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I've had this mower for about 2 years now

2014 Craftsman T2200 Model 20381 42 in Hydro 19hp Yard Tractor Review – 540cc Single Briggs Platinum | TodaysMower.com

Recently (not sure exactly when), it has not been mulching in certain areas very well. The end result is that streaks of clumping grass are left behind

I am making sure that the grass is dry, that I'm not cutting too much of it and that I'm not going too fast.

Sears came out to take a look and told me it was because of the Gator blades (they don't mulch well, I was told) I had installed and that the deck had a lot of buildup underneath it.

I humored them, letting them clean the deck and install their own mulching blades. Not much of an impact

They came out a 2nd time and they could find nothing wrong mechanically

I just don't get it - everything I read tells me that I'm cutting properly but yet, clumps are left behind that haven't been mulched well.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Ok so what I know about mulching blades is they are not designed to cut more than 1" of grass at a time. They like 1/2 much better.
As you can tell I know very little about mulching blades.

In the fall I run mulching blades but let them side discharge. Prevents grass building up under the deck.
Mulching blades are made to keep the grass under the deck. Throwing the grass towards the center of the deck.

Carscw said:

In the fall I run mulching blades but let them side discharge. Prevents grass building up under the deck.
Mulching blades are made to keep the grass under the deck. Throwing the grass towards the center of the deck.

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What do you do during the spring?

No mulching blades, no mulch kit blocking guard?

When was the last time you changed the deck belt? Have you checked to see if the blade brakes are fully releasing? Has the deck been leveled properly? When did you sharpen the blades? All things areas can contribute to your problem.

Rivets said:

When was the last time you changed the deck belt? Have you checked to see if the blade brakes are fully releasing? Has the deck been leveled properly? When did you sharpen the blades? All things areas can contribute to your problem.

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Sears came out and took a look - according to them, there's nothing wrong with the mower... tech looked at everything, brand new blades, deck is level, blades spin well, etc

If a Sears tech told you everything is right, then there should be no problem, as they are experienced techs and you believed them? Yes, I'm being sarcastic, wouldn't be the first time I've clashed with those guys. Did they see it clumping, if so they would not have made that statement. In cases where I have seen your problem, the causes are those I asked about. Blades not turning fast enough, decks that are level front to rear, when the rear should be 1/8"-1/4" higher in the rear. Who checked the level and how did they do it? Wrong or dull blades. My questions would be, does it always happen in the same area? Do the blades seem to retain their speed when it happens? Does it happen when turning, going straight, up or down slopes, all of the above? Is your engine always running at full throttle? Draw me a picture as to what is happening, as I'm not standing there to see it.

jsurpless said:

What do you do during the spring? No mulching blades, no mulch kit blocking guard?

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I run a low lift blade in the late spring/summer
Fall/winter mulching blades. No mulch kit.

Rivets said:

If a Sears tech told you everything is right, then there should be no problem, as they are experienced techs and you believed them? Yes, I'm being sarcastic, wouldn't be the first time I've clashed with those guys. Did they see it clumping, if so they would not have made that statement. In cases where I have seen your problem, the causes are those I asked about. Blades not turning fast enough, decks that are level front to rear, when the rear should be 1/8"-1/4" higher in the rear. Who checked the level and how did they do it? Wrong or dull blades. My questions would be, does it always happen in the same area? Do the blades seem to retain their speed when it happens? Does it happen when turning, going straight, up or down slopes, all of the above? Is your engine always running at full throttle? Draw me a picture as to what is happening, as I'm not standing there to see it.

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The mulching blades are brand new, Sears just installed them about 2 weeks ago

I always run the engine about 3/4 of the throttle lever - I think it's a notched position?

I believe that he said the deck was level - not sure if that's what he was doing but he had this tool, putting his hand under the deck

He said the blades turned fine (he spun them around by hand) and showed me that they were passing each other on the same level

It probably happens more often in certain areas because the grass grows better there (better soil and the bottom of a slope), although I have seen it throughout the yard

I don't think that the deck belt has been changed since i've owned it

How do you check if the blade brakes are fully releasing?

jsurpless said:

The mulching blades are brand new, Sears just installed them about 2 weeks ago I always run the engine about 3/4 of the throttle lever - I think it's a notched position? I believe that he said the deck was level - not sure if that's what he was doing but he had this tool, putting his hand under the deck He said the blades turned fine (he spun them around by hand) and showed me that they were passing each other on the same level It probably happens more often in certain areas because the grass grows better there (better soil and the bottom of a slope), although I have seen it throughout the yard I don't think that the deck belt has been changed since i've owned it How do you check if the blade brakes are fully releasing?

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Always run at full throttle. If the choke is on the same lever then run in the top notch before choke.
If the blades spin easy then the brake is off/ok.

Carscw said:

Always run at full throttle. If the choke is on the same lever then run in the top notch before choke.
If the blades spin easy then the brake is off/ok.

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Yes, choke is on the throttle lever so I run at the top notch (i.e, the 'rabbit')

Rivets said:

If a Sears tech told you everything is right, then there should be no problem, as they are experienced techs and you believed them? Yes, I'm being sarcastic, wouldn't be the first time I've clashed with those guys. Did they see it clumping, if so they would not have made that statement. In cases where I have seen your problem, the causes are those I asked about. Blades not turning fast enough, decks that are level front to rear, when the rear should be 1/8"-1/4" higher in the rear. Who checked the level and how did they do it? Wrong or dull blades. My questions would be, does it always happen in the same area? Do the blades seem to retain their speed when it happens? Does it happen when turning, going straight, up or down slopes, all of the above? Is your engine always running at full throttle? Draw me a picture as to what is happening, as I'm not standing there to see it.

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Sears techs don't tell you the truth; they simply parrot whatever Sears trains them to say, and, of course, their blades & tractors are designed and work just fine. NOT! The Mulch kit for this and other tractors is an inferior, poor design. Besides being unnecessarily difficult to put on, it doesn't even fit correctly. The crescent cutouts on the mulcher plate are supposed to line up with 2 screws on the deck that the mulcher sits on, so the cutouts & the mulch plate will be free of interference from the screws, and the mulcher will sit FLAT on the top of the deck, providing a tight fit of mulcher to deck, so grass will be retained under the deck and be fully mulched and fall on the ground. That's in theory. BUT, in reality, nothing lines up, and the screws don't fit within the cutouts. Hence, the mulch attachment does not fit & sit down on the deck, but instead has a gap where grass comes out of the gaps between the mulcher and the deck.

On top of this, this extremely poor design and fit because the front of the mulcher to rub aggressively over the deck in that area, and literally rub through the paint of the deck!

I've had 3 of these mulch kits, and they are all the same. Just one of many Craftsman design flaws they could care less about. You cannot even find the socket size needed to change from regular to mulch blades anywhere on any Sears site, which is ridiculous.

You cannot even find the socket size needed to change from regular to mulch blades anywhere on any Sears site, which is ridiculous.

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Well perhaps it is the same socket you use to replace old blades with new ones.

The Magic Pudding is a children's fairy story.
In the real world you get no more than you pay for.
In order to make the mower cheap enough for people to buy it Sears have to make them , well "Cheap".'
So the deck is shallower and made from thinner metal than the rest of the factories product line.
Sears went broke because Amercians will not pay a fair and reasonable price for reasonable quality goods from a company that ran an excellent after sales service and went on mass to cheaper retailers on Amazon or Evilpay who offer a similar product with no expensive to run spares & service division for 50¢ less than Sears did.
The population has made the bed so now they have to sleep in it .

The physics of throwing , mulching and bagging are totally different and to do any one efficentally you actually need to modify the deck a lot more than simply block off the outlet and change the blades.
And this applies regardless of weather the blocking plate fits perfectly or not.
However keeping 3 different decks is expensive so to reduce inventory on bottom end residential mowers ALL mower companies make a CHEAP UNIVERSAL deck.
It is universal because universally it cuts poorly, mulches poorly and bags poorly but that does not matter because it is CHEAP and CHEAP is the most important thing to Joe Average.
They will much rather buy cheap then bitch their hearts out about how bad what they bought was and how much the quality has declined than pay $1 more for a better quality product.

Finally, if you want help to get better performance out of your mower you need to post the entire model number off the tag so those who are familiar with the various different brand decks can make suggestions about what blade combination thay have found works best.
'Your mower could have been made AYP, MTD, Toro in the USA or I Cheat Wou in China.

Carscw said:

Always run at full throttle. If the choke is on the same lever then run in the top notch before choke.
If the blades spin easy then the brake is off/ok.

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Carscw, you bring correct knowledge to this discussion. Craftsman recommends running at full throttle, and using the motion lever, or speed pedal, whichever you have, to slow the mower down. You only need to throttle it down when you are getting off the tractor to pick up branches and debris and throw them out of the way so you don't run over them, which can cause a host of problems. And even then it's not necessary to do so, but why have a motor running at full speed for no reason, if it's going to take you five minutes to pick up branches? I prefer not to shut the mower off, as it is less wear on an engine, starter, etc. to just leave it running, but at a low speed while stationary.

CraftsmanFlaws said:

Carscw, you bring correct knowledge to this discussion. Craftsman recommends running at full throttle, and using the motion lever, or speed pedal, whichever you have, to slow the mower down. You only need to throttle it down when you are getting off the tractor to pick up branches and debris and throw them out of the way so you don't run over them, which can cause a host of problems. And even then it's not necessary to do so, but why have a motor running at full speed for no reason, if it's going to take you five minutes to pick up branches? I prefer not to shut the mower off, as it is less wear on an engine, starter, etc. to just leave it running, but at a low speed while stationary.

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For fear of starting another war, it is not good to run the engine at low idle for extended periods of time.
At low speeds it gets insufficient air over the cylinder to cool properly.
It should say similar in the owners manual.
It is your mower and you are entitled to do with it as you see fit, but it is not good practice.

bertsmobile1 said:

For fear of starting another war, it is not good to run the engine at low idle for extended periods of time.
At low speeds it gets insufficient air over the cylinder to cool properly.
It should say similar in the owners manual.
It is your mower and you are entitled to do with it as you see fit, but it is not good practice.

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Thank you for responding in a friendly manner. I believe I read that elsewhere and was told as well. And I just checked, and yes, the owner's manual tells you to run full throttle all the time. What you say makes sense - running at low speeds it gets insufficient air to cool engine enough.

So, when you state it is not good to run at low idle for extended periods of time, I would interpret that as longer than the five minutes I mention, am I You wouldn't even recommend low throttle for five minutes, am I interrupting you correctly?

That is also why this 1/2 to 2/3 throttle thing some other poster listed I don't believe is correct. I keep finding "Run on full throttle, and use (in my case a hydromatic fender lever) to slow the tractor down, not the throttle. Do you agree?