deck curtain

[wizard4878]

Gator blades and the mulch plug will perform FAR worse than with the low lift mulchers. The gator blades still have steep sails so they do generate a lot of lift; this is not good for a deck that is closed off. You can try discharging with the gators and the plug removed to see how it cuts and disperses clipping which may be to your liking. Other than what others have mentioned about pitch/level of deck, the only other thing that you can do is slow the drive speed down, ensure that your engine is running at full throttle and never try to cut off more than 1/3 of the clippings.

I mow at what I feel is pretty slow, about walking speed. Using it without the plug just makes a lot more work for me after mowing trying to clean out all the wife's flower beds that will be full of grass clippings, and before anyone say's to mow the other direction to blow the clippings away from the flower beds, I do mow that way and it does not matter because the grass flies out from under the deck in all directions . As for the gator blades, the web site claimed that they are designed for mulching, that is why I bought them, so I am hoping that they will be better than the factory ones. Oh and I always run at full throttle.
The mower I had before this one did not do this, but I know the blade speed was a lot slower, so it makes me think that unless I change the pulley size's to slow down the blades I will just have to live with grass all over me and the deck, or as the title of this thread says, make some form of deck curtain

 

[wizard4878]

Come on,
What cuts the grass the blades or the deck ?
So which should be used to level the deck ?
Fabricated decks are generally flat on the top so the TOP can be used for leveling but a lot have cut outs on the front so you can not use the edges for leveling.
Did you read your owners manual ?
Every one I have ever seen has instructions for leveling the decks USING THE BLADE TIPS .
If you dealer told you to level off the edge of the deck you should be looking for a new dealer.

wow, seems like I hit a nerve with you for some reason, but to answer your question I have read the manual and it says to level it by 4 points on the deck, not the blades. I would think that with a new mower deck (it only has about 8 hours on it so far and I check it before ever using it) that the spindles would be level with the deck therefore so will the blades

 

[Darryl G]

That's just Bert, lol.

Actually the procedure for my Exmark Lazer Z HP is to level the deck via the deck itself, not the blades. You loosen everything up, drop in on some precision thickness blocks and then tighten everything back up.

 

[wizard4878]

That's just Bert, lol.

Actually the procedure for my Exmark Lazer Z HP is to level the deck via the deck itself, not the blades. You loosen everything up, drop in on some precious thickness blocks and then tighten everything back up.

exactly

 

[wizard4878]

so, in case anyone cares, I used the gator blades the first several times I mowed and then switched back to the factory mulching blades last week. Honestly I don't see much difference, at least in cut quality, but it seems like the low lift mulching blades are worse about throwing grass everywhere than the gators.
I have looked online for a "blowout kit", but only found one's that were for the 46" fabricated deck or the 3 blade stamped deck, mine only uses 2 blades and is shaped differently. Looks like I may have to try and fab up my own. I thought of trading it in for something else, but figured it would just have the same issue...

 

[wizard4878]

this is after about 10 minutes of mowing, that deck was clean when I started

 

[bertsmobile1]

wow, seems like I hit a nerve with you for some reason, but to answer your question I have read the manual and it says to level it by 4 points on the deck, not the blades. I would think that with a new mower deck (it only has about 8 hours on it so far and I check it before ever using it) that the spindles would be level with the deck therefore so will the blades

No, not a nerve hit.
That mower has a pressed deck and pressed decks are rarely dead square .
It is the blades that do the cutting so their height is what is important.
Your deck is new so right now it is probably close to being true.
After a while of running into stuff it won't be true.
Then there are things that can happen between the factory & you getting your mower.
Two days ago there was a poster concerned ( rightly so ) because the shop shoved a pallet under the deck then used that to lift the mower.
Chances of his deck now being true would not be good.
So while your deck might be Jim Dandy fine right now, it is not a good idea to use a deck.
I would imagine the instructions about using the deck to level the blades & not the blades themselves stems from a idiot who injured himself shoving his fingers under the deck then sued Cub and won.
So rather than including a blade height tool with every mower they changed the manual to absolve themselves from any chance of legal liability.

Just about every mower company and every after market mower parts company make blade height measuring devices so you don't have to shove your fingers under the deck where they can get cut.
It would be nice if all decks could be used to measure blade height accurately but very few can.

If my reply seemed a bit blunt and offended well sorry , we speak a bit more direct down here.

And FWIW that does seem to be an excessive amount of clippings on your feet & deck considering the height of the grass you are cutting.
Not too long back you could buy a dedicated mulching deck or a dedicated bagging deck.
Unfortunatley now days to cut inventory costs you can only get universal decks on domestic mowers.
Universal decks , mediocre at throwing , mediocre at mulching , mediocre at bagging

 

[wizard4878]

No, not a nerve hit.
That mower has a pressed deck and pressed decks are rarely dead square .
It is the blades that do the cutting so their height is what is important.
Your deck is new so right now it is probably close to being true.
After a while of running into stuff it won't be true.
Then there are things that can happen between the factory & you getting your mower.
Two days ago there was a poster concerned ( rightly so ) because the shop shoved a pallet under the deck then used that to lift the mower.
Chances of his deck now being true would not be good.
So while your deck might be Jim Dandy fine right now, it is not a good idea to use a deck.
I would imagine the instructions about using the deck to level the blades & not the blades themselves stems from a idiot who injured himself shoving his fingers under the deck then sued Cub and won.
So rather than including a blade height tool with every mower they changed the manual to absolve themselves from any chance of legal liability.

Just about every mower company and every after market mower parts company make blade height measuring devices so you don't have to shove your fingers under the deck where they can get cut.
It would be nice if all decks could be used to measure blade height accurately but very few can.

If my reply seemed a bit blunt and offended well sorry , we speak a bit more direct down here.

And FWIW that does seem to be an excessive amount of clippings on your feet & deck considering the height of the grass you are cutting.
Not too long back you could buy a dedicated mulching deck or a dedicated bagging deck.
Unfortunatley now days to cut inventory costs you can only get universal decks on domestic mowers.
Universal decks , mediocre at throwing , mediocre at mulching , mediocre at bagging

took your advise and checked it at the blades, all appears good. I would guess you may be right about some idiot cuttings his fingers after all they have to put warning labels on toilet mints so people won't eat them

 

[bertsmobile1]

From this site seems the popular blade height tool is a foam coffee cup upside down over a cut off soda can
This leaves a line when the blades are pressed against them
I inherited a set of wood blocks 2" x 2.25" x 2.5" which I generally use to check blade height although i do have 2 blade measuring tools that get used when working in the customers yard cause it looks professional.

Sorry I can be of no help with your problem please keep us posted.

 

[jersy19]

Did you ever find a solution? I have the cub xt1 lt42 and having the same problem. i have gator blades and im covered in dirt and grass everytime i cut. so annoying...it didnt do it at first. i just changed blades and still the same.