Mowing Poor cut with MMM

[timswi]

I agree that some odd mechanical issue is happining here. Mine will leave a small steak when doing hard coners when mowing, but nothing major. Straight line cuts and wide turns are perfect. I cut in low range WOT and the pedal floored unless I hit high grass, then I slow down. A three inch cut is not going to produce perfect results most of the time, although I've done it going slowly.

The PTO being in mid and rear is a good check, although I doubt it would sap much power if nothing is connected to the rear PTO...Never tried it, so I don't know.

 

[Toolguy]

Mowing speed should not be a problem. I mow in M range with the pedal all the way down on my B3030 most of the time. Does a great job. It sounds to me like the deck is not level front to back, with the front being too high. Just my .02. Good luck.

 

[aczlan]

We have a BX2660 with a 60" deck and it was cutting 3/4 of an inch higher on one side than the other. What we had was that the "scalp wheels" on the 4 corners needed to be within 3/4" of the ground when you are at your cutting height. Otherwise, one side will get too high and the other will scalp.

Aaron Z

 

[Cooldmax]

I'm guessing your dealer leveled your deck with the loader on and now your mowing without the loader. My dealer did this and when the loader is off the front of your deck is at least 1/2 inch higher. When the deck is not lower in the front it will leave streaks. It took me a while but I leveled mine myself and it mows great as fast as I can stay on the seat.

 

[rdsaustintx]

Reilly,

Your grass sounds like the rangy-azzed stuff I have on half my property. The stalks will bend down and stay down. An hour after you mow you can see where the tires and the anti-scalp roller were, because those suckers stand back up. I have sort of given up on a perfect mow. The seed heads just pop back up anyway, especially in hot weather.

I have a little st. augustine and am seeding bermuda as well. Mower works great on that stuff.

 

[The Haymaker]

I've seen two riding mowers with the blades on backwards... and the cut wasn't too bad either

Did it myself on a side blade. It's all NH's fault for not sharpening both sides.

 

[fredhargis]

I get a little of that effect with my B2920. I was thinking it's a matter of heavy tractor (compared to a lawn mower) and the front tires (R-4's in my case. It almost looks grass in the front tire track doesn't get cut as short as the untracked grass. I've rightly or wrongly guessed the grass was flattened by the front tires and didn't spring up fast enough to get cut as short as the rest of it. In my case it's not so bad that I care, so I don't recut.

 

[mantis]

I get a little of that effect with my B2920. I was thinking it's a matter of heavy tractor (compared to a lawn mower) and the front tires (R-4's in my case. It almost looks grass in the front tire track doesn't get cut as short as the untracked grass. I've rightly or wrongly guessed the grass was flattened by the front tires and didn't spring up fast enough to get cut as short as the rest of it. In my case it's not so bad that I care, so I don't recut.

This is what I see too. For me it is more typical on the left side of the tractor/mower, so when I mow I overlap passes by about 1/3, and it gets a second cut. The worst times are when the grass is either long or damp, but I know you (RTII) said that your grass was neither of those. Hopefully the dealer will be able to help you solve your mystery.

 

[keyman1808]

I get the same thing with my Husky mower. Grass is thick and lush and the tire knocks it down and wont come back up fast enough.

 

[EE_Bota]

I think all mowers that have heavy wheels in front of the deck are likely to have the smushed grass effect to some extent.

I find that if I use blades with good lifting capacity (suitable for baggers,) so long as I have the revs up, and do nothing to block the exhaust air flow (no bagger or mulch exit plate,) the problem is greatly reduced

If I put a mulching exit plate on either the Kubota or the John Deere L105, the problem is much worse, and not only where wheels have been.

My Kubota mower deck manual tells how to set mine up, and it is pretty easy to do.

 

[BigSteve63]

Had the same problem with my 2920. Left streaks that looked like middle balde was bent or loose. Scalped quite a bit turning. I checked and the linkage was off almost an inch side to side. Corrected that but still no good, quality cut. Called dealer and told him I was ready to go back to my Poulan garden tractor for mowing - he advised bringing in to check/adjust mower. Turns out, they pulled the MMM from a 2320 to install on my machine so I could get it quicker. The kid who installed it just hung it on the tractor without checking or adjusting anything. When I picked it up, they had mowed part of their lawn with it and left me a few strips to try before taking it home. What a difference! Mows great, much better than what I was accustomed to. My advice would be to make sure that all linkages are in spec, then make sure tire pressure is right. I ran into this with previous equipment, if the tires are over inflated, it can cause the grass to smash down harder and not allow the mower to stand it back up in time to get cut to the correct length.

 

[davesalisbury]

Hi all-

Pretty much same general problem, different tractor/mower combo.

I have a B2630 with a 72" deck (RC72-30b). I mow dry, throttle wide open, and in low range - thin areas full speed in low range (the 2630 has 3 ranges), thick areas a little slower. My previous tractor (BX2230 with RCK60 mower) could run highest speed in the lower of 2 ranges and never leave blade long (it actually worked pretty well - but poorly enough to notice - when I stupidly put the blades on upside down, but I digress).

Back to my current problem, The RH blade seems to leave some rather noticeable streaking. The deck is new (earlier this summer), the blade looks just like the others - not even rock nicks yet, I have lubed it, it was adjusted and installed by the dealer (and checked by me). I thought it was the tire crushing the grass, but the problem doesn't happen on the left side - just the right.

The only thing I can recall as a possible difference between this and my older rig is that the older one had high-lift blades. Does anybody make a high-lift blade for the RC72-30B?

Any other advice appreciated.

Thanks.

Dave

 

[sw03]

Here is my 60" MMM on my b24...yea, crappy cut

 

[EE_Bota]

Here is my 60" MMM on my b24...yea, crappy cut

I will take your word for it, since you are there to see it, but I think it looks pretty good, actually.

 

[Chugbug]

Just put a 60" under my BX25 and the cut is amazing. Ran it at 2800 rpms in high and it has an amazing cut. Money well spent.
:thumbsup:

 

[EE_Bota]

Just put a 60" under my BX25 and the cut is amazing. Ran it at 2800 rpms in high and it has an amazing cut. Money well spent.
:thumbsup:

I have a 60" under a BX2200, and I thought it did well for what it was...but I now use a JD rider instead (to limit some of the soil compression perhaps) and it does better, but only for what IT is.

A front deck mower of narrow width ought to do the best cut since it is not actively compressing the grass before the cut. I used to have such a mower, and it did do the best job of any rider I have had. It was a 1972 Hesston rider, and articulated in the middle to steer.

 

[rmilho]

Any update about what dealer discovered with your deck?