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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?

hmmm, which tractor/deck are you refering to ??

Oops, sorry. Zero turn, 50" deck.

normburns said:

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.

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

normburns said:

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

The next visitor to your fromt door wil be an OSHA attorney.

Sammy the Red said:

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

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ChuckT said:

The next visitor to your fromt door wil be an OSHA attorney.

Click to expand...

Or perhaps a paramedic.

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:

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

KennyV said:

...As to cleaning under the belt covers, it's not That big a problem... Is it? ... :smile:KennyV

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Not anymore it isn't. My spacers work better than I had hoped. Next I will cut a piece of cardboard to slip in there, so that when I blow out one side, it doesn't just go to the other side. Since I had to replace the engine, I am trying to take much better care of it.

I have liquid in the tires for weight now. I used "lo-tox" anti freeze. The a-f seems to be heavier than other materials I had handy. Yesterday I cut a friends lawn, with a steep bank. It has always tried to wheelie on me, going up the bank, but not this time. My extra weight worked just like I wanted it to.

Rear wheel adapters. Does anyone make an adapter to go from the single opening mount wheel, requiring a 1/4 inch "key", to a normal 4 lug wheel?

Foam filling tires. I have a couple of lugged atv tires I would like to mount on my "tow tractor", that I use to drag the scraper/leveler for the driveway, fallen branches, etc. They are in rough shape, but the tread is good. I could go with tubes, but I am not convinced that foam filling them might not be better. Stupid question time... can I use the "Great Stuff" expanding foam to fill them? Okay, maybe not "ideal", but would it work?

For Ballast ...If you want more weight in a liquid for in the tires... Us Beet Juice (Rim Guard).. Rim Guard - Liquid Tire Ballast
It's heavier...

As to wheel adapters... I think almost all riders with bolt on wheels have them... Most are 5 Bolt...
What size is your axle ?? I believe I have a couple John Deere 5 bolt adapters around...

Foam fill is great stuff.. I have it in my 7 foot finish mower .... Rather pricey, but never any flats.. side walls will eventually fail, but that takes a Lot of years...
Nope the foam in a can will Not work, completely different stuff... Foam in a can is not dense enough and will not fill properly... the foam for in tires is almost like a solid rubber (very Heavy) comes right out when you have to cut the tire off the rim for replacement... :smile:KennyV

Be careful with fluid in tire on a Z-mower. I have seen many wheels with center broken out. You can change direction so quickly on a Z that the monmentum of fluid when change direction can but not always loosen lug nuts and cause wheel problems (breaking center, elongating lug holes and can also damage hub) Wheel weights will work better on a Z. Tire fluid in a lawn tractor is usually ok

I have always found it to be a total PITA.
cvt

KennyV said:

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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