New User Intro.... Mulch Kit Q

[Berner]

Hello all, I have been a reader of the forum, but never a member until now.

I just purchased a Gravely ZT50 and this is my first ztr type mower. It is replacing my seized Cub Cadet LT1045, I kept her running as long as I could, but eventually that Kohler Courage couldn't go any further, but I digress...

I live in South Florida, and have an acre of St Augustine turf. I ordered the mulch kit for it, but the dealer was out of inventory and had to order the kit. They asked me if I wanted to wait for the kit to come so they could install it and then deliver it to me. I opted not to wait because my yard was getting very thick and needed a cut. My new mower arrived this morning and I was anxious to try the thing out and do a cut. I set my blades to 4", and started mowing. I was amazed that I did not see any clumps of grass in yard without having a mulch kit, and I am wondering now if I really need the mulch kit. St Augy grass is very thick stuff, and I am not sure if it is better or worse for a lawn to mulch or not mulch. I am assuming the mower prefers to not have the extra load of mulching if possible. Your thoughts?

 

[DaveTN]

Hi and Welcome to the LMF! I used to live in Daytona Beach and know about
that tough grass. I'm in East TN now and the grass can be a problem up here
as well at times. That's what keeps us mechanics and parts people in business.
Hope your new toy keeps holding up well. :thumbsup:

 

[Berner]

Just a quick update....

Last week I dropped my deck to 3.5" just to see how she would handle it,I usually cut at 4". The mower didn't struggle, but it was obvious I would be wanting the mulch kit installed. I guess I have my Saturday planned now. Will post again after install and cut.

 

[Berner]

Yet another update:

I installed my mulching kit this weekend and thought I would share my experience in the hope it may help someone else. The sales rep at the lawn center assured me that the mulch kit was "just nuts and bolts" and a fairly simple project. On paper, it appeared to be exactly that, but it was not. I started Saturday morning by jacking up the front of the mower, raising the deck and removing all the parts necessary in order to install mulching baffle. The baffle is a large piece of molded metal that runs the length of the deck, and in order to get in place above the blades requires some effort. Definitely not a one-man job. The directions advised that it is helpful to remove the deck belt from the spindles to make the blades easier to move so you can get the baffle into place. I found it impossible to drop into place unless you removed the belt! After several attempts, and laying on a hard floor, we finally had the baffle in place, and all we had to do was bolt her in and we were done. Getting everything to align just right, with gravity working against you was the real killer. To make it even more challenging, the hardware uses carriage bolts and these super thick washers that mount from bottom up. The thick washer leaves very little of the "square edge" part of the bolt to grab into the squared slot in the baffle. I actually rounded one of the baffle slots while trying to tighten it up. I finally waived the white flag and realized the only way to really get it right would be to remove the mower deck, place it upside down on a few saw horses and work the project accordingly. This was much easier, but I really hate removing a mower deck. Since I rounded out some of the baffle slots, I replaced the carriage bolts with hex bolts and washers. This way I could grab on each side, plus I used a drop of thread lock. Using this approach, I was able to install the mulch baffle in less than 20 minutes. If I removed the deck first and used this approach, then the carriage bolts would have worked fine. Putting the deck back wasn't too bad, but pulling that tortion spring pully to get bet back on is kind of scary. Wear gloves and be careful of pinch points! Oh and another observation, that deck washout port is kind of a joke. The water spray will only hit a very small area under that left section of the deck.

Upon completion I gave the yard a cut, and my grass was thick. The mulch kit did do a very nice job, and I am impressed with the results.

 

[LoCo86]

Yet another update: I installed my mulching kit this weekend and thought I would share my experience in the hope it may help someone else. The sales rep at the lawn center assured me that the mulch kit was "just nuts and bolts" and a fairly simple project. On paper, it appeared to be exactly that, but it was not. I started Saturday morning by jacking up the front of the mower, raising the deck and removing all the parts necessary in order to install mulching baffle. The baffle is a large piece of molded metal that runs the length of the deck, and in order to get in place above the blades requires some effort. Definitely not a one-man job. The directions advised that it is helpful to remove the deck belt from the spindles to make the blades easier to move so you can get the baffle into place. I found it impossible to drop into place unless you removed the belt! After several attempts, and laying on a hard floor, we finally had the baffle in place, and all we had to do was bolt her in and we were done. Getting everything to align just right, with gravity working against you was the real killer. To make it even more challenging, the hardware uses carriage bolts and these super thick washers that mount from bottom up. The thick washer leaves very little of the "square edge" part of the bolt to grab into the squared slot in the baffle. I actually rounded one of the baffle slots while trying to tighten it up. I finally waived the white flag and realized the only way to really get it right would be to remove the mower deck, place it upside down on a few saw horses and work the project accordingly. This was much easier, but I really hate removing a mower deck. Since I rounded out some of the baffle slots, I replaced the carriage bolts with hex bolts and washers. This way I could grab on each side, plus I used a drop of thread lock. Using this approach, I was able to install the mulch baffle in less than 20 minutes. If I removed the deck first and used this approach, then the carriage bolts would have worked fine. Putting the deck back wasn't too bad, but pulling that tortion spring pully to get bet back on is kind of scary. Wear gloves and be careful of pinch points! Oh and another observation, that deck washout port is kind of a joke. The water spray will only hit a very small area under that left section of the deck. Upon completion I gave the yard a cut, and my grass was thick. The mulch kit did do a very nice job, and I am impressed with the results.

How come you didn't just remove the blades? I take my mulch kit on and off of my Exmark and it takes about 25 minutes. I do agree it is a pain to do by yourself.