Mulching Leaving ugly lines of cut grass in my yard.

Corey1045

Forum Newbie
Joined
Jun 14, 2012
Threads
2
Messages
4
My riding mower leaves a trail of grass clippings on the right side where my discharge is located. I have my discharge door blocked with the "mulching plug" I have cleaned the under side of the deck. I have sharpened the blades. I then replaced the blades with factory multi purpose mulch/cutting blades. I have checked the air pressure on the tires. And I do not cut my grass too short or let it get too long asking the mower to cut more than it should. My frustration meter is pegged. I feel my neighbor is snickering at me while he swings by me on his "Green and Yellow" tractor with a very clean lawn. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

The guy with the lines of grass in his yard.

P.S. I am too lazy to rake or bag. This is why I have a riding lawn mower.
 

unkledude

Member
Joined
May 21, 2012
Threads
3
Messages
13
My riding mower leaves a trail of grass clippings on the right side where my discharge is located. I have my discharge door blocked with the "mulching plug" I have cleaned the under side of the deck. I have sharpened the blades. I then replaced the blades with factory multi purpose mulch/cutting blades. I have checked the air pressure on the tires. And I do not cut my grass too short or let it get too long asking the mower to cut more than it should. My frustration meter is pegged. I feel my neighbor is snickering at me while he swings by me on his "Green and Yellow" tractor with a very clean lawn. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

The guy with the lines of grass in his yard.

P.S. I am too lazy to rake or bag. This is why I have a riding lawn mower.

Sounds like the mulcher plug may be the wrong size or seated improperly, leaving an opening in the discharge thus a row of cut green grass.:eek:
 

oldyellr

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2010
Threads
1
Messages
176
My riding mower leaves a trail of grass clippings on the right side where my discharge is located. I have my discharge door blocked with the "mulching plug"

I get something similar with my John Deere Model 68 RER, but my mulching plug is home made. When I'm mulching, I cut clockwise, so the trail of clippings gets mulched again and forms part of the next trail. However, when I'm done there's always a trail left.

I believe the cause is how the blades turn to discharge to the right and that's where the clippings end up. My plug is just a couple of sheet metal channels bolted together and they don't seal the rear of the discharge chute perfectly. That is also where there is triangular area not swept by the RH blade, so as clippings accumulate, they're bound to drop. One of these days I plan to fabricate a curved mulching plug that just clears the blade tip all the way and completely seals the discharge. Maybe then the mulched clippings will get more evenly distributed.
 

Opti-Mist

Forum Newbie
Joined
May 7, 2010
Threads
0
Messages
4
Speed can also contribute to clippings being left behind if the mower doesn't have enough time to fully process the grass.
 

Corey1045

Forum Newbie
Joined
Jun 14, 2012
Threads
2
Messages
4
Thanks folks. I think you are on the right track with the mulching plug. It does not seat well so I have added an additional bolt to the bottom rear. This along with increasing my deck height has greatly improved my performance. Thanks for all your reply's.
 

Paulz2821

Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2012
Threads
2
Messages
18
the design of the deck...the height above the blade...the height below the blade....the type of blade...the speed of the blades....and definetly the size of the hole left in your home made plug all effect the way your grass comes out.
 

satishkhera

Forum Newbie
Joined
May 31, 2014
Threads
0
Messages
1
Sounds like the mulcher plug may be the wrong size or seated improperly, leaving an opening in the discharge thus a row of cut green grass.:eek:
Where is the mulcher plug located on JD GT 235? Any suggestions? THANKS
 

djdicetn

Lawn Addict
Joined
Sep 3, 2012
Threads
12
Messages
2,193
Thanks folks. I think you are on the right track with the mulching plug. It does not seat well so I have added an additional bolt to the bottom rear. This along with increasing my deck height has greatly improved my performance. Thanks for all your reply's.

If that doesn't get rid of all the windrows, try some Gator Blades(specifically mulching blades) rather than the OEM "multi-purpose" blades. Anytime you prevent the grass clippings from discharging you really need "mulching" blades.
 
Top