Rear Discharge

Frugal

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Sep 1, 2018
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New guy, first (relocated) post.
Have acquired a 430D grasshopper, with a M161R deck, rear discharge. Much smoother running and quicker response than my older 72" 721D. But spent almost as much time cleaning it as mowing. The clippings are packed tight around the rear wheels, and throughout the frame channels. Decided to build deflectors of some type, and discovered the factory already had supplied a shield assembly when new, now completely missing.
Before I spend a few hundred dollars for the shields, and various missing bolts and brackets, I would appreciate anyone with a rear discharge to tell me how well they work, pros and con, and the ease-or not, to remove for maintenance work, etc.
Thanks for any and all help, Frugal....
 
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Sep 14, 2018
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I have several customers that have the rear discharge deck on both the midmount mowers and the front mounts. They work great if you maintain the 1/3rd rule. Meaning only cut 1/3rd of the total height of the grass at a time. If the grass is 6 inches tall only cut 2" or less off with each pass. I personally love the rear discharge as you almost eliminate all possibilities of something flying out of the deck and breaking something! They also take about 20% less energy, aka horsepower, to run. That said I would HIGHLY recommend getting the shields for your mower. It may still collect some grass around the rear wheels but will cut down a lot in the engine compartment (your radiator will thank you the most). That 30 horse diesel will be toying with that 61 inch deck and be saving on fuel as well!
 

trpshoot

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May 7, 2015
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I have about 120 hours on a 329B mid-mount, rear discharge with a 52" deck. This is strictly for residential use and thus only sees maybe 30-40 hours of use each season. I have very little issues with clippings collecting anywhere, a few here and there on the top of the deck which I use the blower to get rid of before putting the mower back in the shed. I live on a property that a portion of it is heavily shaded, I hate burning leaves and decided to mulch a few years ago. I have the medium lift blades installed, I called Grass Hopper and inquired about using mulching or high lift blades, etc. and the tech dept said that for the rear discharge decks only a medium lift blade is recommended.

The medium lift doesn't mulch leaves very well, so I ordered a set of alligator blades that turn leaves into confetti. I just exchanged my medium lift blades for the alligator blades a couple days ago, I will use the alligator blades the next month or so and the first couple cuts in the spring and then swithc back to the medium lift. the medium lift as far as I can tell allows the clippings to truly be discharged from the rear whereas the alligator blades are so aggressive that I have confetti sized pieces of leaves exiting the deck on the driver-side (left) side of the deck which does get onto the driveway, sidewalks, etc. With the alligator blade I get a bunch of debris buildup on top of the deck, etc.

I can run over an area with leaves taller than my front wheels a few passes and they just turn into the smallest of pieces, the grass loves it and the remains of the leaves are consumed and gone by April every year.

Looks like a leaf/dirt bomb goes off when I take the blower to it. LOL. So point being is, maybe check which blade you have, the Grass Hopper tech was adamant against using anything but a medium lift on a rear discharge deck. So shields should help, however anything but a medium lift blade may be contributing to the extra collection of clippings, etc.
 
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