Which is more suitable? 44” or 38” deck?
 

My 129 has a 10 horse on it and I’m running a 44a rotary mower on it, and it cuts pretty good and the original spindle bearings have some wear but doesn’t roar anywhere near as bad as a lot of other decks. The 10 horse that’s on it probably has arthritis from years of use and is probably an 8 hp now. With that being said, is a 38” more practical even with shorter blades? It’d be a lot less strain on the motor with a smaller deck but at the cost of cut quality. Those of you who’ve “been there done that”, does the shorter blade decks struggle to throw clippings out? I have a lot of Bahiagrass in my yard and some mowers takes 2 passes to cut them flat while the 44” deck cuts it with one pass, but definitely doesn’t like it too well.

I have mowed with a 60 inch Haban, 50 inch and 44 inch and if they are at the same height you couldn't tell any difference. Main thing in my opinion is to keep underside of deck clean from build up and keep your blades sharp and balanced. Sharp blades cut through grass alot easier!

I took off the guard on the 44” that i’m running at the moment, and the 10 horse likes that a lot better now. It cut field grass like a charm and doesn’t even break a sweat doing it. My only complaint on these IH rotary mowers is that the blades doesn’t spin as fast as other mowers but they get the job done. Hope this thread helps any others!