Blade Pitch Professionals Use????

[Carscw]

When I was at the golf course I always set the deck on rotary mowers higher in the front.
My feeling is your cutting the grass with the front and back of the deck kinda like cutting it twice.

(( racing is the only sport that you need two balls ))

 

[wjjones]

While prepping my new Gravely for the season this past weekend I read through the Owner's Manual thoroughly. While reading the section regarding "Leveling The Mower Deck" I discovered some information that was new to me(as is a lot about mowing:0)
In the section for checking the blade level and pitch, the recommendation was to ensure that the blade tips were the same distance from the ground with all blades aiming side-to-side. Then the recommendation with the blades aiming front-to-back was for the front tip to be 1/8 inch lower than the rear. That is the deck leveling as I had always understood it.
But.......the instructions had a NOTE: that stated "Pitching the front of the blades lower than the rear provides a balance between cut quality and the power needed to cut the grass. Certain cutting conditions require the deck to be pitched with the rear of the blades lower than the front. Heeling the deck this way requires more engine power but can provide better cut quality."
Sooooooooooo, what do some of you guys that mow for a living do regarding the pitch of your blades? Since you are always wanting the customer to be impressed with the cut quality, do you "heel the deck blade pitch" or is there more to this to determine if your engine has "the power" to mow that way??????

I always pitch mine in the front 1/8th to 1/4th.

 

[exotion]

When I was at the golf course I always set the deck on rotary mowers higher in the front.
My feeling is your cutting the grass with the front and back of the deck kinda like cutting it twice.

(( racing is the only sport that you need two balls ))

As I understand this logic I have seen it where you cut the grass twice like this it leaves sheared/white tips of grass think about it you have 4 in long grass you have the front cutting an in off now you have your rear set to 2 3/4 and the back is only cutting a 1/4 in off leaving the grass to bend when its cut leaving an angled cut and sometimes white tips I have seen it first hand and when I first started out I caused it just saying

 

[SeniorCitizen]

Front low -- front higher -- level ? -- Does anyone really know what position the grass blades are in at the rear of the deck, or at the front for that matter, with any particular deck/ mower design . Some may be leaning toward the air flow of the discharge chute ( on discharge decks ) while others may be undecided and some may be running for cover . :laughing: And we haven't even touched on the grass species nor the length we are attempting to mow. I'll just bet your guess is just as good as mine . :confused2: So I recommend not to worry about things that don't need worrying about . :thumbsup:

 

[pugaltitude]

Personally I would do as the manufacturer recomends.

Certain OEMs want up at the front, others level and other down at front.

I still reckon Murray has the easiest way to set a deck by lowering to the ground with the HOC lever and then tightening the 2 thumb wheels and height is set.
A lot of OEMs seem to complicate things.

 

[SeniorCitizen]

I agree, Murray did have an innovative design and it worked very well. I've never had one of those but was involved with 2 which one of them the wing nuts wouldn't stay tight so I replaced them with Nylock nuts - problem solved.

 

[djdicetn]

Front low -- front higher -- level ? -- Does anyone really know what position the grass blades are in at the rear of the deck, or at the front for that matter, with any particular deck/ mower design . Some may be leaning toward the air flow of the discharge chute ( on discharge decks ) while others may be undecided and some may be running for cover . :laughing: And we haven't even touched on the grass species nor the length we are attempting to mow. I'll just bet your guess is just as good as mine . :confused2: So I recommend not to worry about things that don't need worrying about . :thumbsup:

SandburRanch,
You touched on what was going to be my "follow-up" question(be careful........reading minds like mine can be dangerous:0)
Does the front-lower pitch and rear-lower pitch have significantly different clipping discharge efficiency???
In other words, with my deck set by the dealer at delivery with the front of the blades 1/8 inch lower than the back this has resulted in VERY efficient grass clipping discharge(without any trace of "piles of grass clippings" even without a "mulch kit")......AND......absolutely no grass clipping/dirt "buildup" underneath the deck that requires cleaning the deck belly before the next mowing. If I changed the blade pitch with the back side tip of the blades lower than the front and the cut of my yard looked significantly "smoother"......BUT.....there were heaps of grass clippings all over the yard and/OR a buildup underneath the deck that required scraping or washing out before mowing again this would NOT be a good trade-off in my opinion. I would rather have a less "pro-cut" look to my lawn than to have to deal with piles of grass clippings in the yard or cleaning underneath the deck after each mowing(something I do NOT miss about my lawn tractor with the 54" stamped deck:0)