Export thread

I recently purchased a 2022 Maverick and it is a grass catching MOFO. I have 3 acres of grass I have to mow and I have to jack up the mower every time and remove a ST of grass from under the deck. I have never had this issue with any other of my mowers. I suspect it has to do with the lack of space between the blades and walls but I'm not an engineer. I just know I'm starting to feel like I spent 7 grand on a high maintenance drama queen of a mower. Anyone else have this issue or any recommendations I'm all ears/eyes.

More questions than answers. Are you making sure you are cutting when dry? Wet, lush grass will clog up very quickly. Are you cutting too low? You should only remove the top third when cutting. Grass is 5” tall, setting should be 3.5” Are you running the unit at full throttle? Cutting at any other engine speed will cause problems. Are you mulching or discharging? Mulching along in combination with any of the other conditions I mentioned will cause a problem. If mulching, are the blades the correct ones for mulching and sharp? Have you talked to your dealer about this problem? All the questions I’ve asked will contribute to your problem, especially the first three.

Rivets said:

More questions than answers. Are you making sure you are cutting when dry? Wet, lush grass will clog up very quickly. Are you cutting too low? You should only remove the top third when cutting. Grass is 5” tall, setting should be 3.5” Are you running the unit at full throttle? Cutting at any other engine speed will cause problems. Are you mulching or discharging? Mulching along in combination with any of the other conditions I mentioned will cause a problem. If mulching, are the blades the correct ones for mulching and sharp? Have you talked to your dealer about this problem? All the questions I’ve asked will contribute to your problem, especially the first three.

Click to expand...

Rivets,

I have been mowing this same yard for 10 years with big box mowers and its never been like this. In has been a fairly dry season this year. I usually graduate the deck height based on the grass height and have been mowing at 3 1/2 in. for approx 80% of the time. As far as the throttle it stays on jack rabbit, which was told to me by the dealers who sold the unit to me and he gave me what I thought was a very through in-brief. There is grass on top of the mower blade when I clean and takes a lot of elbow grease to scrape the grass off the deck. The mosquitos and gnats are loving the mountain of grass... as far a blade it is the factory non-mulching blades that came with the unit.

You asked for help and now you berate me for trying to do so? I really don’t care how long you’ve been cutting your lawn, I was trying to better understand your problem and help you. I’ve been working on all types of small engine equipment for over 50 years, so because you’re probably a thousand miles from me I need more info to help you, not attitude. You’ve purchased it from a Big Box store, did they or you set it up properly and deck leveled? Most Big Box “dealer” have no clue as how to setup their equipment, especially large units. Right to left blade tips are the same height and front to back at set with the front being 1/4” lower than the back? Mowing 3 acres of grass, I doubt that most times your grass height is long than 5”. Having the deck set at 3.5” when you have grass that is 6”-7” tall, means you’re trying to cut at 50%, not 33%. If you don’t want my help, tell me so and I’ll ignore you.

I wasn't berating you I was establishing a baseline to let you know 1) I wasn't a new home owner 2) what I was using before so stop being thin skinned. You apparently didn't notice I gave you a thumbs up... end of apology.

So you can’t answer all my questions…..End of help!

Based on your handle, I suppose that you live in Georgia.
What types of grass are you cutting?
What is the deck width of your mower?
Is your deck leveled and pitched correctly?

jawjadawg,

I have a Rogue, not a Maverick, but the decks look pretty similar in terms of deck height and design. I don't get much grass build-up at all under my deck. I do have the Advanced Chute System on instead of the regular chute/deflector and I use it fully open most of the time, so maybe that makes a difference. Perhaps try bungee-ing your chute/deflector open for one run and see if that matters.

That said, I've mowed for 40+ years with all types of garden tractors and now this Rogue zero-turn and the only time I've ever had significant grass build-up was with an old 70's JD 112 that had a very shallow deck and I typically mowed tall, wet grass. If grass isn't wet I never see much build-up. And by that I mean I mow all season and at the end of the season I pull the deck (or lift the unit in case of the Rogue) and scrape off the small amount of build-up that has accumulated.

Also, I didn't see anything in your earlier reply that seemed 'berating' FWIW.

Rivets said:

So you can’t answer all my questions…..End of help!

Click to expand...

Over-react much?

No, just call them as I see them. I’m not psychic so I ask questions to better help understand his problem. Didn’t think they were that difficult to answer, but I guess I was wrong. Mowing for ten years with different mowers, but never had a problem, doesn’t tell me much except that something else is going on if you need more than one mower over ten years.

cutting while wet or damp is the usual cause of this. Second most common is mowing at part throttle. It has to be full throttle wide open to cut grass and no exception. I like to see 3450-3600 RPM with no load on the engine (blades turned off) at operating temp. Often the bad boy mowers will be lower than that, a lot of the older ZT's were 3000-3150 and that just plain sucked. Crank them up to 3550 or so (hot) and the mower comes alive.

if you have to cut that type grass or in those conditions, buy yourself a undercarriage cleaner that fits on your pressure washer. Roll it under, pull the trigger, wash deck-and everything else too.

I will say, that Bad Boy really should add a couple baffles under the deck to help control some of the clipping buildup. But I also know why they don't. On the 60" decks the baffling would have a second benefit of making the shell a little stiffer which it kind of needs.

We sell Dixie Choppers and some of the older units were set at 3750 to 3850. The newer one are set at 3600.