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

[mikester]

First World problems, in the First World? It's more common than you think.

Question, do you get splinters from the stick that's implanted firmly up your rear end?

You are right, I am not being sensitive to your feelings. I too would be upset raking acres of lawn because I didn't like to look of grass clumps after spending many hours each week mowing with my BX.

I wish time and money wasn't an issue for me.

 

[tacticalturnip]

You are right, I am not being sensitive to your feelings. I too would be upset raking acres of lawn because I didn't like to look of grass clumps after spending many hours each week mowing with my BX.

I wish time and money wasn't an issue for me.
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It's not my feelings, sweetheart, my lawn looks like a hayfield.

Maybe just try not projecting your displeasure regarding your own socioeconomic circumstances on others.

If you want to apologize for something, perhaps apologize for misusing the term 1st world? I understand that it's become a catch-all for modern, wealthy nations, but it literally refers to NATO countries in the context of the Cold War.

What do I know though.

 

[LD1]

Ditch the deflector and mow at 4".

Mowing shorter leaves the clippings more visible rather than fall back down in the grass thats already been cut.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Has anyone suggested a powered bagger?

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

If you see me taking grass, a baler is right behind me. I ain't raking no yard.

 

[deezler]

On the other hand, if you cut it looow enough once or twice, like say, 0.5", during a drought, you don't have to worry about mowing again for a nice long while. The subsequent dust storms can be tolerated.

 

[Hulk 101]

I left the discharge chute up and i still get grass clippings.

They are more spread out with the discharge chute up.

 

[amhicks21]

I'm a little late to the conversation but here's a setup i use to mow some very fast growing commercial construction lots every 2-5 weeks depending on the time of year at 3.5". This is an old woods rm990 rear discharge mower that i found on craigslist for 1200 bucks. I'd just sell off that other stuff and pick up something like this. You'd probably break even on cost and be done cutting in half the time with the clippings evenly distributed behind you.

 

[oosik]

Things have dried out considerably since I posted three weeks ago. I'm down to mowing about every five or six days. With the deflector chute removed - no need to rake anything.

 

[Creamer]

This thread got me thinking about what are the factors that cause windrows of cut grass. Then I watch some of the new combines in action with a 50' header and the machine is blowing the chopped straw back out nearly as wide as the 50' header.

Certainly cut height makes a big difference - the taller you cut it the easier the grass falls back under the height it was cut at and out of sight. How much you cut off makes a large difference too but you should only cut off 1/3 of the height so if you are following that rule it isn't a problem.

Deflector up or down - I find the deflector down is important to keep the air flow from under the deck to carry the cuts out of the mower and spread it. You cannot have it too low though as it doesn't let the air flow carry it - it just deflects the cuts down. It should allow the grass to go straight out - not fly up or be forced down. Mine was cutting good today and then I hit a tree root with the front of the deflector shield and it pushed the leading edge back a little both into the air flow blocking the egress and off of the bolt that is put there to hole it at the right height and therefore deflecting everything down.

Sharpness of blades - sharper blades do more chopping and therefore the cuts some out shopped finer - they do not ball and stick together as much that way and therefore spread out better. Sharper blades also allow the RPMs to stay up which is key to creating the air flow.

Clean underdeck - with a clean deck the material does not drag and attains a higher exit velocity making it go farther.

I have wondered if blade to blade timing made a difference. It would seem that a good handoff from one blade to the other would matter but maybe at the speed they are spinning it just does not matter.

Dampness at mowing time. Very dry is not good here either as the cuts are too light to have enough mass to gain any momentum and therefore they do not have the energy to create a good stream. On the other hand too wet will stick and build-up and cause other issues.

What am I missing?

 

[arto98607]

We've had a Grasshopper 721D with 5' mulching RD deck since year 2003 and it does an excellent job in chewing up grass clippings!

Never need to rake after mowing, however we have to watch the ground speed in extra tall grass.

 

[Smokeydog]

Great cut, great mulch, great pickup for lawns for some B size tractors. 140 blades plus vacuum paddle blades. Can add de thatching blades. No longer made but used ones can be found. Several similar import models available new.

 

[justoldjoe]

Certainly many good thoughts and recommendations. I use a BX or a B3030 and what comes to mind is the engine RPM's in addition to a clean deck, sharp blades and mowing height. My BX 2360 will leave rows if I don't keep the engine rpm's 2800-3000. And my b3030 is the same. Even though I don't have any passerby's or neighbors near I keep my chute on to keep the grass dust etc directed away from irritating my eyes even though I use sunglasses. That stuff had a tendency to drift in from the eyeglass sides if I rise the chute.

 

[Alien]

Thats a lot of RPMs. My tractor operates anywhere from 1800 rpm to 2200 rpm in heavy stuff with the flail. I never run my tractor at high rpm.

 

[RalphVa]

I use a B series kubota with a 60" belly mower with the blades it came with just replaced a few times. My yard is 3 1/2 acres and i have a field of 11 acres that i bush hog once a year with a older model B series tractor that was my uncles. All of it is pretty flat with a few trees.

It's only been 5 days since i last mowed the lawn and yet again i have grass all over the place just rows of it.

I asks my friends they say mow more often.......well it's only been 5 days and last time i raked the grass and it has not rained.

My neighbor never rakes his yard the only difference is he has a zero turn mower. So what is the difference? he mows every friday.

Only thing i can think of is mulching blades maybe?

I need to down size as i have

2 kubota b series tractors.
2 lawn mowers like the ones you buy at lowes. I use one to mow under the trees takes all of 10min.
A few b series attachments a rear 3 point snow blower, rear blade, front blade and a 5ft bush hog

I feel like i should trade both b series tractors in on a L series or the biggest B series and buy a zero turn mower and be done with it.

I do need a tractor to blow snow and bush hog but that may come to a end if i lease out the 11 acres to a farmer to plant crops.

I'm just tired of grass raking every year. Money is no issue i'm at the stage of live where it's more about convenience.

I mow with a Ryobi ZT480e (48v). First thing I did was to remove the chute and to put the blank over the hole that they provided. Have used nothing but mulching mowers for a # of years.

If you only mow once/yr with a bush hog, then you'll have grass pileup for a couple of weeks before it degrades enough to blend in. No sweat.

 

[tradosaurus]

I would not remove the deflector as there is potential to either throw objects around your house (breaking a window) or have a ricochet and hit yourself.

I actually mow down 2" as I only mow every 2-3 weeks since it takes me 3 hrs to mow.

 

[Smokeydog]

Recent acquired sales brochure.

 

[blee03]

Exmark Laser Z or similar zero turn with a fabricated deck and high blade tip speed (18,500 FPM)
Cut grass at 3.25"
Leave chute door tilted up

No issues with grass clumps, can't even see where the cut grass landed. I would say it is dispersed perfectly.

On that note, this mower will cover you with dust and small pieces of grass.
Absolutely must were pants, hat, safety glasses, etc. At certain times I feel like you almost need a mask. It blows up a ton from in between the front wheels.
I'm thinking about putting some type of mud flap or something to cut down on this

 

[Gator6x4]

Cut the grass at 3-3.5 inches. Throw the grass clipping back onto the mowed area or out. If you throw grass clipping in onto the uncut grass you will have windrows because you are in effect raking the grass with the mower into a wind row for baling, except you or me will be using a rake instead. Those B series Kubota‘s are great mowers. They ride and cut good.

I still regret trading my 2920 hydro for a JD 2305 TLB/M combo. The first thing I noticed was I went from a three speed hydro to a two speed.

Please don’t remove and throw away the deflector shield. If you want greater spread of the grass tie the shield up with a bungee cord. The shield on my 2920 Kubota was metal, not plastic.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Not sure where the OP is so it may not be applicable. If it were me here in East Central IL, I would till about 2 acres of my yard and plant a prairie mix that supports Monarch butterflies and bees. There are 2 very nice houses I pass on the way to town that did this when they were first built. The houses are set back about 500 ft. from the road, they have a yard area and then a prairie area. They mow a "frame about 30ft wide around the prairie area. These are high end very expensive houses with a split rail fence along the road. If I wanted the yard and frame area to look really nice I would bag it.