Mower deck Okay, all you Cadet Gurus... blade speed and deck debris

normburns

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  • / Okay, all you Cadet Gurus... blade speed and deck debris
I would like to spin my blades a bit faster. So, if I remember my basic mountain bike gear experience, I either need a larger PTO pulley, with does not look to be replaceable, or smaller pulleys for the blade spindle shafts. Any ideas?

This mower collects debris on top of the deck worse than any other rider I've owned. You blow is out, and you switch sides and repeat, and keep switching until you pretty much get most of it out. IS there a trick that I am not aware of? One thing I did that seems to help, is I removed the belt covers/guards, tapped the 6 holes to 5/16-18, and put 1/2 inch spacers under all bolts on both sides, with longer bolts. That seems to help with getting the junk blown out. I have been thinking about a couple of cardboard "shields", that I could set in place, so that what I blow out goes off the deck, instead of to the other side. Any better ideas?
 

jigbuilder

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  • / Okay, all you Cadet Gurus... blade speed and deck debris
hmmm, which tractor/deck are you refering to ??
 

normburns

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  • / Okay, all you Cadet Gurus... blade speed and deck debris
Oops, sorry. Zero turn, 50" deck.
 

SeniorCitizen

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  • / Okay, all you Cadet Gurus... blade speed and deck debris
I would like to spin my blades a bit faster. So, if I remember my basic mountain bike gear experience, I either need a larger PTO pulley, with does not look to be replaceable, or smaller pulleys for the blade spindle shafts. Any ideas?

This mower collects debris on top of the deck worse than any other rider I've owned. You blow is out, and you switch sides and repeat, and keep switching until you pretty much get most of it out. IS there a trick that I am not aware of? One thing I did that seems to help, is I removed the belt covers/guards, tapped the 6 holes to 5/16-18, and put 1/2 inch spacers under all bolts on both sides, with longer bolts. That seems to help with getting the junk blown out. I have been thinking about a couple of cardboard "shields", that I could set in place, so that what I blow out goes off the deck, instead of to the other side. Any better ideas?
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The formula for blade speed is engine RPM X the drive pulley diameter divided by the driven pulley diameter. Example: If the mower engine is running 3,600 rpm, has a 4" drive pulley and a 5 " blade pulley the blade rpm will be 2,880. Be careful not to exceed blade tip speed measured in FPM (ft. per minute).

To aid in removing debris with compressed air or vacuum I made cut outs in the belt/pulley guards.
 

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ChuckT

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  • / Okay, all you Cadet Gurus... blade speed and deck debris
If I remeber correctly - the key measurement is "tip speed" - I suppose that means how fast the blade edge is contacting the lawn. But there is probably an upper limit - spin the blades toooo fast and they just might self distruct!

On the other hand I agree that the deck spindle covers tend to trap in a lot of debris.

But I've seen the same, or worse, on JDs, and Cratsmans. Maybe a small fan on the bottom face of the pulleys would help keep them, and the deck, free of clippings?


cvt

I would like to spin my blades a bit faster. So, if I remember my basic mountain bike gear experience, I either need a larger PTO pulley, with does not look to be replaceable, or smaller pulleys for the blade spindle shafts. Any ideas?

This mower collects debris on top of the deck worse than any other rider I've owned. You blow is out, and you switch sides and repeat, and keep switching until you pretty much get most of it out. IS there a trick that I am not aware of? One thing I did that seems to help, is I removed the belt covers/guards, tapped the 6 holes to 5/16-18, and put 1/2 inch spacers under all bolts on both sides, with longer bolts. That seems to help with getting the junk blown out. I have been thinking about a couple of cardboard "shields", that I could set in place, so that what I blow out goes off the deck, instead of to the other side. Any better ideas?
 

Sammy the Red

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  • / Okay, all you Cadet Gurus... blade speed and deck debris
I removed the pully guards from my JD mower.
Was a pain to clean all the time with them on.
 

ChuckT

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  • / Okay, all you Cadet Gurus... blade speed and deck debris
The next visitor to your fromt door wil be an OSHA attorney.

I removed the pully guards from my JD mower.
Was a pain to clean all the time with them on.
 

benski

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  • / Okay, all you Cadet Gurus... blade speed and deck debris
The average speed of sound is 1126 ft/sec. If it was my mower, I'd leave it stock, sharpen the blades, slow down, and enjoy the ride.:wink:
 

KennyV

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  • / Okay, all you Cadet Gurus... blade speed and deck debris
My 6 foot and 7 foot, 3 blade mower decks run around 1800 ft per min... they give an excellent cut from 1600 to 2000 ft per min tip speed.
There is no real gain going above 1800 FPM... My old Cub Cadet 1450 with a 44 inch deck also has close to 1800 FPM,
As to cleaning under the belt covers, it's not That big a problem... Is it? ... :smile:KennyV
 
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