Cub Cadet Mulching kit for a 42 inch deck?

[Rickcin]

The mulching blades direct the cuttings upwards to be re-cut into smaller pieces. Mulching blades are designed to throw a lot less air with much flatter sails since the discharge is blocked. They often have a wavy edge profile which makes them a bit more challenging to sharpen.

Most of the time I run Gator G5 high lift mulching blades on my bigger mowers and mostly discharge. Mulching and bagging are both a pain if you're doing it on a large scale. The clippings with the G5 blades are pretty fine and there isn't much clumping when cutting wet. Personally I think that's the best way to go for the best balance of cut quality and clippings management. Discharging with high lift mulching blades. Mind you that's in my area with my grasses.

Changing blades isn't going to help with throwing grass into beds or onto hard surfaces though. I get grass into places it doesn't belong all the time and just hit it with my backpack blower. I throttle the mower down if I have to mow a narrow grassy strip with beds on both sides. I always start mowing by doing a couple laps around the borders of the lawn, patios and the driveway etc going clockwise. Just doing that makes a big difference. And I pay attention to which way I'm throwing on turns.

Between you and cruzenmike, I am getting a real education with plenty of good information, some of which I should have realized just from using mowers my whole life. Throttle down to lessen the discharge distance, real simple but it never occurred to me.

Back to the mulching blades, cruzenmike mentioned that with the mulching blades, just a small amount of grass would be discharged through an the open chute. Isn’t that a good thing? Now I’m really on the fence and unsure which way to go.

Amazon does sell the kit for the CC so I was able to read a bunch of reviews which I believe users gave it a 3.8 or so out of 5 stars. Several users had to drill holes and add Zip Ties to better secure the plug to prevent grass clippings fron blowing through the plug.

There was also a response that noted the mulching blades di not leavean even cut? If this is the case and the factory discharge blades produce a better cut, then my decision would be to forget about the mulching option.

 

[Darryl G]

The wavy mulcher blades that come with most mulch kits, like I mentioned earlier, throw less air so the grass coming out the discharge doesn't have much force, so rather than being blown out 2 mower widths or so it all ends up near the deck and can cause windrows. Also, being that they're throwing less air, they're also providing less suction to stand up the grass for cutting, so cut quality can suffer.

 

[Rickcin]

The wavy mulcher blades that come with most mulch kits, like I mentioned earlier, throw less air so the grass coming out the discharge doesn't have much force, so rather than being blown out 2 mower widths or so it all ends up near the deck and can cause windrows. Also, being that they're throwing less air, they're also providing less suction to stand up the grass for cutting, so cut quality can suffer.

Thanks for all of your posts and based on your comments, I’m not going with the mulching blades. I would rather have a better cut and just have to deal with the direction of the thrown cuttings which I can manage by making some extra passes with the mower or by using my backpack.

My lawn is less then 15K sf so it’s definately manageable. Thanks again!

 

[Darryl G]

Welcome.

 

[Rickcin]

Welcome.

Crazy question, what about getting a deck plug and not changing the blades to mulching blades?

 

[cruzenmike]

Crazy question, what about getting a deck plug and not changing the blades to mulching blades?

Mulching blades are specifically designed to recirculate the clippings and cut the grass into finer pieces with it's longer edge and wavy design. With the plug in place, you help to further circulate the clippings inside the deck for additional cutting. The only reason why Gators and alike work without a plug on a commercial mower is because the blades are spinner quite a bit faster than on a consumer mower. High lift blades (or 2 in 1) as found on a riding mower will pack clipping all inside of the deck and create a lot of blowout with a plug in place.

 

[csmlet]

Mulching blades are specifically designed to recirculate the clippings and cut the grass into finer pieces with it's longer edge and wavy design. With the plug in place, you help to further circulate the clippings inside the deck for additional cutting. The only reason why Gators and alike work without a plug on a commercial mower is because the blades are spinner quite a bit faster than on a consumer mower. High lift blades (or 2 in 1) as found on a riding mower will pack clipping all inside of the deck and create a lot of blowout with a plug in place.

CruzeMike is on the spot, I do this with my zero turn but the grass has to be dry, you have to take your time, and don't cut too much off at a time.

 

[Darryl G]

Another type of mulch plug that is sometimes used is a screen over the discharge. This allows the air to escape but retains the clippings until they are small enough to exit. Typically this is a custom fabrication using expanded steel mesh or a similar material, but my uncle had a Deere walk-behind with a factory mulch kit that used a screen.

 

[Rickcin]

Another type of mulch plug that is sometimes used is a screen over the discharge. This allows the air to escape but retains the clippings until they are small enough to exit. Typically this is a custom fabrication using expanded steel mesh or a similar material, but my uncle had a Deere walk-behind with a factory mulch kit that used a screen.

That is a real interesting thought! I could cut a piece of heavy duty 1/4 inch chicken wire and then figure out how to secure it over the discharge opening on the deck, that is brilliant.

I notice my neighbor has a service cut their grass and the fellow uses an Exmark zero turn without a discharge chute, probably not a smart move.
I guess the main reason for a chute is for protection against the blades and prevents objects from being blown upward?

 

[Darryl G]

Yeah, you will see many pros running without a discharge chute, myself included. It is indeed intended to keep any projectiles that the blades hit low and reduce their hazard. The reason I run both of my ZTRs without a discharge chute is that it needs to be removed in order to install the bagger units and it's impractical to put it back on every time you're not bagging. I keep the discharge chute on my walk-behind but often run the machine with it up to disperse clippings better. Some use an operator controlled discharge chute (OCDC) which can be remotely raised or lowered to various positions in order to mulch or prevent clippings from going where they're not wanted temporarily. They don't provide much in the way of keeping projectiles low though, since they are short (or they would hit the ground when closed) and don't give much coverage of the opening. Some OCDCs actually have slots in them, but most I've seen are solid.