My deck drives me nuts!

[Dirty Steve]

Z-Force S 54 with a manufactured deck. Used to use the deck wash system. Water and grass and mechanical things should never be mixed in my opinion. Not sure if it's my type of grass or what but I have to scrape the deck every 2-3 times I mow or its plugged and won't discharge. It will carry the grass under the deck choking and spitting chunks and wads out occasionally leaving a mess on the lawn. I am mowing a hair more than 3 acres. The mower works great when clean. Just frustrated. Any advice besides selling it?

[J-Mech]

Mow when it's dryer.

What kind of blades are you using?

[Dirty Steve]

Dry, wet, it just does not matter. Very frustrating. Original blades were high lift. Tried Cub Cadets gator blades. They were no help and did not cut as well. Went back high lifts this spring. If there is a different blade to be tried- by all means let me know. Have a lot of clover in the grass. Some say that is an issue. Never had a mower which had to be scraped out so often. I have filled 2- 5 gallon pails with grass scrapings before. And that is after 4-5 mowings. Thinking about spraying 2-4-D to nuke the clover as a last ditch effort. Otherwise, the mower is going.

[Yosemite Sam]

Odd that this thread should come up right now.

With so much rain lately I have had the same problems, and I'm not about to wait until August for the grass to be dry enough to mow.

My question is:

Has anyone ever used "Slip Plate" on the underside of their deck/s with good results?

Sorry to hi-jack your thread.

[ol'George]

Gaters are good on dry grass and fantastic for mulching leaves .
I use regular blades on wet grass, as it tends to throw the grass out better.
I just finished moving and scraped 3 aluminum scoop shovels from my deck, Chickens love it but not me.
I scrape the deck after every mowing.
It is easy for me as I have an air operated chain hoist
I got 3" or rain Y day so it is wet even standing water in a lot of places.
Deere Deck same way.
nature of the beast I figger.
No problems in hot dry August.

[bocephus1991]

Did you try and mow at a higher setting? I understand you with all the rain you have to mow when you can.

[Berwil]

Moist clover holds ALOT of water, you can pick up the clippings and squeeze out water with your hand. I'm guessing the clover isn't new, but the problem is.

What does the underside of the deck look like after using the deck wash for a while? Is it rusty and pitted? The grass sticks if it has something to bite to. Mark is onto something with the slip plate, like a snowthrower chute, smooth and shiny is where it's at.

Bill

[zippy1]

The wife got a Husqvarna with a 48" hi vacuum deck, and the damn thing is the same way. No matter the condition of the grass, it's a guaranteed three to five gallon bucket of grass every time we cut.
Granted, our lawn is a mix of grass, clover, crab grass and a little alfalfa for good measure. But I ain't spraying a couple acres of "lawn" with all the shrubbery and flowers in and around. Plus it just wouldn't be practical...
No problems with my old tractors at all. Lucky if they need cleaning three times a mowing season. Those decks are flat, and don't have all those humps and nooks and crannies to hold the "grass". I tried all types of blades, and the ones that work best are the ones that the wing is all worn off. No lift!
We tried the Pam thing, WD, silicone spray, and nothing helped. I think it's the moisture in the clover along with the hi vac deck that's holding the clippings, so you maybe in the same boat....
Good luck

[Shrewcub]

My 48 GT deck is the same way. We do have a lot of clover in the yard. The 50c never really had that problem. I too would have to wait for August for the grass to be any drier! May have to get rid of the clover!