RMA-460 Mower. Impossible to clean

[bamoore01]

I bought one of the RMA 460 electric mowers a few weeks ago. I love the mower for my small yard except for one thing. And.. That one thing would keep me from buying it again or recommending it to anyone.

There are plastic pieces on the front and back of the mower deck. The front pieces are there to direct the air flow into the deck and to hold the front wheels on. The back is for the grass catcher or plug that turns it into a mulcher. In both the front and back there is a gap between the deck and the plastic pieces on the underside of the deck allows gras to get into the area between the plastic pieces and the deck every time you mow. If it is wet at all, it ends up molding and stinking. The front area also drains green slimy water out for a few days till it dries. I took care of the back by caulking the gaps between the deck and plastic pieces. (We'll see how long it lasts) The front is not so easy. To clean the area out you have to remove the front wheels, take 8 screws out, take the plastic pieces off and clean out the mower deck and plastic pieces. Not really acceptable, its messy and it takes a while. Looking a pictures of stihl mowers, it looks like these plastic pieces are a fairly new add on to the design. Pictures of older mowers have a smooth underside of the deck.

Has anyone else had this problem?? I'm thinking of either drilling the front plastic pieces full of holes so I can at least spray water into the area and kind of keep it cleaned out or just drilling a few small holes and filling the entire void with spray can foam.

 

[Rivets]

You are not going to like what I’ve got to say, but after reading your post it must be said. First, biggest cause of your problem is cutting grass while it is wet. This will cause problems on both gas powered and electric mowers. Wet grass sticks to everything. Second, try to plug those gaps will cause even more problems, because it will cause the unit to overheat. Those gaps allow for air flow past the motor and battery, to keep them cool. Blocking the gaps will immediately void any warranties you have. My suggestion to you is after each dry cutting, use compressed air to blow through all gaps to clean out clippings. Wet clippings can only be removed by taking off the covers.

 

[bamoore01]

Thanks for the reply Rivets but.......... The gaps and areas I'm talking about have nothing to do with air flow or cooling. If you had one of these mowers, you would quickly see that. As far as wet grass. Yes, that is the ideal thing to do. The problem is that here in the Pacific NW we don't always have the choice of waiting for perfectly dry grass during some parts of the year without letting the grass get out of control. Its not just the wet grass that packs in these areas. I've dug plenty of dry gras out also. It packs in that front area pretty tight from the blade action and doesn't just blow out with compressed air, I tried that. With just a little water from washing out the deck it turns to moldy stink time. I just spent my last hour taking it apart and cleaning out some pretty disgusting gunk and mold. It's just a poor design.