Cut/mulching quality for dry grass cut weekly: is commercial deck better than resid.?

[7394]

Bought my Toro Timecutter 8/20/14, & no regrets, it cuts beautifully.

I don't know about about the mulching, since I never do it. But it is a Kit, that has baffles & etc.

 

[josby]

Bought my Toro Timecutter 8/20/14, & no regrets, it cuts beautifully.

I don't know about about the mulching, since I never do it. But it is a Kit, that has baffles & etc.

Great, thanks, it is always nice to hear first-hand experience. What sort of grass are you cutting? With normal weekly cutting do you ever find yourself having to slow your speed to maintain cut quality? Do you use the wash-out ports, and if so, do you find them effective?

 

[7394]

Great, thanks, it is always nice to hear first-hand experience. What sort of grass are you cutting? With normal weekly cutting do you ever find yourself having to slow your speed to maintain cut quality? Do you use the wash-out ports, and if so, do you find them effective?

Cutting Tall Fescue @ 4 inches right now. I do have a couple spots down in back that have crabgrass in them, so yes I do slow down for cutting them, but otherwise no.

Washout ports: I NEVER use them, water being blasted around the spindle bearings underneath is not a good thing imo. Even my Dealer said they don't recommend the use of the wash out ports. Unless you like replacing spindles.

I have set of ramps under my back deck, that I pull out & drive up on to do a quick underside scrape out with a plastic scraper. If your deck slope (front to back) is set to spec, it should stay pretty clean, least mine does.

 

[josby]

Cool, thanks for the info, and thanks to all for your opinions. I ordered the TimeCutter SS5000, plus mulch kit and hourmeter, from my local dealer yesterday and it should be here next week.

I plan to check/adjust the deck slope for sure, but with the mulch kit, I think I may get more buildup. I think I'm going to try the washout ports. On one hand, that makes sense, but on the other hand, considering the three year/unlimited hour warranty, I can't imagine Toro would put them on there if it meant they were going to be replacing a lot of spindles for free. Either way, I REALLY hate scraping decks, so I think I might rather occasionally replace spindles than scrape the deck regularly - especially considering how easy it looks to remove the deck from the mower.

 

[7394]

Cool, & Congrats, Hope you got the Toro End of Year Sale Price. I saved well over $400. last year when I got mine.

FYI: To tell the year, behind the seat, look down & there is a cross bar that has the build date on it.

You may wanna inquire about warranty on spindles.

Hour meter is helpful. & Should do an 8 hour oil change. It will be listed in the owners manual.

Mulch kit, yep more build up. I park mine in my shop, nothing stinks worse than wet grass drying & getting musty smelling. :laughing:

Anyhow, let us know how ya like it. & Enjoy.

 

[bigdaddyr]

I considered the Timesaver but then went more commercial. I have found with the higher blade speed and weekly mowings that the trimmings are much smaller than with my old Craftsman Tractor. It leaves no stragglers or windrows. I would try it without your mulch kit first and without touching the deck pitch. They set these things from the factory and maybe they got it right. I know they did on my Fastrak SD. Striped nice right out of the box.

Enjoy it and happy mowing.

 

[7394]

I considered the Timesaver but then went more commercial. I have found with the higher blade speed and weekly mowings that the trimmings are much smaller than with my old Craftsman Tractor. It leaves no stragglers or windrows. I would try it without your mulch kit first and without touching the deck pitch. They set these things from the factory and maybe they got it right. I know they did on my Fastrak SD. Striped nice right out of the box.

Enjoy it and happy mowing.

The TimeCutter 5000 has a blade tip speed (BTS) of 18,330 ft /per minute. Many commercial 52" ers have a BTS of 18,500 ft / per minute. Not really a difference worth noting.

Before use I would suggest checking the tire pressures just to be sure.

 

[josby]

Hope you got the Toro End of Year Sale Price. I saved well over $400. last year when I got mine.

Hmmm...no, I didn't. But the MSRP is $3200 and the dealer is charging just $3000. But that's the same price as Home Depot so I don't know if that's a sale or not. I don't see any mention on Toro's site about a end of year sale. How did you know there was one going on when you bought yours?

FYI: To tell the year, behind the seat, look down & there is a cross bar that has the build date on it.

Oh, cool, I will check for that. I'm pretty sure that the 2014 and below only had a two-position "Smart Speed" selector, while the 2015 has three, so I am going to check for that too. Definitely want to make sure they're not selling me a unit that's been sitting idle for a year.

You may wanna inquire about warranty on spindles.

I read through the warranty terms in the online manual and it's not listed as one of the non-covered wear items like belts or blades. They do say that any component failing due to normal wear is also not covered, so I guess it would depend on whether they'd consider water-damaged spindles to be "normal wear" or not. But if so, new spindles are only about $35.

Anyhow, let us know how ya like it. & Enjoy.

Thanks, I will!

 

[josby]

I considered the Timesaver but then went more commercial. I have found with the higher blade speed and weekly mowings that the trimmings are much smaller than with my old Craftsman Tractor. It leaves no stragglers or windrows. I would try it without your mulch kit first and without touching the deck pitch. They set these things from the factory and maybe they got it right. I know they did on my Fastrak SD. Striped nice right out of the box.

Cool, that is a serious step up from the Toro. I was considering the little brother, the Raptor SD, but couldn't find any pics showing if it striped well or not, and ultimately decided the extra ruggedness of it wouldn't be necessary for my use. The regular Raptor was comparable in price and features, but the BTS was only 16,000. Love that yellow, though.

Yeah, I may just try it all as out of the box first. The Toro manual says the pitch should be 1/16" to 5/16" toward the front. I'm excited because I found some videos (https://youtu.be/kss4M2zggUQ) of a guy with a slightly older Toro with a stamped deck that gets some great stripes with his without a kit. He says he sets his pitch at 1/2", so I'll try that if I don't get the striping I want with the original settings.

 

[7394]

Hmmm...no, I didn't. But the MSRP is $3200 and the dealer is charging just $3000. But that's the same price as Home Depot so I don't know if that's a sale or not. I don't see any mention on Toro's site about a end of year sale. How did you know there was one going on when you bought yours?

According to my Toro Dealer, Home Depot can't sell under a Toro Dealers price. If you see that & tell your Dealer, they will put a stop to it, & appreciate your input.

Nope, that was NOT the sale price. Talk to your Dealer, Toro Dealers have a year end sale every year in August for 1 week, that's when I buy my big ticket items. Not sure your Dealer works this way or not ? But they are supposed to.



Oh, cool, I will check for that. I'm pretty sure that the 2014 and below only had a two-position "Smart Speed" selector, while the 2015 has three, so I am going to check for that too. Definitely want to make sure they're not selling me a unit that's been sitting idle for a year.

Yep 2015 has 3 speeds. my 2014 only has 2.



I read through the warranty terms in the online manual and it's not listed as one of the non-covered wear items like belts or blades. They do say that any component failing due to normal wear is also not covered, so I guess it would depend on whether they'd consider water-damaged spindles to be "normal wear" or not. But if so, new spindles are only about $35.

Really ? $ 35. ?



Thanks, I will!

Cool.. PS: A friend works at my local Dealership, so I get the scoop.