RFM mowing pattern

Beaglenut · Jun 30, 2013

I just got done trying out a neighbor's 72in rfm he wants to sell me. Mowed for half a day yesterday and liked it, but looked at the yard today and its like stripes everywhere about 2 ft wide. Mowed some more and noticed the center was mowing much shorter (at least an inch) than the sides. Looked at the blades and they all seem sharp and not damaged. Am I being too picky since this is a "tractor mower" or am I right to exoect better? The mower does seem solid otherwise and I think he'd sell it for a reasonable price.

leonz · Jun 30, 2013

Beaglenut said:
I just got done trying out a neighbor's 72in rfm he wants to sell me. Mowed for half a day yesterday and liked it, but looked at the yard today and its like stripes everywhere about 2 ft wide. Mowed some more and noticed the center was mowing much shorter (at least an inch) than the sides. Looked at the blades and they all seem sharp and not damaged. Am I being too picky since this is a "tractor mower" or am I right to exoect better? The mower does seem solid otherwise and I think he'd sell it for a reasonable price.

the symptoms make me think the mowers deck is warped. take a bubble level and a straight edge and check to see if it is true from side to side(level) and check to see if the cente rblade is upside down-it happens. wide rotary finish mowers will flex a lot if the deck is not thick and welded steel.

whistlepig · Jun 30, 2013

The newer RFM's are pretty good mowers as far as the quality of the cut. My neighbors have zero turns. Their yards don't look any better than my RFM mowed yard.

GTEdge · Jun 30, 2013

I have a 5ft King Kutter RFM and it cuts as well as my zero turn. Agree as mentioned above that something is amiss with the deck.

kevinwak · Jun 30, 2013

My 62D belly mower deck on my john Deere does that. It is either a blade slightly bent or the angle of the sharpening. I had the middle blade cutting about an inch lower, so I took the blades off to sharpen. After I reinstalled them in no particular order the left side is now cutting an inch low. Visually I are no difference between the blades, but I know there must be.

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whistlepig · Jun 30, 2013

It does sound like a bent blade. Easiest way to check is to park the mower on a concrete floor and measure from the floor to the blade tips. Rotate the blades and recheck them again.

radioman · Jul 1, 2013

whistlepig said:
It does sound like a bent blade. Easiest way to check is to park the mower on a concrete floor and measure from the floor to the blade tips. Rotate the blades and recheck them again.

he said it the best ... I agree whole heartedly. usually its just the blade rather then the deck/spindle issue.

unbidden · Jul 1, 2013

Just a thought on the uneven cut: recheck and be sure all the blades are exactly the same. If one is a different "lift" this could be causing the issue.

LD1 · Jul 1, 2013

A few thoughts, but all is not lost.

1st, it would be a good idea to attach to your tractor and then lower to mow height on a level concrete floor. Look under the deck, take measurements.

Aside from a bent blade, a few things come to mind as to why the center would be cutting lower...

1. mis-matched blade. (some blades arent level, rather they are offset a little)

2. Not installed right. Are washers or spacers the same on all 3 blades however they are mounted??

3. setting of gauge wheels, check chains, toplink, etc. Now I dont know the model of the mower, but a pic of it attached to your tractor could help here, but on a 3 spindle mower, the center blade is mounted closer to the tractor. So if wheels or something isnt set up right, and the mower isnt level front to rear, the front/center blade could be lower. Like if the rear gauge wheels are set too high and the fronts too low.

clemsonfor · Jul 1, 2013

No, you have something amiss. I use a bushhog brand fth720 and it looks even across it. only stripes are where the wheels rolled and then its still cut the same. Oh and the huge windrow of grass thant the side discharge will throw out, the rear discharges are better.

If

Arc weld · Jul 1, 2013

If one blade is cutting an inch lower, there's something wrong! The angle of sharpening wouldn't make a difference. If one blade was completely blunt might a difference but you said they were all sharp. Either put the mower on a flat surface and measure the distance to the blade tips in different locations or take a long straight edge along the 2 outer blades and see if the center blade lines up with the straight edge. Turn the blades and check again. Could one blade be upside down? That would certainly amount to about an inch difference in height.

Beaglenut · Jul 1, 2013

Thanks for all the opinions, I returned the mower to my neighbor for him to check out, he totally agreed with all of you that there's something wrong. The mower didn't have an anti-scalp roller but it seemed to scalp pretty easily. The mower had all the spacers in to get the mowing height as high as it would go and I think the center was cutting too low. So my current guess would agree with those of you who think there's a problem with the level / tilt of the deck. The mower is a FarmStar and seems well built, and runs much quieter than my old 60in mower so I'm hoping the problem isn't "fatal", I'll let you know how it turns out.

LD1 · Jul 2, 2013

Definatally keep us posted. And get us some pictures if you can.

How much was he asking for the mower?

Beaglenut · Jul 2, 2013

We didn't get that far but he said he thought it would go for $500 at an auction so I'm guessing that's what he'd want for it. It's lived it's life outside so there is some rust, and the front of the frame is dented where an anti-scalp roller would go (again leading me to believe the center is lower than it should be). The inner half of the pto shaft is slightly bent and missing the plastic collar but I didn't have any trouble getting it to slide in and out enough to get it hooked up to my tractor.

My rfm saga started when I bought my brand new tractor last fall, a Mahindra Max 28hp, for mowing our new property. The dealer told me it wasn't big enough to run a 72" mower and sold me a 60" Farmline (under $900 brand new). Obviuosly cheap for a new mower but as the old saying goes you get what you pay for. One of the "forks" that holds the front wheel broke and I've had it welded twice. The blade also got bent somehow (I might have done it hitting a small stump, there are a couple I've learned to watch out for) and the mowing pattern on it has never been right. On top of that I'm mowing almost 5 acres right now and using a 60" mower with a crummy pattern making me go over lots of things twice, I've been spending a day and a half a week mowing on the place that's a second home right now. That's what led up to my neighbor (thankfully) suggesting I try out his old 72" that he hasn't been using. The 28HP seems to handle the 72" mower just fine, so I'm definitely going shopping for a 6 footer now. Craigslist around St. Louis is a goldmine for these things but I'm going to check out new ones too. One thing I've learned already is I'd never buy a used one unless I could see it in action first. I've looked through the forums here and seen alot of the new brands I should look for, I know there are a number of dealers in our area that sell Woods and LandPride. One suggestion I saw on the forums was a brand called First Choice but I called them and they're not in the RFM business any more.

LD1 · Jul 2, 2013

Well if its missing the anti-scalp roller in the front, maybe thats the whole issue. It is possible that he had it set up to ride on the roller for correct height.

Does the mower have gauge wheels in the front?? if not, it was probably supposed to have some check-chains to limit the amount the front lowers. If it has neither chains, nor wheels, and missing the roller, thats the problem.

Other than that, based on the condition you describe, I doubt it would see $500 at any auction. $300 is more realistic.

Keep shopping C-list. Your dealer gave you bad advise on the mower. You should do just fine with a 72" finish mower and a 60" on a bush hog.

Beaglenut · Jul 2, 2013

Not sure what you mean by gauge wheels, it has 4 wheels, 2 front and 2 back. Doesn't look to me like it ever had an anti-scalp roller, my cheapo 60" didn't come with one either. If the deck needed one of those to keep it from sagging in the middle I suspect that's not a good thing though lol. Thanks again for all the advice.

LD1 · Jul 2, 2013

Yea, the 4 wheels are gauge wheels. Cause they gauge the depth of the mower.

Sounds like you need to raise the ones in the front a tad then. But you wont know until you place the mower on a level concrete surface.

clemsonfor · Jul 3, 2013

The bushhog brand that i use i dont think has a scalp roller on it? It has 4 wheels on it. And i can run the 72" side discharge in all but the tallest stuff with my 24hp yanmar. When its really tall i have to take about a 5ft section and go slow but i can handle it. I only cut the farm house (it to is a second place) once every 4-8 weeks so it is pretty tall when i do!