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I love this mower but does anybody else have problems with it burning the grass when its dry out? If I stop more than 2-3 secs in one place the air blowing off the motor and the exhaust burns the grass and its brown the next day.

Yes the same thing happens to me.--polly

Yep, same thing. Have learnt to stop only on the driveway, or shut off the unit if i stop.

Never had that problem but don't recall ever stopping I mow until done and then pull it up on the slab to use hose port to clean the deck

Ya, I don't normally stop, but we've had so much rain over the last 2 months (17 days of sun since June the first.......43 days of rain!!!!!!). That means my sump is running every 5 minutes or so...which means i have to lift the sump hose out of the way to cut grass in between pumps. We live very close to a bird sanctuary, so consequently the water table is quite high. Doesn't take long to burn the grass:thumbdown: Doesn't kill the roots, but leaves a nice tan patch in the grass.

PS I'm in Alberta Canada, and we never see this much rain.

We are having both a drought and heat wave here everything burnt up anyway so parking the mower would not show.

Absolutely having this problem. It's horrible. Talked with dealer about this issue in May, apparently JD knows about the issue, but I'm losing my patience with them. THey did not want to admit an issue until I brought in pictures, there is no denying the problem when you see the photos.

At first it was thought the exhaust stream from muffler was burning the grass, so it was recommended that I make a deflector to angle the exhaust up. I did that. Still saw evidence of buring. Then I was told it's the air being sucked down over the engine causing the grass to burn and I can take off the deflector. I think it's a combination of both. I'm ready to force the issue and have them take it back. Trying to grow a nice lawn without burn marks every place I have to slow down for even a few seconds.

@rtumark
I forgot I even posted this its been so freakin dry in MD that I have only been mowing every 3 weeks. I made an exhaust deflector and bolted it threw the factory hole in the muffler shield. It helped alittle, now I just get a spot behind each tire. Before the deflector I would get a long stripe about 3"x16"-18" along with the spots. It has actually rained some now so I had to mow yesterday then I remembered posting this when I saw the spots. The mower is great but this factory f-up is pissin me off. Im going to get some stuff at the deere dealer next week Ill keep everybody posted if I here anything.

go to your deere dealer.....there is an official deere fix with new muffler and heat shields. Dropping my machine off this Tuesday to get the modification. I'll keep you updated.

I also made the deflector which directed the airstream up from the exhaust, it solved that 3" x 20" strip problem. But still had burning like you also saw, Deere's theory is that cooling air over the engine (vertical airflow) is causing the additional burning.

We'll see if this fixes it. The dealer had not opening the box yet, but said it was a big box of parts with muffler and deflectors. It better not look like a frankenstein machine.

What year mower do you guys have that you are having this problem.
I have a brand new one and my muffler is mounted high and it has a heat shield about 2 inches lower.

I have not noticed this burning you speak of.

I have a 2011 z445 with Briggs engine. Muffler is mounted low with heat shield around it.

rtumark said:

I have a 2011 z445 with Briggs engine. Muffler is mounted low with heat shield around it.

Click to expand...

Im goin to call them later this week and see whats up I also have a 2011 but with the kaw motor and the heat shield is like mabe 4"-5" inches from the ground.

Does yours look like this?

This is the deflector I made but I cant wait to see if they hopefully have a fix that doesnt look like crap.

Mine's similar (sorry for link, could not figure out how to embed photos in reply)

Anyhow, a bit of a jury rig, but stopped the burning strip as we discussed. Problem I noticed is that I'm now deflecting hot exhaust air right at the tire. Tire gets super hot.

photo 5 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
photo 1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Can't wait to see what Deer has come up with.

I was asking Black Bart if his muffler setup looked like mine. Yeah I just made my deflector small so I could put it under the muffler and bolt it threw a factory hole to see if it worked before I made something diff. But it worked so I never changed it.

Are you using the forum from a phone or comp?

I use phone, computer, and ipad depending where I am.

Just got my machine back from dealer. To address the burning problem, they installed a new muffler and a newly design heat shield (around the muffler) that is quite a bit larger than what came with mower. Sticks out well past muffler on either side of it. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow.

I still need to call my dealer. Does it stop the air from the engine blowing down onto the grass?

Called my dealer earlier and they never heard of the issue, but the service manager is out till mon so Ill try again. If that dont work guess I will have to call John Deere directly and get them to educate my dealer lol

have them try DTAC solution 89750....not sure if it means anything, but it's on the invoice they gave me.

Exact language is "replaced muffler, 2 heat shields, 2 bolts, nuts per DTAC solution 89750"

Hope this helps..

rtumark said:

have them try DTAC solution 89750....not sure if it means anything, but it's on the invoice they gave me.

Exact language is "replaced muffler, 2 heat shields, 2 bolts, nuts per DTAC solution 89750"

Hope this helps..

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. So did they install any heat shields for the air coming off the motor?

Not really, I'll post up some pictures tomorrow to show you what they did. Been busy last few days.

What they did do is reconfigure the muffler heat shield to allow air to escape to the rear of the mower.

Hard to describe, pictures will be worth 1000 words.

Ok thanks.

Fire hazard

After reading this post 2 -3 times it occurs to me that the this mower presents the oppourtunity for a fire hazard. If you were to back the mower over tall, dry, grass and get off or otherwise give the grass an opourtunity to ignite.....something to keep in mind
I did a quick search and found that there is a recall on certain models, alrthough it has nothing to due with problem your guys are describing.
Injury Hazards Prompt John Deere to Recall Certain Lawn Mowers | Justice News Flash | JusticeNewsFlash Release

Re: Fire hazard

RobertBrown said:

After reading this post 2 -3 times it occurs to me that the this mower presents the oppourtunity for a fire hazard. If you were to back the mower over tall, dry, grass and get off or otherwise give the grass an opourtunity to ignite.....something to keep in mind
I did a quick search and found that there is a recall on certain models, alrthough it has nothing to due with problem your guys are describing.
Injury Hazards Prompt John Deere to Recall Certain Lawn Mowers | Justice News Flash | JusticeNewsFlash Release

Click to expand...

I don't have a foot brake so I guess that leaves me out. :big grin:
My muffler is mounted much higher than the one in the photo, guess that is why I have not had any problems.
This issue must be with early models of 2011

Bought mine in June of this year and haven't noticed this problem. Mine is a second generation 445 with a 27HP Briggs. There is a really big heat shield around and under the muffler.

Ed

eldowdy said:

Bought mine in June of this year and haven't noticed this problem. Mine is a second generation 445 with a 27HP Briggs. There is a really big heat shield around and under the muffler.

Ed

Click to expand...

Any pics of the heat shield?

Nothing close without draggin out the camera. But here is what is on the computer right now.

Ed

That is the same setup I have. Right now its not leaving the burnt spots too much because we have had alot of rain, but when the grass starts to dry up alittle bit I cant stop for even 2-4 seconds without a brown spot the next day.

Well... Now that I think of it there were some brown spots early on. I didn't attribute them to the mower. We're having a drought right now. Though it is raining today. I stop all the time while mowing. I think I'll have to mark where I stop so I'll know for sure it's the mower. Glad I joined this forum! I love this mower though. I have been mowing 2.5 acres for 6 years with an old Dixon 4422. This is SO MUCH better. Cut my mowing time in half. I cannot knock the old Dixon though. I still own it and mow my daugther's place with it.

Ed

Yeah at first i thought I was leakin fluid but then after confirming no leaks I went to a spot in the corner of the back yard and let it sit for like 10-20 sec on full throttle and you can see exactly where the exhaust and hot air from the motor blows right on the grass. I have been really busy but I need to goto the dealer and get the new shield installed.

Edit: you should see a 12-16 inch long by 3-4 inch wide brown spot on the left side and maybe a 12 inch sorta round spot on the right if you have this prob.

No problems with burning the grass, my problem is related to the engine not running very smooth. The 25 hp kawasaki v-twin surges. I'm not really sure where to start looking because it is fuel injected. I am begging for help. Good luck.

Mine is a 27HP Briggs. Today it started vibrating and surging. I don't know if it caught something on a blade or a belt or if it swallowed some water. Lasted a couple minutes. I was listening to my mp3 player when I noticed it. Took the earbuds out. Whole mower shook then smoothed right out. Didn't see anything come out of the deck. Didn't have anymore trouble. It's only got 29 hours on it.

Is yours still under warranty?

Ed

Mine has the 27HP Kaw but so far its running smooth

You gotta pic of ur eng Buck? They told me it was a Kaw when I bought it. Turned out it was a Briggs.

Ed

My fault I meant it was a b&s. Yeah they told me that too and I didnt notice till a couple weeks ago. Im going to tell them about that crap when I goto the dealer.

I went to do the breakin oil change and looked at the dip stick real close and called them. They said yeah sorry. I probably could have made them take it back. Except for the other day, I really like it. I think it was running on one cylinder.

Ed

Yeah its crap. The salesman should know what the hell hes talking about. I would normally have caught that but I was in a hurry the day I got it. The grass was was growing so fast then all I did was jump on it mow clean it off and put it away. But a couple weeks ago when I was cleaning it off I noticed a sticker on the side of the motor that said briggsandstraton.com from what I have read this is a redisigned motor made especially for zero turns wth ever that is suppose to mean.