Mowing Mowing With Discharge Chute Up

[fishman]

Glennmac,

A good friend of mine in college had 8 front teeth that were false. Seems as a child he was nearby while his grandfather mowed with a tractor. A rock was thrown and the next thing he knew he was in the hospital. I would agree that keeping the discharge chute on if persons/animals/items you value are nearby is a good idea. Otherwise, I can't see that it has any other value if you are in a remote area.

 

[skent]

Hey Todd,

Wonder if we could fit a hydraulic cylinder to it and run it remote? I figure valve, hoses and cylinder we could do it for under $250.

Steve

 

[skent]

The ONLY place I mow with the shoot up is a meadow that is 1000 feet from the house and any pets. It's a WIDE open area about two and a half acres and you can see ALL AROUND. Typically I only mow the meadow every other mowing of the lawns, so its typically higher and clumps easier. Occasionally if it gets taller than I can handle with the mid mount, I'll hook up the 7' sickle bar and believe me thats definately an implement that promotes paranoia (as far as safety). Six years ago I (accidently) hit a stray cat while sickle bar mowing alfalfa, he was hiding and tried to jump over the bar, didn't make it though, took part of two legs completly off and mangled a third. Poor thing didn't have a chance and as luck would have it, died quickly.

Steve

 

[glennmac]

Toddler,

Don't quite understand why you need the chain device. The shield on my 72" Kubota deck stays up by itself with springs. Is yours different?

Different point: I wonder if you can replace the long discharge shield with just a simple short flap that you could flip down for a mulching deck effect, and then flip up for a discharging effect with the small flap then acting as at least a small deflector shield.

 

[hayden]

I think the deflectors are all about the picture on the mower deck of the person getting their foot cut off.

On my little JD lawn tractor I have my deflector held upright with a bungee cord. I never mow with it down, mostly because of manuverability.

Peter

 

[Rick Jay]

Hi All,

I tend to be "overly-safety cautious" (according to my wife and friends), so I have to speak up here. I get really nervous when I see anyone operating a piece of equipment without the proper safety guards in place.

I guess I have a problem understanding why people are so ready to risk life and/or limb for a bit of convenience. If maneuvering is that big of a deal, wouldn't it make sense to get a rear-discharge mower?

Also, I know I live in a fairly populated area compared to many of you, so if you're sure you can operate safely in a guarenteed deserted area, that'll be your decision to make.

And I know many of you will say "I've been doing this for xx years and have never had a problem". And although that's true, I have never had a hydraulic jack fail and drop a car on me, but I still always use rigid jack stands under the vehicle after it's raised. Likewise, I've never been in an auto accident where I needed my seatbelt, but I still wear it everytime I drive. The truth is, we never know when an accident will occur, that's why I feel I should try to do everything possible to avoid one.

Personally, I can't see why we'd want to give the lawyers any more business (no offense, if any are reading this) by disabling a safety device and then getting sued after an accident happens.

Just my (overly cautious) $0.02.

Take care,

Rick Jay

 

[Bird]

Rick, I certainly don't disagree with you; we certainly need to be safety conscious all the time. And I wear my seat belt all the time, too; been wearing one since '62 and did need it once when my partner drove us into a tree so hard my seat belt broke./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Of course, it probably would have killed me if the seat belt hadn't slowed me down before I stuck my head through the windshield./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif However, not all safety features are needed all the time.

Bird

 

[toddler]

Doesn't seem to stay up by itself Glenn,
60" mm deck. Maybe I'm missing something and wasted a lot of effort! Anyone else have the 60"mm deck?
Todd

 

[dieselpwr]

I gotta agree with Rick. I know things might clump more with chutes down but... If your anywhere near cars, people, animals or buildings you stand a pretty good chance of throwing things high & far with the chute up. One of my pet peeves is when morons mow ditches with the dicharge chutes pointing toward the road & don't shut the mower off for traffic to pass. I have gotten stone chips in my truck that way & even hit once while riding motorcycle. Let me tell you if you are on a bike & get hit with even a tiny stone as was the case for me - it hurts - even through the leather. God forbid you would get hit in the face. I'm not really into suing but... if I would get hurt due to somebody elses stupidity / lack of common sense I would be the first in line at the attorney's office... I'll get off my soap box now. I am just trying to say that the chutes do keep things from flying up at dangerouse levels & one should always use common sense in deciding if that is the right thing to do for them and those around them.

Troy