Poor quality grass cut

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KEVIN MCCUNE

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In comparing my 54" mower to a JD "54" ZTR, my cut sucks and my blades are in better shape.That ZTR sings when you engage the blades my poulan Pro just hums, is there that much difference in blade tip speed ? I wonder if I could reduce the size of the pulleys on my Poulan Pro to get more tip speed on the blades?:biggrin:
Thanx,Kevin
 
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7394

7394

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ZTR have some of the fastest BTS around. Some are around 20,000 FPM .............Night & day to a tractor. That why a Z can zing along at hi speed & still mow beautifully.

In my time here, there have been a few that wanted to speedup the blades speed. I don't think it's a good idea. But that's me.
 
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bertsmobile1

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Not trying to be smart, but you only get what you pay for.
The JD was nearly twice the price of the Poulan so you would expect a better cut.
 
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KEVIN MCCUNE

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bertsmobile1 said:
Not trying to be smart, but you only get what you pay for.
The JD was nearly twice the price of the Poulan so you would expect a better cut.
Click to expand...
This is true , but please don't dumb down what I can afford just because you can.( tqlking about the manufacturers , not you)I expect a few more dollars in engineering this machine would have produced a machine with comparable performance( they already have the durability issue solved) Its the same with vehicles the only thing I could afford new was not even comparable in quality (it was dumbed down so much ,I think it cost the manufacturers money to make it cheaper) I do not appreciate the modern marketing picture.
A car Salesman from years back told Me about "pricepoints" and what people would buy. A quality lower price machine will sell like "Hotcakes", while the geegaw loaded machines move slowly .
One reason I do not like the "Green paint is because the plastic parts are so ridicoulsy overpriced , there are so many JD mowers running around here without Hoods and whatever, it looks like a fashion trend( kinda like "Ricers".)
JDs are good , but there are some othe colors coming on the scene now giving them some serious competition( I don't think JD's version of "Saturn " is produced anymore- they were still priced higher then the other brands)
If I buy a new mower ,I expect a good cut , not lame excuses .
 
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bertsmobile1

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Well it is a case of buying the mower you would rather pay for than the one that is right for the grass you are cutting.
Not all mowers will cut every kind of grass.
That is why there are a variety of deck styles and blade configurations.
A good mower shop will ask you what grass you have growing, what the yard looks like, how often you cut the grass, how long you like the grass cut and then point you to a mower that is right for you.

However most people just shop on price then get dissapointed when they do not get the cut quality that they thought they should.
Some decks are really deep to provide a strong draught in order to cut fine grass , some are shallow .
Most decks will take a variety of blades again to suit a particular customers grass.
People with lot of obstructions need a deck with extra overlap so you don't mowhawk when you turn.
Some grass suck as couch or winter grass is best cut with a drum because it is too fine for the slashing motion of a rotary.
Toro actually went to the effort on printing a grass cutting manual called the "Quality of Cut Guide" to explain come of the theories behind grass cutting to allow customers to select the deck that best suits their grass.

Now if you have a problem then tell the forum what it is and perhaps some of the professionals can steer you in the right direction.

And by the way, if you look at my profile you will note my mowers all date from the 60's and none of them are green.
 
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KEVIN MCCUNE

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bertsmobile1 said:
Well it is a case of buying the mower you would rather pay for than the one that is right for the grass you are cutting.
Not all mowers will cut every kind of grass.
That is why there are a variety of deck styles and blade configurations.
A good mower shop will ask you what grass you have growing, what the yard looks like, how often you cut the grass, how long you like the grass cut and then point you to a mower that is right for you.

However most people just shop on price then get dissapointed when they do not get the cut quality that they thought they should.
Some decks are really deep to provide a strong draught in order to cut fine grass , some are shallow .
Most decks will take a variety of blades again to suit a particular customers grass.
People with lot of obstructions need a deck with extra overlap so you don't mowhawk when you turn.
Some grass suck as couch or winter grass is best cut with a drum because it is too fine for the slashing motion of a rotary.
Toro actually went to the effort on printing a grass cutting manual called the "Quality of Cut Guide" to explain come of the theories behind grass cutting to allow customers to select the deck that best suits their grass.

Now if you have a problem then tell the forum what it is and perhaps some of the professionals can steer you in the right direction.

And by the way, if you look at my profile you will note my mowers all date from the 60's and none of them are green.
Click to expand...

My brother had an 8-32 Toro mower and it was the best ridibg style mower I have ever seen, you could mow a pasture field with it, a lot of people around here start out like its a pleasure to mow their grass "Deserts" then it turnd into an onerous task and the ones that can afford too, pay to have it done( which is good thing in this job scarce county)
 
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bertsmobile1

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KEVIN MCCUNE said:
My brother had an 8-32 Toro mower and it was the best ridibg style mower I have ever seen, you could mow a pasture field with it, a lot of people around here start out like its a pleasure to mow their grass "Deserts" then it turnd into an onerous task and the ones that can afford too, pay to have it done( which is good thing in this job scarce county)
Click to expand...

While not trying to hammer a point.
You brothers 8-32 probably cost him around 3 months wages if not more.
One of my Rovers came with the original receipt for £ 642 .
Back then a weeks wages were around £ 40 and a locally made car was just over £ 1000.
It is a great mower & I love it but I would not want to do doing 8 hours a day on it 5 days a week.
Just the same though, now days people expect to get a "good" ride on for $ 2,000 to $ 3,000 which represents a touch over 6 weeks wages and that is just not going to happen.

And you still have not told us what is wrong with your cut.
It might be something simple that we can help you with.
 
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Darryl G

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There are a number of ways to address cut quality problems. The first thing to do is to make sure the tires have the recommended pressure and the deck is leveled properly. Blades can make a big difference too. Generally speaking high lift blades will give the best cut and discharge the best. I use different blades for different conditions and even double them up sometimes, running 2 blades per spindle.
 
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KEVIN MCCUNE

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Well Hockey Puck, I lost my detailed reply. Yes the 8-32 was an expensive little single blade beast, man she would cut.
On my problem, the green machine with sort of dull wore out blades, cuts twice as good as my yellow and black machine with good blades.The JD cuts, whilst my Poulan sort of beats the grass to death,is it blade speed or lack of torque on the low compression 24 Hp Briggs and stratton engine"Intek" engine? I Guess, I could fabricate a copper sheet head gasket for the Briggs that is thinner to up the compression some( why in the Heck are they running a 6 to 1 compression ratio anyway ? The old twin bladed craftsman I had with the 20 HP single cylinder " Briggs -Dana engine ran very good , cut fine and didn't use near as much gas.
I know you get what you pay for( I went through that with a Dodge Dakota pickup{ probably the only vehicle produced that cost the parent company money to dumb down- no more Rams for this old Boy}
Yes I know I shouldn't expect a very good cut on the hilly terrian that is my yard, but dang it ,I was expecting better from a new mower( maybe some of Heidi's goats or cows are the answer):confused2:
 
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