Mulching mulching conversion help!!! please

not excited

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I have a Husqvarna yth2348 and want to switch to mulching blades. My mower has 2 blades and all the mulching blades come in sets of 3. I understand because they are 16" that I would need 3 for the 48" deck, but what I don't understand ... Is there a mandrel for the 3rd blade that I'm not aware of ? I haven't jacked it up yet, just want to make sure I'm buying the right stuff before I go through taking things apart. If someone understands what I'm asking and knows anything about it, I would appreciate it very much. I hate huge piles of grass clippings almost as much as seeing the dandelions pop up the next day!!!! thanks
 

Darryl G

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If your mower only has 2 blades then that's what you need, 2 mulching blades. But if you have huge piles of grass now you're likely to just make a mess trying to mulch it.
 

BlazNT

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Everything I find for your mower is 3 blades.
 

bertsmobile1

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On the discharge chute there should be a number cast into it.
The standard 48" deck has 3 blades , 16.5" by the way , because there has to be an overlap.
Look under the deck and check.
If there are 2 it is a 42" deck
If there are 3 then it can be anything from 44" to 54" but the standard deck on your mower would be 48"
Y 23Hp engine 48 inch cut.
 

Darryl G

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I'm more concerned about the statement about being tired of huge piles of grass than the OP getting the right blades/right number of blades, lol. There's a lot more to mulching than just putting on a set of mulching blades, and unless you're going with a full mulch kit, blocking plate and baffles to separate the deck into multiple chambers, it's just going to end up being a pile of mush dribbling out the discharge in clumps. For tough mowing conditions that produce "huge piles of grass", switching to mulching blades is likely to just make mowing more difficult and result in a crappy cut quality.

What kind of mulching blades are we talking about here, wavy mulchers such as those typically used with full mulch kits? Or are we talking Gator mulching blades, or Gator high lift mulching blades such as the G5/G6 Gators. I run the Gator G5 high lift mulching blades whenever I can, but this time of year with it as wet as it's been and the crazy growth rate I'm running high lifts. I have fertilized weekly accounts at 10 and 11 days now due to rain and there's no way I'd try mulching them. I just double cut them and/or bag them.
 
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not excited

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It is a 48" deck, and haven't looked under it. I was under the impression that it had 2 blades ( but clearly I'm not a lawn mower aficionado by any stretch of the imagination). So hopefully there are 3 blades and I was just under the wrong impression. ... the "huge piles of grass" statement was a bit of an exaggeration, referring to the trail of grass left by my current side shoot(??) (I'm sure someone can correct me as to what it is called). And yes the baffles and shoot cover come with the blades. So thank you to BlazNT and bertsmobie1 for helping me with my question.
 

Darryl G

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I'm obviously trying to help too by making sure that you purchase what you need and don't waste your money on something based on unrealistic expectations. Mulching isn't for everyone and all conditions...good luck... probably not going to work for you unless you're only taking off an inch or two of grass at a time and mowing dry grass.
 

bertsmobile1

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What Daryl is trying to tell you is there is a limit to how much grass can be mulched.
Fitting mulching blades can require mowing every 2nd or 3rd day.
The grass that s cut has to be able to fall between the leaves of what is left behind.

If there is too much grass the mulching deck will leave big clumps of chewed up grass all over your lawn and these will sit there like cow droppings till mowed over.
With mulching kit on you should be cutting no more than 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the blades of grass.
You also have to mow slower.
 

Darryl G

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Post deleted - realized I was repeating myself.
 
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not excited

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So I guess I should also thank darylg for his comments also. I understand the concern, I just think that mowing with mulching blades will help alleviate the trails of grass clippings left by the side shoot mower. (I might be wrong, has happened a few times)
 
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