Consumer grade riding mower deck heights

[rangerfredbob]

I've always wondered what was up with riding mower deck heights, they usually have 5 level settings that go roughly in this order:

1 Touching the ground
2 1/8" above dirt
3 not too bad but still contacts on a bump even with anti scalping wheels
4 reasonable
5 about 2" high, but the center blade doesn't cut anything at all

I have a 46" mower, but get to cut about a 24" swath and have to overlap half the deck width... The problem might be that I usually end up with second hand mowers that have mulching blades for some reason instead of high lift that would function, but that center blade is usually 2/3 the width of the outer blades, my old mower was 13" on the inner blade with the same size pulley as the outer blades that are at least a couple inches bigger. Of course later in the season as long as I keep up with the mowing it works reasonable but the first couple cuttings take forever...

 

[oosik]

I have a JD G100 riding mower. Bought it new in 2002. Never replaced the OEM blades nor drive belt. My "lawn" is really field grass that's been mowed for the 38 years I've lived out here.

I don't water any of it. So it slowly dries out and dies. That's OK - with the fall wet season it all comes right back to life.

I mow without lowering the deck. So - I'm mowing at a notch or so above the highest setting. It leaves the grass around 3 inches high.

This helps with all the vehicle traffic and it doesn't dry out so very fast.

I sharpen the three blades every spring. They are getting pretty narrow out at the tip. I refuse to buy a PTO driven rotary cutter. I use this riding mower to cut my meadows and some of the stands of Buck brush.

It coughs, chokes, smokes but will finally get the job done. I'm somewhat surprised that it has lasted this long.

 

[ChuckT]

I've never heard of a 3-blade mower deck where the center blade is not identical to the outer 2.
And I always overlap at least the mower wheel width that has flattened the grass heads.

 

[Alan W.]

I've always wondered what was up with riding mower deck heights, they usually have 5 level settings that go roughly in this order:

1 Touching the ground
2 1/8" above dirt
3 not too bad but still contacts on a bump even with anti scalping wheels
4 reasonable
5 about 2" high, but the center blade doesn't cut anything at all

I have a 46" mower, but get to cut about a 24" swath and have to overlap half the deck width... The problem might be that I usually end up with second hand mowers that have mulching blades for some reason instead of high lift that would function, but that center blade is usually 2/3 the width of the outer blades, my old mower was 13" on the inner blade with the same size pulley as the outer blades that are at least a couple inches bigger. Of course later in the season as long as I keep up with the mowing it works reasonable but the first couple cuttings take forever...

I agree, mine has 7 settings of which I use #6. The first three settings are apparently for setting the trench depth.

 

[TractorGuy]

What make and model mower do you have?

Decks are rarely set right when you buy them. Buy a blade height gauge, download the manual for your mower, and adjust on a level concrete surface.

Most modern 46" cut mowers only have 2 blades. 48" and larger usually have 3 equal length blades.

 

[airbiscuit]

My dream garden tractor would have a mowing deck that adjusts from 2" to 6". Something you could use for a lawn or as a rough cut mower for trails,

 

[rangerfredbob]

The 3 blade mowers I've seen with a tiny center blade have been from the early 90's, the one I'm trying to get rid of now is a '94 Series 2000 from Montgomery Wards but made by MTD, its a cool mower that when it works good works good but it's a belt driven CVT with a high/low/reverse transmission after that but the outer blades are around 17" and inner is just under 14". The other I've had that is similar is a smaller 4 speed manual trans Sears model with a 12hp engine and 42" deck, center blade is narrow.

I have a Montgomery Wards mower from '86 that has a 44" two blade deck that has a toothed belt between the spindles because the blades overlap and have to be timed appropriately, that mower was a beast and I will fix it one day... it lost a tooth on the input shaft of the transmission.

My current mower must be a better design, it's a Craftsman with 12" wheels in the back, the turney knob to set the deck height so it's always repeatable and has a pressure lubed Kohler, it's apparently from '97 from my research but I'm mowing on setting 3 on it's scale which is about 2" high, it does have some horrible blades that don't cut anything that is over 6" tall unless you are barely moving... I do like the mower though, the 6 forward speed and 2 reverse is handy, and the wife seems to have it figured out as well for the most part which is a definite plus . I know many Sears/Craftsman mowers are made by MTD, but I don't think this is, it's very similar to the old GT16 I have that I got for parts to hopefully fix the old monkey wards mower but they're too different (it is an MTD) maybe someday I'll put the effort into putting that deck on the GT16...

 

[rangerfredbob]

My dream garden tractor would have a mowing deck that adjusts from 2" to 6". Something you could use for a lawn or as a rough cut mower for trails,

That's basically the exact mower I've wanted... wish they made that!

 

[TractorGuy]

Most of the older Craftsman mowers were made by American Yard Products. Husqvarna bought them out and in my opinion ruined the brand. Pretty much ever manufacturer is using the crappy Tuff Torq hydrostatic transmission now.

I recently sold one of those old Craftsmans that had the 3 forward and one reverse with a high/low transmission. The deck was shot but the guy that bought it was intent on fixing it. It had a 20 something HP Kohler.

I'm more of a Briggs man for small gas engines. I've had great luck with those.

 

[rangerfredbob]

Me too on the briggs thing, but the newer they get the worse they seem to be... Kohler and Kawasaki seem to be more heavy duty but time will tell. I've had nothing but bad luck with Tecumseh, but they're no more so not too much of a worry...

On that note, after many roundy rounds with the chain harrow flattening out the yard the drive belt went kaput, ordered all 3 belts (two are apparently the same) on Amazon, should have gotten some blades too...