John Deere X570 Cuts Grass Too Low

[Optimum]

I'm not trying to be rude, but did you read the original post in this thread?

I tend to agree with toddsyr. I don't know of a cool season grass that needs a 4" cut. Granted, you cut it higher when you first install the sod as that will help root development, but it's been 2 years now and roots should already be established. I've got a customer who needs 'walker' to help her get around and she likes to be out in her yard. Long story short, she MADE me almost scalp her yard (against my wishes and better judgement) .....so I did. Customer is ALWAYS right. Yes? Yes. And it's turned out just fine. (I 'cheat' a little in warm weather) Your bluegrass is a spreading grass (if it's kentucky blue) so you've had 2 years to develop root growth. I don't know what part of the country you're in, but where I'm at, it gets hot, but we're mainly a cool season grass region where bermuda is a PITA. So, what I'd do is cut your grass at you're highest, come back 2 days later and mow a notch or two lower and then mow normally. Does that 'brown/dead' look go away for you now? I bet it does. And, there's been 2 times where I've accidentally 'dropped' my deck to the ground.......both times that grass has come back. That lawn sevice MAY just be doing a CYA! Cool season grass height should be 3.5" in hot, shorter in cooler weather.

Lemme guess, if you were to wait a week between mowings......you'd be mowing 7-8" tall grass. Yes? I fired a customer for not letting me mow, for free, 3 days after scheduled mowing and then mow on normal schedule. Reason I wanted to do that? Because you're not supposed to cut more than 1/3 of the blade and I was double and triple cutting when only getting to mow once a week. Hard to do with most customers, but it was more a PITA for me to mow a green 'wheat field' once a week than to mow 'normal' grass twice a week.

 

[toddsyr]

WOW! A lot of responses today! I am glad to read each and every one of them. There's a lot of good info being presented here for me and others who may read this thread in the future.

Let me try and address the current situation, my mowing habits, region I live in etc.

Today they sent a service tech out to check the deck height and tire pressure. He agreed the deck was never properly adjusted even though I was told it would be before it was delivered a few weeks ago. He did some tweaking and got the cut height to just a fraction of an inch under 4". The blades are almost 1 inch higher than they were. BTW, I had Mulch Blades installed on the mower when I purchased it. These are John Deere Mulch Blades, part no. UC25185. The tires checked out fine. Thanks to folks on here, I know I can add a couple pounds more if I want just a bit more cutting height. I'll have to wait till the next mowing to see which will be in a couple of days. Yes, I probably could have learned to adjust the deck myself and I eventually will when I have the time. But, this should have been done by the dealer before delivery. Also, it's covered under the warranty. The dial for the deck height now goes all the way to the 4" inch mark. Before it only almost made it to there. I had guessed maybe the sticker was off a bit but I think not now.

I live in what's called Central NY by us folks. It's very near Syracuse in the middle of the state. Typical Northeast weather with some added rain and a helluva lot of added snow thanks to Lake Effect. I normally mowed my lawn with my last mower down to a height of about 3.5". That's as high as it would cut. It didn't seem to hurt the lawn at all. My lawn treatment guy said not to cut it lower than that at all. He suggested 4" but I told him I couldn't with the old mower. At 3.5" I have to mow twice a week to keep it from getting over 4" and leaning over on itself. This new mower was cutting at about 3-3.25 inches at the most. I was getting yellowing from that and some of that would brown unless I watered it the next day or it rained. Not good.

We paid to have the front and one side yard sodded 2 years ago. That involved removing large and small tree roots from almost every square foot of the yard and about 8 inches of new topsoil put down afterwards. The backyard and the other side yard I did myself last year. This was easier as there were no roots to remove. We do have a large pine tree out back but I was able to cover the roots for that when I did the back yard. First, I removed the old crappy grass/weed mixture by cutting it lower and lower to the ground. I then used a weed eater to get to the bare dirt. After running an aerator around to help loosen the hard soil, I spread about 1/2 inch of bagged Scott's Lawn Soil with Starter Fertilizer. I figured this would help the sod develop better roots faster and it helped level some uneven spots. I laid out over 7000 sq feet of sod in all, myself. It took a while and cost about 13 grand for everything, front, back, sides etc. so I REALLY want to protect my investment with a good mower/tractor because I'm NEVER doing sod again, LOL! Hence the John Deere X750 purchase.

I won't know for sure how my X750 is going to do until a couple of days from now, depending on the rainfall but I think there is going to be vast improvement. I hope I have addressed everyone's comments here as they all deserve a response. I will definitely report back after the next mowing. Again, I hope in the future this thread helps others as well.

Todd K Stearns

 

[MParr]

@toddsyr
Just remember, the setting on your mower may not reflect your actual cutting height. Cut a test strip and measure the length of the grass blades. Just stick a yardstick or measuring tape until it makes contact with the ground and observe where the grass tips hit. Adjust your dial settings until you reach your desired cutting height. You may have to do this again if and when you change types or brands of blades.

 

[bertsmobile1]

From the grasses point of view, taller is better
I live the the Blue Mountains at 1200' and I mow at 4" all year round
The workshop is at 130' on a flood plain and again I mow at 4"
We mow the pasture paddocks at 6" .
Long soft grass is nice under foot and smothers out weeds.
When we go into drought all sorts of trash comes to life once the grass dies back a bit

 

[toddsyr]

Yes Mr. Parr that is exactly how I measure the grass. Thanks for posting it for the benefit of other newbies too.

Bert, you are doing exactly what my lawn treatment guy says to do and why. Tall grass equals no weeds. Nice under foot? I've actually had compliments from people who say it's a pleasure to walk on my lawn. That's when it was being cut at 3.5 inches with the old mower.

It's raining pretty good here this evening. I bet I will get to mow the lawn tomorrow after work! Does anybody else here get excited when they have to cut the grass?????

Life is good.

 

[MParr]

Do I get excited when I have to mow? Not really but, it is relaxing. I mow 3 acres every week and it’s pretty bumpy. I have a mix of Bermuda, St. Augustine, Centipede and Bahia. Our property was once Pecan orchard and pasture. We’ve had 2.5 inches of rain since I last mowed.

 

[toddsyr]

Well, I was being just a bit silly, but.... with a new tractor and all...

I did mow today though the grass only measured just over 3 inches before and after I cut it. Even with the rain it didn't really grow. I did even it up pretty good though and it has most of it's color back so it should recover nicely from the short mowings. I might be back at it again Sunday, we'll see.

 

[rogerslawnandtreeservice]

I have a john Deere 648r stand on and a Z930m. Both come multiple 1/4" washers between the blade and the spindle. You take away or add to these to adjust your blade height to match your dial settings. You would think that JD would do this at the factory, but was told by the sales person to check your blade height from a concrete floor to the blade and adjust the washers accordingly. Both of my mowers have the tweels on them and the bottoms flatten out more than regular tires. With pneumatic tires, your tire pressure can affect your cut height as well.

 

[toddsyr]

It would be nice if the factory did that, but.... why do that when they can save labor cost by passing the job on to the dealer?

It would also be nice if the dealer adjusted it before delivery too, like they said they were going to, but... why do that when they can save labor cost by waiting until after it's delivered and the customer complains. Then it's covered under warranty and the dealer doesn't eat the cost of the time.

I do appreciate your post. Those washers are worth taking a look at. I think I need some ramps now!

 

[footballfan33]

IT does not need to be all that accurate
Good ones will come from tractor shops cause a lot of those run in the 10 to 20 psi range
You find an indicated pressure that works for you and then just use that number
A 0 to 20 psi gauge will not be very far out at 15 psi , even an ebay cheapie

I use my “foot gauge” for the rear tires in my tractor. For the front, I use the bike pump gauge. It’s great for footballs too. I wish I had the name and model number. But it’s what all the bikers recommend.