want to change to mulching blades-opinions needed

[Odysseus]

I have a 52" Raptor with the factory blades which spew grass several feet outside the discharge. Aside from the layer of clippings which can be quite thick if I cannot mow often enough (somewhat beyond my control), it also sends clippings onto the walk drive and patio, which then need to be cleaned.

In addition, I prefer to leave clippings on my St. Augustine lawn (central Texas) so they will decompose and nourish the soil. Therefore I want them to be chopped up as much as might be practical.

So are there better choices for blades other than from Hustler? Could be because of price (if other factors equal) design, or quality.

I have read all the posts I can find for the raptor and mulching blades and it seems that a mulching kit is the way to go.

I would also like to hear specifically from Raptor owners with mulching kits about their experience, especially about the mulched grass as well as under deck build up issues (I only mow when dry, so wet grass isn't an issue in any comments you might offer).

Also interested in opinions as to how important is it to isolate each blade?

Thanks.

 

[kraky]

I can tell you about an experiment that didn't work too good... on my 54 SD I bought the metal outer cover and tried to mulch with the Gator blades. ( a gator blade works perfectly under my doughnut shaped John Deere push mower for mulching).
Without the individual baffles everything blew over to the right hand blade and when it couldn't get out the discharge chute it blew out the front of the deck... leaving me to drive into a cloud of cut clippings! With all the horsepower it cut fine but I couldn't stand the swarm of clippings.
Seems like the posts I have read about the mulch kits under the Raptor is they work pretty good as long as you're doing dry grass. I can't imagine being able to probably cut more than half your grass height with a mulch kit but others will probably chime in. In other words don't count on taking 6 inches of grass down to 2 inches....3 probably. The lower you try to cut below two and a half inches the more you shut the air flow off and I would think that would be a problem too.

 

[retfr8flyr]

I have an SD 48 with the mulch kit and I am very happy with the job it does. One thing is the blades are not very sharp, as they come, with the kit and you should sharpen them before you install the kit.

 

[BlazNT]

New blades are sharpened to where its the best for grass and your blades. Sharpening them more that that just makes them dull faster witch makes you sharpen more often and lose your blades faster.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Well I am not an expert and can only offer advice on what I experience. My blades were very dull and the tops of my grass were torn, not cut and would turn brown. I sharpened the blades and everything is good now. Others may have different experiences.

 

[BlazNT]

You must have gotten the blades that failed quality control. I have never gotten that kind of cut from new blades. Glade you could fix it.

 

[kraky]

How long are the cutting edges on Hustler mulching blades? Almost every mulching blade on the market seems to have a really long Cutting Edge to keep cutting things up..... but the pictures I've seen of the hustlers is theyre only a few inches long on The Cutting Edge but I'm not sure I'm seeing the right thing.