Craftsman 54" mower grass buildup in deck

[fred93]

I have a 17 year old YS4500 mower. I have about 2 acres of grass to cut. I am using mulching blades. My problem is that the deck gets a buildup of grass clippings. I know that if the grass is wet this buildup will always happen. But this happens even of the grass is fairly dry.

The pix below was after cutting about one acre of slightly wet grass. But like I said this happens wet or dry.

Am I just needing to clean the deck after every time that I cut the grass?

 

[POW123]

I have a 17 year old YS4500 mower. I have about 2 acres of grass to cut. I am using mulching blades. My problem is that the deck gets a buildup of grass clippings. I know that if the grass is wet this buildup will always happen. But this happens even of the grass is fairly dry.

The pix below was after cutting about one acre of slightly wet grass. But like I said this happens wet or dry.

Am I just needing to clean the deck after every time that I cut the grass?View attachment 66376View attachment 66377

This is normal for units that have a lot of wear and tear on the under assembly. I have a craftsman Lt1000 and LT2000 that I bought 14 years ago after a year the buildup started underneath. So, I pulled the deck turned it over and cleaned the surface area fixed any dings then torched it lightly and as it was cooling down, I sprayed clear Teflon on the underbody of the deck, and I do this once every 2 years. You're running three blade set up so I would also put a sharper cut on the blades with a grinder. By doing that also it will not allow your grass to chunk up and your mulching will be more finer cut grass.

 

[StarTech]

And it is because you are using Gator blades. Mulching always produces a lot of wet grass. Just us grass is usually full of water. Personally I switch back hi lift blades and side discharge. I got Toro in the shop now that is a worthless mower to me as it is setup as full time mulcher and any over grown grass just clogs the deck so bad that you can only just barely move.

 

[Cusser]

I use my 2005 year LT1000 (42", 2-blade) to cut weeds and tumbleweeds in a 1.5 acre horse pasture. Yes, there is some horse poop in the pasture too. I typically have to clean out the deck bottom and sharpen/rebalance or change blades after each mowing, much tougher on mower than using on grass.

 

[GentlemanFahmah]

Yikes! Maybe a bit too obvious, but do you prop up the plastic deflector on the discharge side when you mow? I use a bungee and drilled a hole in the deflector and I can hold it up at a 45 degree angle which throws the cuttings way off and helps keep the deck from building up a bunch of clippings. There is definitely a lot of wet grass in the photos, and, the three blade deck has to work perfectly to eject those cuttings. I run Gator/G3 mulching blades and love them! They are great. It could be you need to go over the field with deck as high as it can go and then go back and do it again with the deck lower. I have to do that on high grass in my fields and sometimes I have to go over it a few times to get it cut. If you go over it with the deck all the way up on day, then let that cut grass dry for a day or two, it's a lot easier on the second lap.

 

[SeniorCitizen]

If you want to discharge and have a cleaner deck that's easier to clean , remove any baffles and pitch them in a dumpster .

 

[Cusser]

Yikes! Maybe a bit too obvious, but do you prop up the plastic deflector on the discharge side when you mow? I use a bungee and drilled a hole in the deflector and I can hold it up at a 45 degree angle which throws the cuttings way off and helps keep the deck from building up a bunch of clippings.

I use a length of chain for that, on my 42" LT1000

 

[Rivets]

Couple of things I see. First, may be just the angle of the picture, but those blades don’t look like mulching blades. Don’t see a very big wing on them. Second, can you post a picture of your chute blocker? Third, what size deck do you have, as I’m only finding 2 blade decks? Finally, please start raising the unit from the front. Raising the rear will cause oil to enter the cylinders. When you post back please include unit numbers from under the seat.

 

[MParr]

Typical results of using Gator blades.
Plus, those blades are heavy duty blades and are thicker and heavier than OEM or aftermarket equivalent blades.
Buy you some OEM or aftermarket equivalent blades and side discharge.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

Typical results of using Gator blades.
Plus, those blades are heavy duty blades and are thicker and heavier than OEM or aftermarket equivalent blades.
Buy you some OEM or aftermarket equivalent blades and side discharge.

If you can, take mulching plug out, raise exit chute to 45 degree angle, and let the grass fly. Do not mow when wet, make sure blades are sharp and underside of deck is clean. Mulching is for the birds.