Zero turn mulching woes

[Rabbit929]

hello, first time poster long time reader.

to get to the point skip to “The Point.” But here’s the backstory.

I had a lawn business from age 10-19. At 14 bought my first 52” “White outdoor” 24hp zero turn. And business was good. Stayed BEVERY busy.
since I grew up and got out of it I finally decided to get back in a bit after my snow blowing operation turned very successful. Bought another 42” gravely zero turn. Love it.


The Point:

I installed a mulch kit with blades and frankly it cuts like crap. Tried removing the baffles and only leaving the block-off plate baffle and it’s much better but leaves a windrow.
anyone have any solution, where I don’t have to side discharge?? My entire yard is flowers and curb, and adding a bagger is outside my size restrictions and budget.
im thinking about drilling holes in the plate to allow some airflow and adding gator mulching blades, I just want to mow without spraying grass in $15,000 flower beds.

any advice is appreciated.

 

[StarTech]

One one the keys to using a mulching deck is keeping the grass short and mowing a lot slower. I just got to use a $17,000 Hustler with mulching deck and even it has problems cutting thick grass.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Windrows happen because
the volume of clippings exceeds the space for them to go
You are mowing too fast
The grass is too wet or lush
The deck & blade combo are not working with each other
When you actually think about it, mulching is a very difficult job for the deck
First it has to lift the grass blades so they can be cut, then hold the clippings up for long enough to chop them up finely then drop them down to hide between the cut grass blades
The only 2 mowers I have come across that do it really well are the Walkers & Husqvarna articulated mowers and both of these have a dedicated mulching deck
After that he wavey Husqvarna mulching blades do a reasonably good job if they are actually installed right way up.

Gators do not mulch, they recut the clippings very fine and then throw a short distance .
This is much easier to do airflow wise and the clippings will vanish in a day or so but you must leave the discharge port open.

Universal decks are actually correctly named as they are universally poor at throwing, bagging & mulching.
If your only problem is throwing grass over the garden look for a rear discharge deck

 

[MParr]

hello, first time poster long time reader.

to get to the point skip to “The Point.” But here’s the backstory.

I had a lawn business from age 10-19. At 14 bought my first 52” “White outdoor” 24hp zero turn. And business was good. Stayed BEVERY busy.
since I grew up and got out of it I finally decided to get back in a bit after my snow blowing operation turned very successful. Bought another 42” gravely zero turn. Love it.


The Point:

I installed a mulch kit with blades and frankly it cuts like crap. Tried removing the baffles and only leaving the block-off plate baffle and it’s much better but leaves a windrow.
anyone have any solution, where I don’t have to side discharge?? My entire yard is flowers and curb, and adding a bagger is outside my size restrictions and budget.
im thinking about drilling holes in the plate to allow some airflow and adding gator mulching blades, I just want to mow without spraying grass in $15,000 flower beds.

any advice is appreciated.

Gator blades are about useless during the growing season. During the growing season, grass holds a good bit of moisture. Gator blades will make a soupy mess under your deck and drop clumps all over your yard.

 

[Rabbit929]

If your only problem is throwing grass over the garden look for a rear discharge deck

you are right, that is my only problem. But after dropping $4000 on a new zero turn finding a replacement deck for it (as no one’s gonna buy the old one) that’s not an option.
I guess I’m just asking what can I do to make it cut normal, without having the side discharge??

 

[Rabbit929]

Gator blades are about useless during the growing season. During the growing season, grass holds a good bit of moisture. Gator blades will make a soupy mess under your deck and drop clumps all over your yard.

Noted, thank you. What would you recommend that will not mulch so much as just drop the grass where it lays?
im just trying to get a nice cut without spraying it everywhere, I’m not much of a believer in mulching as I’ve been doing it for years and there’s really no disconcernable difference from lawns I did with or without. The main benefit I’ve found is not seeing the clippings as much for a couple days, it my straight mows always were just as green and healthy as my mulched yards.

now that I’m doing significantly smaller yards, the spray is the problem. So I fixed the spray, and it cuts like crap because of it. And I really hate to drop $1000 on a bagger to deal with that and haul it across town, taking nutrients away and generating extra work.

i can handle re-hitting the window, I just want it to cut good.

 

[MParr]

Put your mulching kit back in and don’t take too much off at one time. A deck, with a mulching kit, can only process so much at one time.
The are other alternatives. Bag it. Use a walk behind mower with mulch kit next to your flower beds.
Buy a rear discharge zero turn. That option might be too expensive

 

[mmoffitt]

Slow and e-z...

 

[Rabbit929]

Put your mulching kit back in and don’t take too much off at one time. A deck, with a mulching kit, can only process so much at one time.
The are other alternatives. Bag it. Use a walk behind mower with mulch kit next to your flower beds.
Buy a rear discharge zero turn. That option might be too expensive

yeah I’ve tried slow and easy but it’s just too lush. Even after hitting it multiple times its still leaving strips of uncut grass, idk I was hoping there might be a solution but it sounds like I’ll just have to manage with the side discharge.
even the dealer said “we‘ve sold those mulch kits but no one keeps them on.”

I can see why. No matter the speed it just doesn’t want to do it. Maybe x-blade munchers? I dont know.

 

[MParr]

yeah I’ve tried slow and easy but it’s just too lush. Even after hitting it multiple times its still leaving strips of uncut grass, idk I was hoping there might be a solution but it sounds like I’ll just have to manage with the side discharge.
even the dealer said “we‘ve sold those mulch kits but no one keeps them on.”

I can see why. No matter the speed it just doesn’t want to do it. Maybe x-blade munchers? I dont know.

You don’t have a whole lot of options with the 42” deck.