MMM maintenance with mulch kit?

[MoreCowbell]

Those of you with a 60" regular cut MMM with mulch kit know that the kit creates about a 2.5" deep "corridor" the entire width of the deck. After the first mowing with the kit installed I noticed that this enclosed space was almost completely filled with grass clippings - apparently blown into it from the small gaps where the kit's framing meets the deck in some places near the blades.

Leaving wet clippings under (or in) my expensive deck is a sacrelige to me so I had to clean them out - but it took me about 40 minutes, which included removing the deck and lifting it vertically while sticking a wood dowel through the gaps to dislodge the debris (the space is open on what used to be the deck's discharge side). I definitely do not want to make a habit of that.:mur:

I suppose I could let the space fill with clippings and let them dry out which would act as a barrier agains future clippings, but then I would not be able to hose off the bottom of the deck after mowing because that would get the dry clippings wet again.

The gaps are 3/4" in some places which is too wide to caulk. Maybe I can attach some sheet metal or something to seal it up.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Am I worrying too much about web clippings rusting out my MMM? :confused2: Thanks.

 

[dodge man]

I clean mine out a couple of times a year. I just let it go otherwise. I'd love to keep my deck spotless, but I don't think its worth it.

 

[Tom_H]

I just let the stuff accumulate for awhile. It hasn't really seemed to have a whole lot of effect on performance. Eventually it builds up enough and I just quickly pry most of it off with an oversized flat screwdriver. There are scratches, but no rust. To me, my tractor is a working machine and I don't baby it the way I would a sports car.

 

[MoreCowbell]

Good point. I keep thinking of my $200 Sears push mower that was almost rusted through after 3 years. However, the steel on that thing was a lot thinner and in a more confined space (i.e. no air circulation to aid drying). Maybe I'll just brush the loose stuff off after each mowing and call it a day.

I do wonder from time to time whether I can make my MMM self-cleaning by coating the underside of it with spray silicone to prevent the grass from sticking, but that is probably in the too-good-to-be-true category. I may have better luck building a perpetual motion machine.

 

[YotaBota]

I had read a year or so back about guys coating the bottom with POR 15, to stop and prevent rust. It was also to aid in keeping your deck clean. (Kinda reminds me of a youtube video about big decks) Sorry, another subject. Anyhooo, I just called the supplier about getting a mulching kit. $200. I have a grass catcher, but dumping those bags when they're full of wet grass is a pain in the tail. How good is the mulching kit? How often are you mowing?

 

[Tim S]

Fill the void with spray foam.

 

[dodge man]

I really like the mulch kit. I've had one on my push mowers, and my riding mowers for years. I don't know that I really buy into the theory that the grass gets cut up more than once into smaller pieces, it just seems to dump the grass out more evenly the width of the deck. The only problem I have is I don't mow often enough. It will clump up a little bit, but less so than if it windrowed from the chute.

It also leaves a very small windrow of cut grass on the chute side of the deck, but I just cut in the direction so the windrow of cut grass gets picked up again on the next pass. I mow once a week, sometimes as long as 10 days. If I really wanted a nice looking lawn, I'd mow every 5 days this time of year.

 

[Tom_H]

....but dumping those bags when they're full of wet grass is a pain in the tail. How good is the mulching kit? How often are you mowing?

I really like my mulch kit. I agree with the bagger being a pain. It was so hard to get on/off and emptying was time consuming. I sold it. I find mulching to be much faster and now that the nutrients get returned to the soil, I find I don't have to fertilize any more. You do need to have dry conditions to mulch. We get virtually no summer rain, so I can irrigate on Mon.-Tue., then depend on the weekend to be dry for cutting. Climates with wet cutting seasons can make it a guessing game as to when you can cut.

...I don't know that I really buy into the theory that the grass gets cut up more than once into smaller pieces, it just seems to dump the grass out more evenly the width of the deck...

I've looked at mine and it seems to be substantially smaller from what I can tell. Differing conditions may get differing results. If I cut when the ground is wet, then the stalks don't float. They fall straight to the ground and are much larger in those circumstances. It would be my guess that weight, density, and shape all play into whether differing kinds of grass will float around in those baffles or not. The degree of caked on debris could make a difference too. Any of those would be good tests for Mythbusters to try out.