EZ Trak Z445

buckhunter

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I love this mower but does anybody else have problems with it burning the grass when its dry out? If I stop more than 2-3 secs in one place the air blowing off the motor and the exhaust burns the grass and its brown the next day.
 

Cabinboy

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Yep, same thing. Have learnt to stop only on the driveway, or shut off the unit if i stop.
 

Black Bart

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Never had that problem but don't recall ever stopping I mow until done and then pull it up on the slab to use hose port to clean the deck
 

Cabinboy

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Ya, I don't normally stop, but we've had so much rain over the last 2 months (17 days of sun since June the first.......43 days of rain!!!!!!). That means my sump is running every 5 minutes or so...which means i have to lift the sump hose out of the way to cut grass in between pumps. We live very close to a bird sanctuary, so consequently the water table is quite high. Doesn't take long to burn the grass:thumbdown: Doesn't kill the roots, but leaves a nice tan patch in the grass.

PS I'm in Alberta Canada, and we never see this much rain.
 

Black Bart

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We are having both a drought and heat wave here everything burnt up anyway so parking the mower would not show.
 

rtumark

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Absolutely having this problem. It's horrible. Talked with dealer about this issue in May, apparently JD knows about the issue, but I'm losing my patience with them. THey did not want to admit an issue until I brought in pictures, there is no denying the problem when you see the photos.

At first it was thought the exhaust stream from muffler was burning the grass, so it was recommended that I make a deflector to angle the exhaust up. I did that. Still saw evidence of buring. Then I was told it's the air being sucked down over the engine causing the grass to burn and I can take off the deflector. I think it's a combination of both. I'm ready to force the issue and have them take it back. Trying to grow a nice lawn without burn marks every place I have to slow down for even a few seconds.
 

buckhunter

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@rtumark
I forgot I even posted this its been so freakin dry in MD that I have only been mowing every 3 weeks. I made an exhaust deflector and bolted it threw the factory hole in the muffler shield. It helped alittle, now I just get a spot behind each tire. Before the deflector I would get a long stripe about 3"x16"-18" along with the spots. It has actually rained some now so I had to mow yesterday then I remembered posting this when I saw the spots. The mower is great but this factory f-up is pissin me off. Im going to get some stuff at the deere dealer next week Ill keep everybody posted if I here anything.
 

rtumark

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go to your deere dealer.....there is an official deere fix with new muffler and heat shields. Dropping my machine off this Tuesday to get the modification. I'll keep you updated.
 

rtumark

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I also made the deflector which directed the airstream up from the exhaust, it solved that 3" x 20" strip problem. But still had burning like you also saw, Deere's theory is that cooling air over the engine (vertical airflow) is causing the additional burning.

We'll see if this fixes it. The dealer had not opening the box yet, but said it was a big box of parts with muffler and deflectors. It better not look like a frankenstein machine.
 
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