BX 60" MMM mulch plug project

Volfandt · Jan 22, 2005

BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

When my shop decided to throw out some very outdated hardware, i.e circuit card cabinets & brackets many of my co-workers laughed as I "scarfed" up some of the flat sheet metal parts. Among the discard was some fairly flat sheet metal of approx 1/16" thick of various sizes. Good stuff I thought to myself, too good to throw out.....
So, whilst sitting out in my shop looking at the idle machinery on this very wet day, I decided to make a mulch plug for the 60" MMM I've yet to operate. I got sold on the benefits of mulching last yr and want to continue to mulch w/the BX23 but didn't want to spend upwards of around $250 for Kubota's kit if'n a simple plug would do so, after an hour of adj, cutting & painting, I believe I may have a viable mulch plug. I'm still trying to decide on how to attach it and am leaning towards a simple heavy duty rubber bungee cord strapped across it. I can bolt it up also but will wait to see how the bungee looks & works. I'd like to be able to remove it easily for field mowing.

So, a few pics of my Sat project.

Volfandt

Volfandt · Jan 22, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

Another view

Volfandt · Jan 22, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

One last view.

RonR · Jan 22, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

Volf,

Have you seen the mulch kit? I ordered one with my BX2200/54" MMM.

IIRC, it has a lip the goes around the front of the mower. I think it keeps the grass clippings from falling out sooner and helps chop them up. (?????)

I used it a little on my lawn and it seemed to work well.

Then I had some rougher stuff to cut, and took it off and put the regular blades back on.

It's not an quick thing to mount/unmount the kit!

I think if I could build a plug like yours, I might use it in lieu of the mulch kit.

Great job!
ron

Scrounger · Jan 22, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

I thought the reason the mulch kit was so expensive was that it made the area under the deck smaller so the grass is chopped up more. I dont think a plug will do the same job as the mulch kit, but from what I understand the kit is a bugger to install. I think that once its in, you really aren't expected to remove it on a regular basis.

jpr62902 · Jan 23, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

Scrounger, I think you're correct. I tried Volfandt's idea on my Honda lawn tractor and all it did was clog up the deck with a bunch of unmulched clippings and stall the tractor. The baffles and blades in the mulch kit are essential to making this system work. I'd sure like to know if this idea works on the BX though.

Volfandt · Jan 23, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

RonR, yeah, I've seen the Kubota kit getting installed on a 60" MMM whilst visiting the dealer one day. 1st thought I had was "man, theres got to be an easier way for those of us what likes to mulch some and side discharge some".
Unfortunately, I'll not know if'n it'll work till spring. I may have to experiment w/ different blades also, perhaps gators or even try the kit's blades.

Question RonR, How big a diference is there between the std & mulch kit blades?

Background:
I got sold on mulching this past mowing season when I purchased a JDL130, the much maligned HD "Home Deere". This LT came w/a 3 way deck i.e. it would mulch, bag or side discharge (SD) and I used it doing all 3 and it did an outstanding at doing them btw. I didn't have to change out the blades to the hi-lift ones for the bagger as the std side discharge/mulching blades did fine.
(note, same blades for SD, mulching & bagging)
Come fall cleanup I removed the deck for its thorogh cleaning and with it off I was amazed at how "open" the deck was. There was minimal baffleing/channeling around the blades and none between them and yet this setup mulched fine (as long as I went much slower, it shredded the leaves in an outstanding manner). And to switch from SD to mulching constituted installing a simple plastic plug on the SD port, secured only by 2 bungee cord/clips.
note, Very simple in operation & principle!

R&D /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Now the 60" MMM on the BX already has circular baffleing on the back side of each blade which is in effect more than the L130 had.
Kubota's mulching kit includes front baffleing, blades and a permanent bolt-on plug which unfortunately makes it quite labor intensive to change modes as RonR pointed out. My guess is that the kit add's at approx 20lbs! We're talking heavy duty here Sportsfans!
So, with all this intense research invested, /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I've "hopefully" come to the conclusion that a simple plug "just" may do the trick!

Conclusion:
My somewhat uneducated guess as to why the Kubota kit goes to the extreme it does in segregateing each blade into it's own cutting section is to allow for the BX to mulch at a much greater speed, perhaps as fast as when one SD's the clippings. Perhaps RonR can report on the performance.
But for me going slower to mulch certain areas of my lawn is something I'm already used to and having the ability to change to SD inorder to speed up the mowing process is definitely my main reasoning to attempt this simple modification.
If'n it works I'll mass produce 'em and get rich, /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif if'n it doesn't, well I'll be out an orange piece of scrap metal and a little labor.

I'll report come mowing season.

Volfandt

RonR · Jan 23, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

The mulching blades have no or almost no "flip up" at the rear of the blade. I'll take a pic of one after while.

I haven't used mine enough (small yard) to know whether the mulch kit is value added or not. Honestly, if it wouldn't have been part of the pkg, I wouldn't have even bought the MMM....

Will post a pic later of the blade.

Tom_H · Jan 23, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

I have a BX2200 with 60" MMM. At first I used the blower and bagger. On the first cut of each year, I got continual clogs at the exhaust chute and in the tube. Emptying bags over and over was time consuming. For the past 3 years I've used the mulch system, which has been more efficient and faster. On the first cut of the year, I have to make 2 or 3 passes on the most fertile areas, starting with a high setting and taking off half an inch at a time, but it is much easier than the bagger was. Each of the 3 cutter ares is baffled to separate it from the others. This allows the currents of airflow to keep the clippings aloft, floating in the air, which enables the blades to chop them into increasingly smaller portions. Having a chute plug, but no baffles, will cause airflow patterns which will not allow the same result. It also won't work unless you replace the standard blades with the mulch blades.

RonR · Jan 23, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

Pic 1 is top view of mulching blade. It doesn't show all the different angles! My guess is the cutting edge is much longer (closer to the hole) than on a standard blade.

RonR · Jan 23, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

Pic 2 is an end view. Wow does this blade have a lot of different angles manufactured in it!

I tried to lay it flat to get a pic, but it didn't want to lay flat. As it sits on the mower, the rear of the blade would be angled up a little.

ron

botalvr · Jan 24, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

I am obviously not the best mechanical engineer out there by far, but my mulch kit wasn't that bad to install - 1.5 hours maybe, taking my time. A few new holes. No problem.
Of course it is not something you can just take on and off, but then why would you want to?
If I don't mow wet grass, and don't let the grass get too long, it works great! No more clippings! At all! And I was able to remove the deck's flap, making mowing easier throught the trees.
There is much more to it than the plug - you are just not going to get the full effect without the baffles.
Along with the toothbar and the grader box, some of the best $$ I have spent on my BX.
/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

LBrown59 · Jan 29, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

I don't fool with it mulch.

LBrown59 · Jan 29, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

LBrown59, I'd say your right about the bucket size. I've yet to find a cross ref on it though. although the specs call for either 10" or 12" buckets,
1*I wonder if' the BX23 would work a 16"?
Volfandt
============ >>
When I first got my tractor there was a white sticker with a black 10 on it attached to the side of the hoe bucket.
Upon measuring the inside of the bucket I found it was just shy of being eleven inches.
Wonder if the 12 inch one is just shy of 13 inches inside.

*If I remember rite a dealer or 2 told me the BX23 could handle a
16'' BH Bucket.

Volfandt · Feb 5, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

The finished product. Now if'n it'll only work /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

The rubber bungee cord is 24" hook to hook and secures the plate very tightly when hooked to to the anti-scalp wheel brackets. I plan on useing another bungee cord to keep the shoot deflector up and out of the way so I can get into those tight spaces. It can almost close completely with the plate on also. Removal can't be easier, just unhook the bungee and off it'll come.

So bring on the the grass so's I can see if'n this dog'll hunt /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Volfandt

Volfandt · Mar 26, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

Mulch plug update:
Spring has finally arrived and along with it came time to try out this brand shiney new 60" MMM & the mulchplug project I started many moons ago. I had actually tried it out in a very limited fashion last week with pretty good results but this update is based upon the BX23 w/60" MMM & mulchplug mowing the entire 2.5 acres.

Prologue:
The BX23 & 60" MMM did even better than I anticipated. The ride, comfort, manuverability, power & cut was better than I had hoped. It's one thing to read & study up on how a machine will perform and an entirely different sensation to see it, touch it & feel it. And at the $$$'s I dropped for this machine, you just don't know how happy I am it performed as advertised /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Positives:
I mowed with the mulch plug installed the entire time and I didn't notice any lugging of the engine nor clogging up of the deck. At a setting of 2.5" there was very little blowout/blowby from the front or sides and that includes some leftover leaves from last fall.
I ran over some dead twigs & very small branches and the blades made short work of reducing them to shavings. If the plug was made of anything lighter thoses twigs would have either dented the plate or perhaps even broken through.
The bungee cord held tight without any slippage or sign of the hooks being jarred from the anti-scalp wheel brackets they were connected to.
I found a few spots w/some accumilation of fall leaves and it chopped them up pretty good. I did have to make a few passes on the larger piles to reduce them tho. This just may do for fall cleanup.....

Negatives:
I had to slow down quite a bit once I got into the thicker growth inorder to cut down on the row of clippings being deposited on the side discharge/mulch plug side. That is common for all mulching decks but I'd say I had to go slower than a similar 60" MMM with a factory mulch kit installed.
I also had to overlap when cutting the rows inorder to cut down & disburse the row(s) of clippings from the previous cut. This isn't unusual for std mulching decks either so I can live with this also.

Epilogue:
The grass was wet somewhat and not nearly as thick as it will get later on but for the 1st cut of the spring it did pretty good.
And taking into considering that I used std blades as opposed to mulching blades, I have reason to think the performance can be refined moreso with the edition of these blades should the need arrise. As with mulching in general I'll have to keep up on cutting and not let the grass get anymore than 1" higher than the height I cut at inorder to mulch effectively. If the grass does get away from me and become taller between cuts then I can simply remove the plug and go to full side discharge and only use the plug to keep the clippings off of the deck, patio & driveway.
So after the 1st full cut of the season, the mulch plug performed well enough to earn further usage.

Volfandt

Junkman · Mar 27, 2005

Re: BX 60\" MMM mulch plug project

Just keep in mind that the leaves, even though they have been mulched into small pieces will ****** or totally block the grass from growing if they are in clumps. I have found that the few leaves that are left in the spring will get down between the grass and will eventually start to cause the grass to die in those areas. Now I remove all traces of leaves by going over the entire lawn area with a sweeper and then remove the dead grass and leaves to a mulch pile. Fertilize and lime and hope for a good thick lush lawn. Each year it keeps getting better, but it seems that it is going to take a lifetime before it will be where I would like it... Junk..