Hustler Raptor SD Discharge Trouble

NorthernTown

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Hi,

First post on this forum and am wondering if anyone has had the trouble I'm having. I purchased my first Hustler mower this spring, a brand new Raptor SD 54" and am very disappointed with the deck as far as the discharge chute plugging up and the grass hanging up in the deck, which in turn makes a poor cut. I called the dealer and he tried saying the grass was too wet, I was mowing too fast, etc... This isn't my first time cutting grass, and I've used different brands over the years, from John Deere, to Craftsmen, to Cub Cadet, and I've never had this problem, unless the grass was downright wet. The grass I'm cutting is by no means too tall or too wet. It just seems as soon as I hit a spot where it is a little thicker, and may be a little tough due to humidity or dew, the chute plugs. And usually by the time I'm done with a one hour job, the deck needs to be cleaned out. The biggest build up is on the left side, farthest from the discharge, and that is where the skip occurs when the deck is too full of grass. The dealer did say that it's possible that the engine RPM's are too low, although it's running full throttle. He said to bring it down, and they would check it out, but I'm not real confident that they will find anything or be able to fix it. From what I've read on here, the most common replies are to change blades and adjust the deck so it's a little higher in the front. I guess I'll question the dealer on those issues and see what he says. Has anyone else run into this and were you able to remedy it??? Thanks.
 

kraky

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The raptor SD 54 is a crazy great value for the money... if they gave you the wide-open deck design that they give you on the fast track they would never be able to keep up Manufacturing. Here are some pointers that might help out a lot..

Mow no more than one half your grass height at a time.

Mow when dry and at least two and a half inch cut height... it will be healthier for your lawn and will give you a lot more airflow. Sometimes just cutting another quarter-inch to half-inch higher makes an unbelievable difference in load inside the deck.
Slow down if you need to.
If these tips don't work move up to Gator G5 blades or high lift Hustler blades.
$80 Harbor Freight hydraulic lawnmower lift can be a big friend.
 

Carscw

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The raptor SD 54 is a crazy great value for the money... if they gave you the wide-open deck design that they give you on the fast track they would never be able to keep up Manufacturing. Here are some pointers that might help out a lot.. Mow no more than one half your grass height at a time. Mow when dry and at least two and a half inch cut height... it will be healthier for your lawn and will give you a lot more airflow. Sometimes just cutting another quarter-inch to half-inch higher makes an unbelievable difference in load inside the deck. Slow down if you need to. If these tips don't work move up to Gator G5 blades or high lift Hustler blades. $80 Harbor Freight hydraulic lawnmower lift can be a big friend.
You are kidding right?
A good mower for the money it is far from that.
This mower has had problems since the first day.
Very bad deck design.
Exhaust burning the grass.
Bolts coming loose.
Drive brackets breaking.
Even in perfect mowing conditions. ( dry short grass) the cut quality sux.
 

kraky

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I didn't have any of those problems with mine.... a 650 pound machine with big tires.... heavy duty mower deck....decent engine, 2800 series hydros ....good warranty and in my case a good dealer... all for $3,800.
I don't know what I could have bought that would have been a better value.
 

Carscw

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I didn't have any of those problems with mine.... a 650 pound machine with big tires.... heavy duty mower deck....decent engine, 2800 series hydros ....good warranty and in my case a good dealer... all for $3,800. I don't know what I could have bought that would have been a better value.

Toro ss5000 $3000
Better cut quality.
Better drives.
Better deck blast threw tall wet grass.
 

michigan_Rapter sd

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never had any problems with mine the the first couple of months - mows great in my thick grass - only thing i did was before the first cut I coated the bottom of the deck with slip coat as I have all my mowers to stuff doesn't stick - mows perfectly flat - way better than my cub cadet did
 

kraky

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I probably would have looked at the toro 5000 except our local dealer had just quit Toro and decided that the Gravely Ariens units were a better value for him to sell. It's probably a good machine for around $3,000.... it does get good reviews for cut quality.
What I didn't like when I looked at the toro was the stamped deck...small tires...no hour meter... and lighter non serviceable hydros.
As far as the cut quality goes on my raptor SD 54 I put on the Gator blades ... it does a really clean job on my lawn and also did a great job on the 3 other ones I intermittently helped out last summer.
It did a nice enough job on my lawn that when I moved up to a fast-track this year and put my Raptor on the end of my driveway it lasted 2 hours before my next door neighbor came running over with his checkbook and he's getting a beautiful job with it too.
 

turboawd

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i cut a lot of very tall grass and had constant clogging
you need to get the oregon gator blades, which have more lift and blowing action. i also cut my deck opening to get rid of that corner that holds a lot of grass.
there are threads on here with this info
 

akcooper9

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i cut a lot of very tall grass and had constant clogging
you need to get the oregon gator blades, which have more lift and blowing action. i also cut my deck opening to get rid of that corner that holds a lot of grass.
there are threads on here with this info

+1 cut the corner and the clogging goes away. The gator blades also help a lot as well.

And bolts coming loose as a complaint...please, thats the lamest thing Ive heard all day.
 

BlazNT

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+1 cut the corner and the clogging goes away. The gator blades also help a lot as well.

And bolts coming loose as a complaint...please, thats the lamest thing Ive heard all day.

We have had at least 3 complaints on this forum for it happening. Lets see we are but a small forum. Probably only see 10% of the world problems. If we have seen 3 then there are a lot more.
 
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