Raptor SD cut quality - any recommendations?

[KrashnKraka]

There are a bunch of people making chutes like this.....here's one...

The Qwikchute Advantage

For me up here in wisconsin we have fall leaf grinding where it would also be nice.....blow the leaves to a remote area of the lawn and drop the chute for a final "grind". Then again hoping w/23 HP on tap and gator blades a few "go overs" might have them pretty much disappear. I still have my jd l tractor w/bagger too. That thing is like a giant vacume cleaner but its a dusty adventure and requires tailoring waste to the city composite pile.....2 days after an immaculant clean up the neighbors leaves all come to visit....happens every year...lol!

Yeup...seen yer "Fall", some say it is "pretty", me, I differ

Tried that Qwikchute concept and seen others fit similar.
Diddun work for me, clogging the deck continually. So
basically I use a chute out of the deck to dump vertically
into a row. It works and that comment about debri discharge
and safety...?..using the vertical discharge there is no chance
of flying objects. All that said mine is not to what I want yet in
terms of versitility...so it could be a while before I yam famous
on eweToob :laughing:

KK

 

[kraky]

Fwiw...re fall leaf grinding...one thing I've found works pretty good...get the leaves chopped and rounded up some....then pass over them in reverse....they spend alot more time in the blades going from the entry point to the left inside the deck and then reversing direction and out the discharge. Sounds crazy but try it...it works...a pass in reverse will grind finer than two in forward....at least on my Deere deck.

 

[turboawd]

The Oregon Gator G5 Blades have a bit of carbide at the cutting edge (I think they sputter it on the underside of the blade) and go much longer between sharpening.

They are marketed as a mulching blade also.

I quite like them.

i can definetly say that the oregon blades keep a sharper edge a lot longer. the hustler blades dont have any special cutting edge to them.
you can buy them cheap on ebay for example:
Set of 3 Blades for Hustler 18 1 2 in 601124 797704 MB12733 596 808 G5 Blade | eBay

 

[kraky]

Funny...that's the exact place I just got mine from...super fast shipper too!

 

[Grass Whisper]

Update: Well cut the back yard yesterday and noticed that the condition of clumping and leaving grass trails off the right side of the deck remain the same. The grass height was about 2 1/2 inch and really did not need to be cut. Not sure if you recall but I have the mulching kit installed on a RSD 54inch but its just a mess. I used the blower to help break it up. Ok, my question is will the Hustler line mulch zoysia @ 2 inch cut? I think I'm ready to upgrade to a better machine.

At the end of the day I would like to have a ZTR that will give a great finish using a mulching system that is proven. I am in the Hustler line and don't think I can get out of the deal. Mower has 3 hours on the machine. Thoughts

If only I had that crystal ball?..

 

[kraky]

I don't know much about that grass but I've never heard of mulching something that short. Up here in wisconsin we have lots of different grasses but I always told people we sold Deere mowers to that they should forget mulching OR bagging (cut n throw) unless they'd cut 2.5" or higher cause the deck has to have airflow. Heck my pushmower couldn't cut down to 1/2 inch w/o dragging the deck in the dirt on my lawn. The topsoil on your lawn must be as smooth as a highway! Not trying to be a smart Alec....just can't imagine that kind of grass/cutting.

 

[Grass Whisper]

Kraky: Should have said 2 inch cut. My mistake.

I went with the RSD b/c it had widest tires of the line and thought that it would reduce rutting with the wider tire print. Now, if I look at upgrading the mower to a fastrak the drive tires go down in size. Would the fastrak deeper deck mulch better or not? Is my thinking off with the rutting and the size of the drive tire issue? Thanks for your help ahead of time.

 

[kraky]

I think thats a question for your dealer.....no matter what brand you look at. To mulch, air has to be pulled into the deck and there has to be room for it and grass particles to escape. I've got two mulching push mowers that do pretty good for me but the lower I go the more they struggle. At some point they can't get rid of clippings and they start building up and dropping in streaks on one side of the deck.....often its the side where uncut grass is outside the edge of the deck. I'm not sure a higher dome necessarily makes or breaks it all....I think its really all about airflow.
In reality I think a stamped deck that was built w/mulching in mind would likely do you better. When people say stamped decks aren't strong they're wrong. A properly hung deck should be hung from the tractor and not ridden on the ground....its basically a hover craft w/gauge wheels .....the gauge wheels are there to lift it when it it hits a bump in the ground.....the deck should be totally in the air 95% of the time. The lower you want to cut that grass and mulch the more often you're gonna have to mow and take less grass off per mowing.
PS....I know what you're saying about the big tires..I love em.

 

[kraky]

Over time I've come to believe there is a "perfect 1/4" " for most mowers and grasses. Up here we should cut our grass longer to keep it healthy. Lets say I cut at 2.75". My deck is hardly working...clippings are small and virtually disappear into the uncut grass almost like mulching but my cut quality is ragged. It might be that I've got a little too much wind in the deck and the tips of the grass are moving around and not getting cut even.

So...now I drop to 2.5". I can feel it takes a little mor hp. The grass is still fanning out pretty darn nice and my cut quality improves as the grass I'm cutting is a little less whispy....it has to "stand and face the blades". Its pretty darn good.

So...I think a little more must be better. Now I drop to 2.25" and holy crap I "hit the wall". I can feel my engine is working lots harder...grass isn't fanning out...its starting to windrow. The clippings are thick and now sitting on top of the cut grass. And...I start to see a little bit of stripping between the blades cause there is so many clippings being passed around in the deck that the blades aren't able to concentrate on clipping the standing grass.
Its often amazing when you go that extra 1/4" lower and everything kind of hits a redline.

So.....my perfect height where that mower worked was 2.5". Maybe another brand of mower will like a slightly heigher or lower cut. Maybe brand A works great in northern grass and not so good in southern...and vice versa. Its all a crap shoot sometimes and not necessarily that one brand of mower is "junk".
I've seen cheap $1000 murreys cut fantastic in some conditions....and $7000 Jd's not so good in others. Any "mulching" is an even more tempermental adventure with all kinds of deck configurations, baffles, blades etc.
Sometimes the owner can do himself a favor by living with a slightly heigher or lower cut than he initially wanted. Sometimes we get great performance on some parts of our lawn but might have to go over the clippings on the the thicker wetter parts of our lawn. And it all changes throughout the year....I guess unless we're lucky enough to be irrigated.
I guess my advice is talk to dealers in your area if you want to mulch.....watch the expression on their face when they tell you if they can do it or not....it might tell you a more honest outlook than their words. If they sell alot of mowers they'll know what your chances are....LOL.

 

[DJ660]

I to this day do not understand how you can block off the discharge chute on a multi-bladed mower deck (Other that the Old Bolens and Troybilt units) and mulch......Well I should say mulch well. Now, I have tried a Hustler XR7 deck with much kit and the lowest lift blades they make and it did a fair job, not perfect but fair. The problem with mulching is you cannot have a blade with ANY kind of lift at all. Too much airflow or "vacuum" and deck, blades and the airflow will not "Let go" of the grass and keep it suspended, Once this happens that's when the deck starts making that grinding, banging noise underneath and clumping starts. Just look at a old Bolens mulching mower or Troybilt 33" Widecut. Now those could mulch. But look at the design of the blade and deck. They mulched awesome, but that was it. Forget bagging or throwing. Maybe they were ahead of there time??? So, If your trying to mulch, Gators or any other blade with "lift" will not work. I would try a set of "Sand" no lift blades.