mower deck wash port - opinions wanted

[bota7800]

Hi all,

I just bought a zero turn mower. Several of the brands (Cub Cadet and Toro, for examples) had a garden hose quick connect in the top of the mower deck to wash out the deck. The brand I selected did not have this port but they are available aftermarket.

I have spent my share of time digging clippings out of push mower decks and, being in the Pacific Northwest I cannot always wait for the grass to dry completely before mowing.

One mower/lawn care site thread I saw had most opinions not liking the idea.
What do you guys and gals think?



Thanks


I found another thread on this subject but cannot see how to delete this thread.

 

[mjncad]

I put three on my deck, one for each blade. They help; but aren't a magic bullet. You'll get better performance from them if the deck is lowered to the ground to increase the air pressure differential while the blades are running at normal cutting speed. The other thing that keeps them from working great is the typical low water pressure and flow rate coming out of most hose bibbs.

At least the ports are cheap, so it's no huge loss if they don't live up to expectations.

 

[Bird]

My Toro ZTR had that port and I used it a few times but you can't see under the deck so you don't know whether it did a good job or not, but you do have a lot of water and mess around the machine. I quit using it and would not again have a use for one. I prefer a way to lift the machine so I can see under there and usually clean mine with compressed air, though sometimes use high pressure water. When I use water, I then run the machine long enough to pretty well dry it out.

 

[LBrown59]

Hi all,

I just bought a zero turn mower. Several of the brands (Cub Cadet and Toro, for examples) had a garden hose quick connect in the top of the mower deck to wash out the deck. The brand I selected did not have this port but they are available aftermarket.

One mower/lawn care site thread I saw had most opinions not liking the idea.
What do you guys and gals think?
Thanks

I think that's pretty well the consensus here too.

 

[bontai_Joe]

In my opinion, it is a marketing gimmick of little actual value.

 

[IXLR8]

Two of my mowers came with them, I found lifting the front and rinsing off with hose set to 'stream' worked much better. I also found them getting clogged up with grass clippings and I then had to clean them out to use them. For me.. waste of time.

 

[mustangsallysdad]

Hi all,

I just bought a zero turn mower. Several of the brands (Cub Cadet and Toro, for examples) had a garden hose quick connect in the top of the mower deck to wash out the deck. The brand I selected did not have this port but they are available aftermarket.

I have spent my share of time digging clippings out of push mower decks and, being in the Pacific Northwest I cannot always wait for the grass to dry completely before mowing.

One mower/lawn care site thread I saw had most opinions not liking the idea.
What do you guys and gals think?



Thanks


I found another thread on this subject but cannot see how to delete this thread.

Don't bother...spend the money on a good, flexible putty knife.

 

[jinman]

I find it makes a huge mess and still leaves grass caked up in spots. About twice per season, I sharpen my blades. When I do, I scrape off all the caked grass and clean the deck. I've found that mowing dry grass leaves very little deposit, so I don't use the hose adapter anymore.

 

[oliver28472]

Clover is taking over my yard and cakes up a lot more under the deck. I don't have a wash port and don't think I'll get one based on the above comments. My mower is a Woods RM-48. It never did have a lot of suction

 

[exNCite]

Two threads on the same subject but my answer is the same. I loved having one on my Jacobsen. It is true that they make a mess. I had woods next to me and simply cleaned the deck out there. Important to keep the deck as low as it would go so that suction was created, but turn the throttle up and watch the crap come flying out. In a few minutes the water will get clear and you'll know the deck has been cleaned.

 

[Dargo]

The longest continuously operating mowing shop in my area says they are the best thing ever to help his sell more mowers as the spindles go out and the decks rust. He's been working on mowers for over 50 years and always says that water is the absolute last thing you want to introduce to your spindles and deck. Since I've taken his advice about 20 years ago, I've never had a deck spindle fail, bearing fail or a deck rust out on me. Even if the deck is magnesium or aluminum, you'll still kill the spindles. If a company offers something with a place to insure quick destruction of the deck and spindles, I'll pass on that brand; like for the rest of my life.

If need be, I'll raise my deck and use the cheapo plastic putty knives to clear thick stuff and just blast it a time or two on top with compressed air to keep things clean. Getting close to 2000 hours on my one Grasshopper and all 3 spindles are as tight as can be and there is no rust anywhere. Apparently they have a far better designed deck with the wind baffles etc., as I almost never have anything stuck under the deck.

 

[PTWannaHave]

I know this is an old thread, but I only started looking about this topic recently... Since I have an account on this forum, I did not join another website to discuss.

Like many, I have an older machine without the deck wash port (DWP), and have always wondered if they are efficient... The summary of my internet research is:

- DWP is 50-75% effective when used properly after each mowing
- makes a mess
- need to be careful about water in the spindle bearings

I was looking at some sort of DWP to use in addition to my planned use of a product named Clean Deck (graphite 'paint' that bonds to the underside of deck). The latter prevents buildup because grass apparently has difficulty sticking to it, and washing with garden hose (at low pressure, avoiding spindle bearings) after mowing will easily remove what did build up.

So, I will wait on the DWP idea for now, and see how well the Clean Deck performs.

Clean Deck is not inexpensive, but if it solves my problem, it will be worth it. And, I do have a problem. Our grass is generally soft and green. I don't mow wet. Even so, about twice a summer the buildup is too heavy/thick to ignore. Cleaning my deck means taking my air hammer/chisel as a start to several hours of work. I'm not kidding/exagerating; the buildup is rock-hard, like cement, and has almost bonded to the metal surface. Blades also suffer the same fate.

I've had some success last year by melting a coat of wax on the deck. Didn't prevent buildup, but prevented a lot of bonding. However, applying said wax is time-consuming.

It is worthwhile to note that I am using hi-lift blades on a 46in deck designed to send clippings to a bagger (if so desired) without the need for additional material flow assistance.

Hope this helps someone.