told me my choice of mowing decks would cut "up to 6 inches in height". Well, what he didn't tell me was that height was only possible with the larger 4310/4410 models fitted with that deck, and my 4210 will only cut 3 3/4 inches maximum height with the deck raised as high as possible.
Even when fitted with new Gator mowing blades, my deck does a poor job of chopping up clippings even when the grass I mow only gets to 6 inches height before it is cut. During last month (May 2011) it rained 23 out of 31 days where I live, and there was an actual measured 16 inches of rainfall here. I went out and measured the area that I mowed less than a week and a half ago, and parts of the grass are already 12-13 inches high again already, because of the constant rain. I basically spend more time raking up and disposing of the clippings than I do mowing, most weeks.
Had I known my choice of tractor/mmm had such limited height of grass cutting, I would cheerfully have spent the extra money for the larger 4310 model with the extra 2 inches of cutting height ability. I am not trying to bash Deere, or the salesman, because I should have inquired about the cutting height before I finalized my purchase. If this information helps just one buyer avoid the issue I have endured, I consider the time spent composing this thread well spent. TAKE HEED !!!
Oh, and for what it is worth, after over 850 hours of ownership, this is the only gripe I have about my green machine.
