How to keep grass from sticking to the mowing deck

[oosik]

Well - I never thought that far ahead when I started using my riding lawn mower. I've, historically, tipped it up, put a chunk of firewood under the lip and hit the underside with the nozzle on the garden hose.

Then last year I had a brain fart. I chip massive amounts of small pines every spring - maintaining my pine stands.

I drove my riding lawnmower up on top of one of the chip piles - engaged and lowered the mower and let it digest the pine chips for about five minuets.

Pine chips are soft but - low and behold - they did a WONDERFUL job cleaning the underside. Plus they spread the chips out a bit.

 

[sklunk]

I have tried numerous ideas but this one seems to work the best. It is expensive and is marketed as a rust inhibitor but it gets rock solid and slippery once it cures. It is also permanent so you don't have to re-coat the deck:
POR-15 Rust Preventive Coating - Stop Rust Permanently

You could also use SlipPlate or E-Z Slide as posted earlier. The only problem with them is that they eventually wear off and you need to re-coat the deck.

Also try using the search function. There are a ton of threads about this with other ideas.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Greetings Gentleman,

I have a new 2018 1025R with a 60" auto connect mower deck. I have not mowed with yet, but before I do I wanted to you ask you gentlemen a question: What do you do to the bottom of your mower decks (if anything) to keep grass from sticking to it? I know there will always be grass that sticks to the underside of the deck, but do any of you guys Wax the bottom of you mower deck with car wax or use graphite spray or oil to keep the grass from sticking to the bottom of your mower decks? Are there any other common practices that people use to keep grass from sticking and building up on the deck bottom. Any info would be appreciated.

NOTE: I do not have a mulching kit for my mower nor do I plan to get one. The grass I mow can get tall and thick at times: up to 10 inches in some places if not cut for a while or we have a lot of rain for a week or so. Again thank you for your input.

Don't mow when the grass is wet and it wont stick. I have a problem with crawfish mounds and when they a mowed over, the wet clay is thrown up to the bottom of the deck and then starts collecting grass and then more crawfish mounds so that by the time I finish mowing, I have several pounds of grass and dirt stuck to the bottom of the mowing deck.
I just installed a lift chain to the front of the mower so I can use my FEL to lift up the mower and then scrape or hose off all the mud and dirt at the end of mowing each time.

 

[Squidbait]

Thank you sugerloafguy, oosik, sklunk, and Gary Fowler for your input and suggests. I don't have any pine chips lying around anywhere that I know of now, so I am not sure if I will be able to do that. Slick coatings sound interesting. Don't mow wet grass? Maybe I should make a bar of hair dryers and attach it to the front of my machine and dry the grass as I go (if the grass is damp or wet). crawfish mounds? I am nowhere near the water; I don't think that will be a probable (I hope). I have waxed the bottom of my deck, but I may do something else to it. It needs to be soon; mowing time is coming fast.

 

[4570Man]

I mowed the church yard today because they wanted it done before Easter. I've got several others that need mowed. And I haven't had time to service my mowers serviced this year.

 

[DrRod]

I generally wait to mow until the grass [field weeds] are dry and stiff so no build-up issues. But when I have mowed green or wet areas, I usually have an area of brush or sticks that needs to be cleared. After a few passes in the rough stuff it knocks all the grass loose under the mower deck. Of course, this is a brush hog mower so you might not enjoy the same situation.

 

[Squidbait]

Greetings again gentleman,

I put wax on the underside of my deck a couple of weeks ago, and I mowed with my machine last Thursday March 29th. When I finished mowing it was getting dark. Once I got home it was dark. I think it rained the next day and a day or two since then. I have not had a chance to get a good look under my deck, but I am pretty sure I have some grass under there. Whenever I get a chance I may clean my deck and try one of the suggested methods or products recommended by you fellows. But, for the next few days it will be cool and/or rainy here so I may have to wait awhile. Carry on gentlemen.