Mower deck How often do you clean the deck

ththomasjr said:

I have a lawn boy that's over 25 years old. I've always sprayed this mower with a hose.

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twinfords said:

i usually air hose my mowers down after every use, i will wash it occasionally and air dry it also. The poor design of some mowers makes you have to blow them off after every use. i have recieved lots of mowers so caked up with grasss they would not start, engage etc. several the shoot was so clogged with grass it would not cut as well.

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djdicetn said:

ProLikeJesus,

I see there being two potential "problems" from accumulated grass/dirt/etc. under a mower deck. The first has been eluded to and that is trapped moisture causing rust and other deck material damage. The second(from my experience) is enough accumulated buildup that it "restricts" the ability of the blades to turn freely after hardening between mowings and when you go to mow again and engage the PTO.....ooooops there went my drive belt(if the blade won't turn.......something's gotta give:0)
In my last two lawn tractors(most recently a Craftsman 54"...made by Husqvarna) the stamped deck design and the blade tip speed allowed quite a bit of accumulation under the deck and after throwing one belt I began spraying underneath the deck with a garden hose each time I mowed to remove most of the large clumps to avoid that happening again.
You may notice some of the recent models of residential lawn tractors(and some ZTR's) have that hose-attachment dooie that allows you to attach a garden hose, turn it on, engage the blades and wash the deck out. My Craftsman didn't have that and I thought I wanted that on my next mower. What I discovered when shopping for a ZTR, though, was that a good quality ZTR(especially the Commercial units) don't suffer as much buildup due to (a)the deck design, particularly the fabricated decks with baffles underneath and (b)the blade tip speeds of around 18,000 fpm(there is so much turbulence and clipping ejection the stuff just can't "stick to" the deck)!!! I have mowed my yard 4 times with my new Gravely Pro-Turn 52" Commercial ZTR since buying it(this weekend after a rain the previous day) and upon inspecting under the deck each time about all I see is a "green stain" on the deck and spindles and very little if any grass stuck to the deck surface underneath(making me a VERY happy post-mowing cleanup guy)!!! I, like user Ric have purchased a MoJack and I will probably clean under my deck like he has recommended occaissionally(every 5 or 6 mowings).
I've also heard and had some advice about spraying underneath a new mower's deck with PAM cooking oil spay and every few mowings but I can't recommend that from experience. I actually tried a product called ZEPLON when I first bought the Craftsman lawn tractor(a "hard drying" form of silicone) but it didn't help a bit. Personally, I don't understand why some mower manufacturer hasn't come up with a mower deck that has a "teflon coating" underneath it.....as they would sell like hotcakes:0)

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Ric said:

I've been watching this thread and I've heard all the remedies for grass build up, spray this, spray that and I don't believe that they have anything that can keep a deck clean.
Some one said just mow when it's dry and you should have a problem and for some that may work but what about the guys that get up in the morning and have to be mowing at 7:30 am everyday and everything is wet? The guys that have too mow in the rain.
Seriously I should clean my decks daily and I'll bet I can remove five lbs of grass a day. Now if you want to cut your build up two things you can try is do not mulch, do not use things like Gator blades because the finer the grass is cut the more problems you have with grass build up. Oh and bagging doesn't really help the situation either.

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Ric said:

I've been watching this thread and I've heard all the remedies for grass build up, spray this, spray that and I don't believe that they have anything that can keep a deck clean.
Some one said just mow when it's dry and you should have a problem and for some that may work but what about the guys that get up in the morning and have to be mowing at 7:30 am everyday and everything is wet? The guys that have too mow in the rain.
Seriously I should clean my decks daily and I'll bet I can remove five lbs of grass a day. Now if you want to cut your build up two things you can try is do not mulch, do not use things like Gator blades because the finer the grass is cut the more problems you have with grass build up. Oh and bagging doesn't really help the situation either.

Click to expand...