Hi lift blades.....

[1slow5point0h]

Im looking forward to seeing how the RSD 54 with these wide tires does in real wet standing water areas..we just have not had enough moisture this Summer at all.
I did cut/sip all my treads in half with a thin metal cut off wheel,,smoked out my neighbours,,well see how she holds the banks this week

I've had ruts in my yard where I had to pull mine out, and there was barely any standing water at all. Even sometimes if it's just fairly damp it'll spin and I just floor it and ride it out lol.

 

[adjc]

Finally got it to working like it should. Put the hi lift blades on, cut out the wedge shaped piece of steel on the mower deck discharge opening. Also trimmed up the chute deflector. These 3 mods made a difference between nite an day on the discharging of grass. It can be wet, dry, or clumped up clippings doesn't matter....it all goes thru without clogging the discharge opening. Can finally mow again without stopping shutting down the mower for unplugging. A lot of folks who own these raptors (in my area) are cutting off the bottom bar at the deck opening and are not having any neg results. Many use them for commercial use. Some hav gone as close to 2 yrs after cutting it out and have no probs with the deck at all. It's just steel...it can be re-welded if need be.

 

[577jersey]

Glad to hear it,,yeah its a great deck design other than the opening being a bit restricted,I cut wet sloppy crab grass and the deck stays clean...I do think cutting out the triangle piece would help me from dropping a pile of clippings once in a while.My opening doesn’t gets clogged up any more after hi lift blades,,I don’t cut 2ft grass either..lol

These RSD,s are super mowers,,just need to be smart about what you have and work with it.For the $$ I payed I’m completely satisfied with my mower so far.

Alot better than bouncing around on that sulky all day

 

[kraky]

Fyi.. I bought a set of the xht hi lifts for my FasTrak. Dumb me when I took my original blades off I found out they already were high lift blades from the factory.
The way the grass comes out from under the fast track I would have never believed they were high lift blades because they don't spray the way they used to under my old raptor SD. Something about the deeper deck and more wide-open discharge the grass comes out nicely and in an even blanket but not nearly as far as the SD.
The differences between the aftermarket xht and the original Hustler hi-lift are tiny...
But I think I see just a little more lift in the xhTs and I think they're working slightly better than the original hi lift blades under the fastrak so I'm still happy I got them.
Everytime I use my fastrak I fall more and more in love with it.....

 

[577jersey]

Yeah man,,the RSD has some air flow for sure,,maybe its the small opening that makes it spray so far,,ID love to cut it bigger and find out

 

[1slow5point0h]

I've had ruts in my yard where I had to pull mine out, and there was barely any standing water at all. Even sometimes if it's just fairly damp it'll spin and I just floor it and ride it out lol.

I stuck mine the first 2 times I used it. I've had a few times where it started spinning and I just threw it wide open and rode it out lol. Luckily I'm out in the country and the cows don't mind if there are a couple of ruts in the yard :laughing:

 

[mhavanti]

Adjc,

Would you post some pics of your modifications?

Thanks in advance,

Max

 

[adjc]

Adjc,

Would you post some pics of your modifications?

Thanks in advance,

Max

I would but I traded the SD in on a new Fastrak 54" Friday...so I no longer have it. I did get to mow with it after the mods but in my mind I was still thinking that this is still not over. It did do very well but one thing that still bothered me was the build up under the deck each time I mowed......just had enough of it! Do a search on here "54 raptor sd mods" this is where I got the idea from. I did cut the discharge chute flush with the deck opening, I think that was more help than anything.....opened up the flow with less restriction on getting the cut grass out, but it does throw the grass a lot futher and higher up, so keep that in mind before you consider it. But my real advice is upgrade to the next level which is the Fastrak, one time mowing with it you'll understand why I suggest it. No comparison between the two mowers.

I know it's more $$ but getting the job done means more to me. It only rains here 2-3 times a week and it's almost impossible to keep up. Never seen so much rain in normally a dry summer. My dealer gets a lot of complaints on the raptor line up, so much that he is considering selling the Fastrak and on up but will special order the raptor-sd if that is what the customer wants.

Good luck if your having issues....it will try your patience for a $4000.00 mower!!

 

[mhavanti]

I'm not having any problems other than airing up the left front tire each time I mow.

I've seen the cut out pics. Some are saying they're cutting a bit differently than others. Just wondering what the cut was on your deflector.

 

[577jersey]

I cut the triangle out on mine other day,,it didn’t help much at all for wind rowing in wet stuff,,only way would be to cut the opening back all the way to the first angle or bend at the rear of the opening...the bottom bar does not cause much if any issues on the RSD,,I have been watching it for a few weeks now closely,,the bar is just there because the upper part of the deck is cut back and a few inched of the blade is exposed on this mower,,so without that bar the blade would be hitting objects very easily

Best mod for improved cut on this mower in my area and grass types was the hi-lift blades so far.