New Exmark Radius e series RAE708GEM52300 mulch help

Darryl G said:

Yeah, cut quality sucks for sure. Cutting height looks a bit high for what I'd call a scruffy lawn. You don't get as much suction on a lawn like that as you would on a full/lush lawn. The grass on a full lawn seals around the deck giving better suction. I find myself cutting crappy lawns in the 2.5 to 3 inch range whereas I'm at 3 to 4 inches on my nicer lawns.

You're sure the blades aren't upside down? Can you sneak a picture under your deck? Not trying to insult your intelligence but something definitely isn't right.

Click to expand...

How is that an insult? I change my blades all the time and still put them on upside down every once in awhile.

100% sure but I’ll grab a pic shortly. Storming now. A back area of the house out behind a little building I did some testing all the way down to 1.5 inches with all same results.

This was same issue on 6 lawns yesterday tho?

With a clean deck and sharp blades you should be getting a quality cut with that machine.

Might be time to check your deck level and pitch, after making sure tire pressures are to spec. The dealer for my Lazer left them at Max pressure which is what they're shipped at and I had to level my deck myself after adusting the pressures. It may have changed but the procedure for mine requires dropping it on precision cut blocks. I had a carpenter friend cut mine for me.

Botton line is you are correct in expecting more out of your machine. Something isn't right.

What’s recommended. Can’t seem to find specs.

13 psi front and rear. Page 20 of the manual I pulled up online for the Radius.

Here's an old Exmark mulching blade. The side shown should face the grass. Just making sure that's correct on your machine.

So have you resolved your issues?

I have not. I put the other set of blades on that I sharpened at the same time and get the same results. I have always had some sort of issue since I put the mulching deck or mulching kit on the deck for this mower. If the grass is even the slightest bit damp or has the slightest amount of do on it I have issues clogging the deck up. Granted with a brand new set of blades it’s not as bad and more than likely I’m just not sharpening the blades correctly. It’s I have not. I put the other set of blades on that I sharpened at the same time and get the same results. I have always had some sort of issue since I put the mulching deck or mulching kit on the deck for this mower. If the grass is even the slightest bit damp or has the slightest amount of do on it I have issues logging the deck up. Granted with a brand new set of blades it’s not as bad and more than likely I’m just not sharpening the blades correctly. It’s sad Sad because I really like the way the mulching kit works on the lawns that I’m old but I normally do all my lawns early in the morning’s on the weekends there for almost everyone has some sort of do on the yard. So I am not really sure what to do in my situation. I am in North Arkansas so we get rain and it may rain for a week so when it does that it puts me behind a week on the lawns and in a weeks time here the grass may grow 4 inches. So yes I am kind of at a loss on what to do.

Is anyone else running the mulch kit on the mower like mine? I know I hear everyone tell me that I should have bought the next series up if I wanted to run a mole skin but I’m not here for someone to tell me what I should have bought. I have what I have because that’s what I could afford at the time and it is making me money and paying for self.
Wow that sounded kind a rude but I guess it still gets the point of rocks LOL.

But yes any information that I can get from anyone in my situation or using when I’m using I would greatly appreciate it.

If you look back to the beginning of this thread I gave you some advice and said that I had tried mulch kits and they just weren't practical and slowed me down too much.

Here are your options.

1) You can try raising up the back of the deck and increasing the rake. This let's some grass get tossed out the back. You can try it temporarily by increasing your tire pressure to Max, usually around 20 psi. If that helps then put them back to normal usually around 12psi and adjust your deck. I don't think it will make enough difference.

2 and 3 are what I originally recommended. Cut discharging with high lifts or Gator G5 blades. If you have some heavy growth areas with winrows after the first cut, finish cutting the whole lawn. Then come back and mow it again quickly with the deck 1/4 to 1/2 inch or even higher if there's a real lot. Just letting it sit and dry for a few minutes can make a big difference. And the last option is having a bagger or catcher to use to pick up heavy windrows, keep grass from going places you don't want it and for cleanups.

There is a real art to trying to mulch commercially. Some have it figured out and run their business around it. For most it just isn't practical during heavy growth periods. Spring is a bad time to attempt it unless you're a master mulcher. I gave up on it entirely and run Gator 5G high lift mulching blades most of the time. After cleanups and first mows I'll run regular high lifts through the heavy growth. Then back to the Gators for summer and fall.

not trying to thread jack but Im using the mulch kit on a radius x series as well. Havent had any issues the OP has had, but I only have had to cut in dry conditions luckily. Just looking for best cut overall and figured Id ask for advice before I started experimenting. I currently run the full mulch kit with the wavy blades. Has any one run other blades WITH the mulch kit and gotten great quality of cut? I have the Exmark extreme blades (gator style) and the regular notched high lifts.


My plan was to sharpen them all and then run them doing sections on my back yard and compare. But ill skip all that if anyone already has the inside scoop for me! thanks guys