Raptor SD cut quality - any recommendations?

[PVHIII]

Still waiting too, the holiday weekend did not allow me to reserve with the dealer this weekend.

I'll share an update on the cut I made yesterday. Six days since my last cut due to a short vacation again this time. It was long, for sure, but by no means a pasture at this point.

I measure that I was cutting at about 5 1/2 inches of length:

Or to put it another way, taking off about 2 - 2 1/2 inches:

I cleaned the deck beforehand and put the high-lift blades back on. About 1/3 of a 5-gallon bucket worth of scrap came off:

Some pics during and after pass number one:

I then raised the deck by 1/2 inch and did a second (and in some cases a third) pass across the whole lawn to try to disperse the clippings, in progress shot:

Ended up like this:

Couldn't get them to completely disappear, I was just blowing them back and forth after a while, but the stripes looked nice:

Healthy amount of deck blowout happening with the high-lift blades and the deck raised by 1/2 inch:

Where'd you get your stripping kit?...Very nice yard BTW.

 

[mooch91]

Where'd you get your stripping kit?...Very nice yard BTW.

Thanks. Home-made, per some instructions and ideas on lawnsite.com.

 

[mooch91]

Just curious... does everyone else have this seemingly "empty" bolt hole on the top of their Raptor SD deck as well? Every time I see it has filled up with grass, I wonder what it's for, or if something "fell off" my deck.

 

[PVHIII]

Thanks. Home-made, per some instructions and ideas on lawnsite.com.

Looks like you did a fine job on it.

 

[PVHIII]

Still waiting too, the holiday weekend did not allow me to reserve with the dealer this weekend.

I'll share an update on the cut I made yesterday. Six days since my last cut due to a short vacation again this time. It was long, for sure, but by no means a pasture at this point.

I measure that I was cutting at about 5 1/2 inches of length:

Or to put it another way, taking off about 2 - 2 1/2 inches:

I cleaned the deck beforehand and put the high-lift blades back on. About 1/3 of a 5-gallon bucket worth of scrap came off:

Some pics during and after pass number one:

I then raised the deck by 1/2 inch and did a second (and in some cases a third) pass across the whole lawn to try to disperse the clippings, in progress shot:

Ended up like this:

Couldn't get them to completely disappear, I was just blowing them back and forth after a while, but the stripes looked nice:

Healthy amount of deck blowout happening with the high-lift blades and the deck raised by 1/2 inch:

Looks like some pretty country there in the background...didn't know it was that pretty in New Jersey.

 

[mooch91]

Looks like some pretty country there in the background...didn't know it was that pretty in New Jersey.

It's actually Pennsylvania. Moved last year but never updated my profile. But in defense of NJ, there's some nice land there too!

 

[PVHIII]

It's actually Pennsylvania. Moved last year but never updated my profile. But in defense of NJ, there's some nice land there too!

Looks very similar to the countryside around here.

 

[RaptorSDer]

Just curious... does everyone else have this seemingly "empty" bolt hole on the top of their Raptor SD deck as well? Every time I see it has filled up with grass, I wonder what it's for, or if something "fell off" my deck.

Mine has the same thing.

 

[kraky]

Beautiful lawn....about what is your ground speed?
I'm on the fence about a raptor SD or the new ariens ikon. Does the deck on the SD seem like it has any suction...I mean...if you passed a leaf with the trimming edge would it pull it in? Seems like a deck needs to be pulling air to do a good job...at least on my lawn. I have a anti blowout lip on my Deere deck and it cuts great and will pull in a leaf or piece of paper from 3" away...but leaves rocks and pebbles alone.

 

[mooch91]

Beautiful lawn....about what is your ground speed?
I'm on the fence about a raptor SD or the new ariens ikon. Does the deck on the SD seem like it has any suction...I mean...if you passed a leaf with the trimming edge would it pull it in? Seems like a deck needs to be pulling air to do a good job...at least on my lawn. I have a anti blowout lip on my Deere deck and it cuts great and will pull in a leaf or piece of paper from 3" away...but leaves rocks and pebbles alone.

It had almost no vacuum with the standard blades that come stock on the mower. I could run over stones, sticks, near leaves, and it wouldn't pick any of them up.

With the ultra high-lift blades I have now the vacuum is much better, but there's still a lot it won't pick up. Most stones stay put and only occasionally will it pick and shred a stick.

In contrast, my Snapper Pro walk-behind would suck up everything, including the soil, when I ran over it.