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Add Wash port to cheetah rear discharge deck?

#1

S

stanhastheplan

has anybody added a wash port to their rear discharge deck? I see lots of cheap mowers and my buddies john deere with wash ports that you can hook to a water hose to wash out the deck. Seems to work pretty well. It seems that anytime i mow i have an annoying collection of grass under my deck that i never had with my yazoo/kees zero turn mower. This scag cheetah rear discharge collects grass like the deck is sprayed with glue underneath it.

Any advice on whether one port would even work or if i would need 3 separate ports?


#2

M

Mad Mackie

Not familiar with the Cheetah rear discharge deck, but I'm on my 2nd Hustler rear discharge machine. The current Hustler is an X-ONE 60" and used for cemetery mowing.
I'm not a fan of deck washing as it usually is not very effective and promotes corrosion.
Are you mowing with the engine at full throttle?
Why did you choose a rear discharge deck? Just curious!


#3

M

Mad Mackie

Just looked at the 61" rear discharge deck on the Cheetah on the Scag site and from my experience with Hustler rear discharge decks, I see a difference in the basic design that concerns me.
The Scag rear discharge deck is setup like three separate right turning mowers discharging into a common chute with the separation baffles extending all the way to the end of the chute.
My older Excel Hustler 60" rear discharge machine, (1994 machine), had an oblong deck with three right turning blades, no separation baffles, but an easily removed discharge chute that needed to be cleaned frequently.
My current machine, a 2012 Hustler X-ONE 60" rear discharge machine has a triangular shaped deck with the left and center blades right turning and the right blade is left turning. This setup evacuates grass clippings very effectively out the rear with minimal accumulation.
Just my spin on these things!!!


#4

1

1striper1

Mad Mackie said:
Just looked at the 61" rear discharge deck on the Cheetah on the Scag site and from my experience with Hustler rear discharge decks, I see a difference in the basic design that concerns me.
The Scag rear discharge deck is setup like three separate right turning mowers discharging into a common chute with the separation baffles extending all the way to the end of the chute.
My older Excel Hustler 60" rear discharge machine, (1994 machine), had an oblong deck with three right turning blades, no separation baffles, but an easily removed discharge chute that needed to be cleaned frequently.
My current machine, a 2012 Hustler X-ONE 60" rear discharge machine has a triangular shaped deck with the left and center blades right turning and the right blade is left turning. This setup evacuates grass clippings very effectively out the rear with minimal accumulation.
Just my spin on these things!!!
Click to expand...

MM - I have a XOne with a 60" RD deck as well. I'm running two Gator blades and I too get a pretty significant buildup of grass in my deck. It happens running the standard blades as well. Might have something to do with the grass types up here in Wisconsin? I thought about installing washout ports as well but I'm trying to sell the XOne so I'm not going to bother right now.

EDIT - don't want to hijack this thread. I came here because a Scag is one machine on my list to replace my XOne


#5

S

stanhastheplan

I bought the rear discharge thinking it would make life easier when going around the house, trying to keep the grass blowing away from the house. It works very well from that prospective, never have thrown a rock and busted out any glass since, but it does like to leave a nasty little trail of grass when grass is thick. But, it's not near as much grass that would be thrown out of a side discharge. I think it must be cutting the grass much finer and it appears that each of the three blades has a separate chamber for grass. My biggest issue is all of the build-up under the deck after mowing. It will fill each blade circle full. (After my first season it was completely full). I've thought about trying to re-coat the underside of the deck with ScagCheetahDeckGrass.jpgsomething but haven't found anything that everyone says works 100% of the time. And, if I wash it out each time, I think it would be better than leaving it to rust away my deck. Also thought about building a ramp or wash pit to drive up on and wash it from the underside. I've got to get that stuff out somehow because it affects the cutting ability and lift of the grass.

Let me know your thoughts....once again, I had very little build up, if none on my side discharge Yazoo/Kees 52" deck. It was awesome in that regard,,,,,except it ate bearings. Gonna try and post some pictures.


#6

M

Mad Mackie

Hi stanhastheplan,
I must say that I have never seen that much buildup under a mower deck!
The erosion on the blade tips indicates beyond a doubt that they are way past worn out. I'm not sure if new blades would solve your problem, but it sure would help.
It appears that you have a very damp lawn.
I have never found any product that reduces accumulation.
Are you mowing with the engine at full throttle?
If you were to install washout fittings, you would need three, one on each separate section.
What is your approximate ground speed while mowing?
I have a similar problem with my Hustler X-ONE rear discharge deck blades and it is from sand and dirt erosion because of the nature of the area mowed.
I have had the operator raise up the deck height several positions which has reduced the blade tip erosion somewhat, but still need to replace the blades fairly often.
Mad Mackie in CT:smile::biggrin::laughing:


#7

S

stanhastheplan

Mad Mackie said:
Hi stanhastheplan,
I must say that I have never seen that much buildup under a mower deck!
The erosion on the blade tips indicates beyond a doubt that they are way past worn out. I'm not sure if new blades would solve your problem, but it sure would help.
It appears that you have a very damp lawn.
I have never found any product that reduces accumulation.
Are you mowing with the engine at full throttle?
If you were to install washout fittings, you would need three, one on each separate section.
What is your approximate ground speed while mowing?
I have a similar problem with my Hustler X-ONE rear discharge deck blades and it is from sand and dirt erosion because of the nature of the area mowed.
I have had the operator raise up the deck height several positions which has reduced the blade tip erosion somewhat, but still need to replace the blades fairly often.
Mad Mackie in CT:smile::biggrin::laughing:
Click to expand...

Isnt that crazy! I was so shocked. Yes, it is damp here in south texas along the gulf of mexico. Sometimes waiting for it to dry up is not an option. And I have areas of nice lush carpet grass and other areas of bermuda/weed/dirt/sand so I am sure those areas contribute to this buildup, especially when its damp. Cleaning that out takes an air hammer or air chisel. Then I haul it all away in a wheel barrow. I cleaned it all out, put new blades and mowed one time and I've included a picture of what it looks like this morning. 20150428_071128.jpg

I think i would have to have 3 washout fittings, but I would start with just one to see if it works.
Not sure of my ground speed, I'm a bad judge of that, but approx 1/2 speed of a cheetah scag in low gear.
Height I'm mowing at 3".
I'll be checking it more often now that I now it does this. Would really like to nip this in the bud each time I finish mowing rather than one large buildup.


#8

1

1striper1

stanhastheplan said:
I bought the rear discharge thinking it would make life easier when going around the house, trying to keep the grass blowing away from the house. It works very well from that prospective, never have thrown a rock and busted out any glass since, but it does like to leave a nasty little trail of grass when grass is thick. But, it's not near as much grass that would be thrown out of a side discharge. I think it must be cutting the grass much finer and it appears that each of the three blades has a separate chamber for grass. My biggest issue is all of the build-up under the deck after mowing. It will fill each blade circle full. (After my first season it was completely full). I've thought about trying to re-coat the underside of the deck with View attachment 25945something but haven't found anything that everyone says works 100% of the time. And, if I wash it out each time, I think it would be better than leaving it to rust away my deck. Also thought about building a ramp or wash pit to drive up on and wash it from the underside. I've got to get that stuff out somehow because it affects the cutting ability and lift of the grass.

Let me know your thoughts....once again, I had very little build up, if none on my side discharge Yazoo/Kees 52" deck. It was awesome in that regard,,,,,except it ate bearings. Gonna try and post some pictures.
Click to expand...

OMG!!!!!!

That looks like a picture from a lawn horror movie. WOW!!!!

I'd install 3 wash ports and fab up a triple hose/single connector setup ASAP.

WOW!!!!


#9

tigercat

tigercat

1striper1 said:
OMG!!!!!!

That looks like a picture from a lawn horror movie. WOW!!!!

I'd install 3 wash ports and fab up a triple hose/single connector setup ASAP.

WOW!!!!
Click to expand...

Yes, me also. That's crazy!

You should email SCAG and see what they recommend. Maybe they would provide a a recommendation. (Maybe next years model would have was wash ports installed.....)


#10

S

stanhastheplan

tigercat said:
Yes, me also. That's crazy!

You should email SCAG and see what they recommend. Maybe they would provide a a recommendation. (Maybe next years model would have was wash ports installed.....)
Click to expand...

Great Idea, I just emailed them. Let's hope they stand behind their machines and don't blow me off. I've already sold a couple by showing it to the family/friends. But they may not be friends for long if they have this problem LOL!


#11

C

clay45

Mine had done exactly the same thing Stan.......when mowing juicy weeds and pasture. I wait until the dew has gone for the day but if the plants have plenty moisture in them my deck clogs up just like that. Finally removed my deflector from the discharge chute and make certain we always mow at full throttle to keep the blade speed up.

I've also gone purchased new Scag marbain blades for the next change. I believe I can tell a difference. (so can my wallet...ouch)

Someone once suggested using a small prybar to scrap the deck and dang if that hasn't turned out to be the best scraper yet. I've sprayed my broadleaf herbicide to good effect and the remaining grasses and newly hatched broadleafs haven't been coating the underside of my deck so badly lately. That just may be the ticket.

When I lived in your part of the world we always had San Augustine lawns but no zero turns then. Pastures were usually coastal bermuda but the cockleburr and sunflowers would sure clog up a shredder in the same way.


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