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  #1  
Old 08-15-2017, 07:20 PM
jim nicholson jim nicholson is offline
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Location: Lisbon, Ohio
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Default Cub SLT 1550

I have a Cub SLT1550 with a 50" deck and I have been dissatisfied with the discharge of the deck chute. I was reading someplace where residential mowers have a blade tip speed of around 18K FPM. I checked mine with a tachometer and did the calculations and came up with a little over 15K FPM. I would like to get a couple more thousand FPM out of it but to do so I will have to have a bigger clutch pulley or smaller spindle pulleys. The blades are sharp and the deck is kept cleaned out. Does anyone have a similar problem and what was the fix..
Jim
By the way the drive is a single belt system.
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  #2  
Old 08-15-2017, 08:24 PM
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Oak Oak is offline
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What was the engine RPM?
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  #3  
Old 08-15-2017, 11:38 PM
jim nicholson jim nicholson is offline
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I checked the rpm right at the deck spindle, was 3250. Engine was at WOT , 3400 .
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Old 08-16-2017, 01:00 AM
J-Mech J-Mech is offline
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I think other people have had similar complaints about that series of machine. Most of them traded it in on a better tractor/ZTR. FWIW, the older machines cut well, but don't have a high tip speed. I think deck design plays a bigger role.

How old are the blades, and what brand of blades are you running?
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Old 08-16-2017, 02:43 AM
jim nicholson jim nicholson is offline
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The blades are "Stens" from a local dealer. They are not worn and not that old.Maybe some high lift blades " Gator blades". I have thought the deck design on this is terrible. The dealer said to keep the area around the top of the spindles clear as there are gaps to let air in to help with discharge force. Probably designed to rust out anyway. It collects a gob in the chute then spits it out in a pile and I don't let the grass get that tall. I have thought about cutting off the bottom strip on the discharge chute and reinforcing the outer edge with a piece of 1/4 x 1 steel. Nothing to loose I guess.

PS: This machine has a 25 HP Kohler Courage engine that runs great but the compression release is broken. It has about 700 hrs on it now and is a pain to get started. Kohler has discontinued all parts and support for these engines and the next one I buy will have a Briggs Vanguard engine. [ Or anything but a Kohler].
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Old 08-16-2017, 07:58 AM
J-Mech J-Mech is offline
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Don't knock the Kohler. The Courage was a failed design. It was a sad day for Kohler. All their other engines are top notch.

"High lift" blades and Gator blades are two seperate things. Gator blades have a serrated lift wing, which essentially kills the lift. Can't have your cake and eat it too.
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Old 08-16-2017, 09:55 AM
jim nicholson jim nicholson is offline
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Thanks for the info on the blades. I didn't know that. Iv'e never had anything only standard blades.
As far as Kohler goes..... What about all the sad customers that bought the supposedly "Best" brand name engine and was left hanging with not even any repair parts available. I for one am very "ticked off" about that. Just my vent!!!!

For what it's worth to anyone that has a similar problem with blade tip speed , I found a spindle pulley in my collection that is smaller than the ones on the SLT 1550 [5"]. I installed this on the outboard spindle on my deck and I gained 1K FPM of tip speed. The pulley is # 756-0969. So the outboard spindle is turning faster than the other two. I didn't want to put all three on as I would end up with a belt too short. Still experimenting.
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Old 08-17-2017, 05:34 PM
Merlin2014 Merlin2014 is offline
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Jim, thanks for the heads up on the spindle pulley it might be something for me to check in to. I have a 2006 SLT-1554 that has never impressed me with the way it handles wet grass though I never questioned the blade speed. Wet grass does have a tendency to clog up inside the deck so I’ve always been careful to not allow it to get totally clogged. Mine has the Courage 27hp with 660 hours and though I have read many comments regarding problems with the Courage other than going through several starters I’ve never had engine trouble. I’ve had many other problems with the mower but not the engine.
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Old 08-19-2017, 01:21 AM
jim nicholson jim nicholson is offline
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You're welcome. Mine is a 2006 also and I have had no trouble with my tractor at all only getting it started. It doesn't handle damp grass well either.
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