I hate grass raking! How can i avoid it? do i need a new tractor?

[5030]

I've never raked grass unless I want it for mulch somewhere. Use all mulching mowers. Latest is a Ryobi ZT480e, 48v lead acid batteries. Will mow up to 2 acres on a charge. If you got an Ego with extra batteries, you could do 3 1/2 acres. However, gotta ask why you're mowing that much. Mow trails and then brush hog maybe once/yr.

Before the Ryobi ZT, we bought a Ryobi 40v "cross cut" 21 inch mower. Wive mowed our grass with it. With the ZT, I can do it (have neuropathy and a reattached left quad that has never stretched out).

Before going electric, we had an old JD self propelled mulcher and a Honda self propelled mulcher.

Curious as how the Ryobi ZT is doing for you. I was gonna buy one until I read a lot of reviews that were having various issues. Was a toss up between the Ego and the Ryobi but I like the Joystick on the Ryobi better than the oars on the Ego? How about cut life (do they mow as much as claimed? recharge time? and overall quality and finally. how much did you pay?

 

[dodge man]

Sounds kind of counter intuitive but cutting it higher, say 3.5” to 4” you will need to mow it less.

I have a bit of a problem with taking deflector chutes off. Ever drive by someone mowing with the chute off and the discharge aimed at you. Kind of like looking down the barrel of a gun. I know someone that got a window on a truck broken this way. Out in the middle of your yard it’s not a problem, just rig it up so you can lower it back down.

 

[charles todd]

Zero Turn with open fab deck. Best solution.

CT

 

[2manyrocks]

Totally agree with the suggestions to not cut so low. High lift mulching blades can be an improvement. Having even discharge from the discharge chute is important. Mulching kit if available may also improve the situation.

I used to rake leaves in the Fall until I got a ZTR with high lift blades and a mulching kit which does such a great job that I no longer rake any leaves.

edit: I would not remove the discharge chute unless there's a factory mulching kit whose instructions say to remove the chute. On my ZTR, the discharge chute is still in place even though I have a mulching kit installed.

 

[Have tractor did travel]

Sounds kind of counter intuitive but cutting it higher, say 3.5” to 4” you will need to mow it less.

Because the blades are longer, the roots deeper, roots access more water which will continue growth during drought. Supposed to cut no more than 1/3 of the blade length. So if allowed to grow to 6", cut two, But if grass length is 4", then cut 1.3". Takes longer to grow 2" than to cut 1.3". But property owner may be driven more by appearance, than making maximum recommended cut. Grass begins to look shaggy, and in need of cutting, when it goes longer than 4 days and started it's growing for the cycle at 4".

I should also have pointed out in my original post (#6), weeds like hot, grass likes cool. If grass allowed to grow long (4" plus), keeps the ground cooler and neighboring grasses cooler (in the shade of adjacent grasses). Short grass allows earth to get baked more by the sun, and hotter - welcomes weeds. For those with sidewalks and driveways - look adjacent to either. You're sure to notice more weeds near the pavement, than in the middle of the lawn. More pavement - more heat - more weeds.

 

[Alien]

A flail mower doesn't leave windrows like a rotary mower. It mulches and spreads as you go. I use one on a few acres and have a Kubota ZT for the good paddocks and around the house. The ZT can leave grass rows too but cutting in different directions helps spread it out. I also have a lawn sweeper I tow behind the ride-on tractor that picks up the excess when I get fussy. The bin fills pretty quickly on that at times.
To sum up, I think you should look at a flail mower.

 

[RalphVa]

Curious as how the Ryobi ZT is doing for you. I was gonna buy one until I read a lot of reviews that were having various issues. Was a toss up between the Ego and the Ryobi but I like the Joystick on the Ryobi better than the oars on the Ego? How about cut life (do they mow as much as claimed? recharge time? and overall quality and finally. how much did you pay?

Think the Ryobi was $4200 (last year). Not aware of difference in controls between the Ryobi and Ego. The ZT480e has the 2 "oars" to each side of you.

A couple days ago, I had a vibration from the blades. Stopped and went to the garage and lifted the front with my floor jack (using that attachment point for the deck right in front). One of the blades was slightly bent and loose. I removed both and sharpened them and tried to straighten the bent blade. It's causing the left side to cut about 1/2 to 3/4" lower than the right side. Just ordered new blades from Home Depot: $33. LOTs easier doing the blades with the floor jack than removing the deck, etc.

I've taken to mowing a lot more stuff now that I replaced the OEM turfs with Carlisle Super Lugs (MUCH safer with MUCH better grip). Cannot imagine what caused the one blade to bend down a bit. Likely some big piece of wood/branch.

The battery level has never gone below 70% even with the increased amount of mowing I've been doing with it.

The Ego at Lowes now is $4,999.

 

[Tinhack]

The first mod I did to my Bad Boy was add a shoot lift. It's always up in high grass but it's also handy near fences, trees and buildings. I just happened to have a couple of convertible top pumps and cylinders. I wired one set with an on-off-on switch so I can raise and lower the shoot at will from the seat. Oh yeah, I also added "step tape" to both sides of the deck.

 

[JWR]

A flail mower doesn't leave windrows like a rotary mower. It mulches and spreads as you go. I use one on a few acres and have a Kubota ZT for the good paddocks and around the house. The ZT can leave grass rows too but cutting in different directions helps spread it out. I also have a lawn sweeper I tow behind the ride-on tractor that picks up the excess when I get fussy. The bin fills pretty quickly on that at times.
To sum up, I think you should look at a flail mower.

I agree on suggesting a flail mower BUT I got mine for almost nothing in an auction and repairs were not too bad. I think if the OP were to buy a new flail in would cost almost twice what rotary cutter of the same width costs.

 

[Bentrim]

Just a word of advice. Be careful when mowing with the safety chute raised, my son has a scar by his eye, and last year my daughter had a window taken out of her car by a mower that threw a stone.
At least where I am it is illegal for a dealer to repair a mower and return it to the owner if any safety devices are removed or not functioning properly. Also a good way to lose your bank account when it gets emptied by an ambulance chaser.

 

[4570Man]

Raise your deck to at least 3” if not more. cutting your grass short only makes a mess and looks bad. And throw away the discharge guard.

 

[lman]

Just a word of advice. Be careful when mowing with the safety chute raised, my son has a scar by his eye, and last year my daughter had a window taken out of her car by a mower that threw a stone.
At least where I am it is illegal for a dealer to repair a mower and return it to the owner if any safety devices are removed or not functioning properly. Also a good way to lose your bank account when it gets emptied by an ambulance chaser.

If you mow at 3" you won't pick up stones.

 

[Torvy]

I would echo the idea of shrinking the size of the lawn. 200'x200' is just under an acre. Figure that is 100' out from the house in each direction, roughly. Should be plenty for a fire break and rodent control....unless you really like being on a mower that much.

 

[rfoxinc]

My solution (like others) is to cut high (3.5”) raised discharge chute, later in day.

I also mow from the inside out to push all grass to edges

I typically wait WEEKs between cuttings and the
Yanmar SA 324 does a great job no matter how tall it is.

I see No need to burn xtra fuel / spend more time or rack up hours mowing weekly when the machine is capable of mowing foot high grass.

 

[5030]

Think the Ryobi was $4200 (last year). Not aware of difference in controls between the Ryobi and Ego. The ZT480e has the 2 "oars" to each side of you.

A couple days ago, I had a vibration from the blades. Stopped and went to the garage and lifted the front with my floor jack (using that attachment point for the deck right in front). One of the blades was slightly bent and loose. I removed both and sharpened them and tried to straighten the bent blade. It's causing the left side to cut about 1/2 to 3/4" lower than the right side. Just ordered new blades from Home Depot: $33. LOTs easier doing the blades with the floor jack than removing the deck, etc.

I've taken to mowing a lot more stuff now that I replaced the OEM turfs with Carlisle Super Lugs (MUCH safer with MUCH better grip). Cannot imagine what caused the one blade to bend down a bit. Likely some big piece of wood/branch.

The battery level has never gone below 70% even with the increased amount of mowing I've been doing with it.

The Ego at Lowes now is $4,999.

The newest Ryobi has a joystick control on the right side next to the seat. No oars.

 

[JWR]

Just a word of advice. Be careful when mowing with the safety chute raised, my son has a scar by his eye, and last year my daughter had a window taken out of her car by a mower that threw a stone.
At least where I am it is illegal for a dealer to repair a mower and return it to the owner if any safety devices are removed or not functioning properly. Also a good way to lose your bank account when it gets emptied by an ambulance chaser.

Well all that is good advice and the voice of experience. However, I will never be run around by a bunch of rabid lawyers, ever. This country is far too driven by people (worse yet big companies) running scared of lawsuits and I am not one of them. I never mow with people around which removes that entire issue. There is no definition of "safety chute" that would stand up in court nor is provably related to any tractor I own. I am also skeptical of the "illegal for a dealer to repair a mower and return it to the owner if any safety devices are removed" since in general those safety devices are not well defined. Most of that is far fetched. Many mowers exist that never had a chute in the first place.

By the way , before I guess, where is your state with the overreaching laws?

All that said, you are very correct about using care and I will add Just Do Not Mow when there are bystanders. Somewhat analogous to pointing a gun.

 

[Citydude]

Just a word of advice. Be careful when mowing with the safety chute raised, my son has a scar by his eye, and last year my daughter had a window taken out of her car by a mower that threw a stone.
At least where I am it is illegal for a dealer to repair a mower and return it to the owner if any safety devices are removed or not functioning properly. Also a good way to lose your bank account when it gets emptied by an ambulance chaser.

Oh, so the dealers are responsible for the consumers safety in your area? So if someone runs over billy with a lawnmower, the dealer gets a visit from the safety police because the dealer worked on buds mower? How does that work?

 

[RjCorazza]

All good points about cutting higher for most grass types. I will add that higher cut lawns are also more drought resistant partially due to increased water absorption from morning dew in some areas. Longer blades of grass collect more moisture, which rolls down into the soil in the morning.
I cut my area's lawn types (generally tall fescue) at 3.75" in the spring, and up to 4.25" in the summer. I use chute blockers around areas I don't want to throw clippings and when mulching up leaves. My contracts require the lawn to be free of people and pets while mowing... no exceptions.

 

[5030]

My contracts require the lawn to be free of people and pets while mowing... no exceptions.

...and dog poop. I require my renters to pick up ALL the dog poop prior to mowing as I allow pets in my rentals. Nothing worse than dog poop on mower tires.

 

[Creamer]

Zero Turn with open fab deck. Best solution.

CT

My Deines ZT with a fab deck does not leave windrows with the chute down. When the chute is up the air flow is changed and the clippings come out of the deck and just kind of go wherever but are spread across no more than one width of the mower deck. With the chute down it shoots out a pattern and depending on the amount of clippings it will spread the clippings over the last two or three passes.

It makes a nice even blanket when it is real thick like this year when I mowed some at work where it did not get mowed until June, It was a mix of tall fescue, brome grass, and clover and the grasses were all headed out. there was a lot of clippings and it was slow going and it laid a solid blanket about 1/5" thick but many of the guys at work were shocked that it would cut a full swath of that stuff and two that there were no bunches or rows - just a very thick blanket, about 1.5" thick. If I had mowed with the chute up there would have been rows and clumps all over the place. After two more mowings these grass clippings had all disappeared. I also started at 5" and went down a 1/2 inch each time.

Agree on the height - nothing less than 3" up here in the north for good grass health - usually I cut at 3.5" . I say in the north because we do not typically use the bermuda and bent grasses that I understand can be mowed shorter.

I also believe in very sharp blades which is why I have a front deck ZT where the deck flips up to vertical so I can access the deck and blades much better. I should note that I scrape the deck clean each time so there is less friction and the grass clippings have a smoother passage out of the deck. I am not **** - it is just with a front deck it is so easy to do why not do it.