Raptor SD cut quality - any recommendations?

[kraky]

I understand the pulley size thing but it would seem if the wrong pulleys were on the standard issue belt wouldn't tension properly.....but I'm not sure how they tension it...maybe there is enough travel in the idlers to have a mismatch at the factory and get away with it?

 

[PVHIII]

Is this something I can check now? I've never thrown a belt, or had one shred, like some folks on this forum so I never gave it much consideration. But I don't believe there are any adjustments on the deck belt, just a spring that holds it in place.

If there's a troubleshooting procedure for the deck belt, I'd love to give it a shot.

https://youtu.be/igwY98KEpvc video of new model Fast Trak mowing

 

[PVHIII]

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

https://youtu.be/igwY98KEpvc Better video of new model Fast Trak.

 

[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:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eIIWdww0tY8

 

[mooch91]

Could I be cutting too SHORT?

It's been two days since my last cut to 3" and I went and tinkered with the mower today.

Pulled off the belt covers, wanted to check how the belt and pullies looked. It was definitely packed good with grass, but no evidence of misalignment, damage or glazing to the belt, or anything else not working right:

 

[mooch91]

Re-leveled the deck and decided to try a cut. Now remember, it's been TWO DAYS (actually closer to 1 1/2 when I tried this morning). It was a little damp from rain yesterday, but not too bad.

Got this, cutting down to 3":

Hard to appreciate from the pictures, but the lawn was littered with small clumps. I stopped after a dozen passes or so.

Did I mention I'm cutting only TWO DAYS worth of growth?

 

[mooch91]

So for grins, I raised the deck another 1/2" (about 3.5") and ran over the whole lawn.

At this point, the cut was phenomenal:

[

Left with just some dry clippings that dispersed when I blew them in to the lawn:

Not sure if the good result is a result of the lighter load (two days growth + 1/2" higher cut) or if the higher cut overall works much better on my lawn. I have been having more problems this year (compared to last) and one thing that changed was I reduced the cut height to 3" based upon some earlier recommendations in this thread. I had been previously cutting at 3.5 - 3.75". Still had some issues at that height but far less than what I've been experiencing this season.

 

[kraky]

Interesting vid on the fasttrack. It looks like there's plenty of "blow" going on yet there is NOT an even discharge. You can almost see the timing of the deck loading up and sending out a discharge....then less grass comes out for a short while...then another load up and big discharge. The cut is clean....the discharge is just plain strange. If the fastrack deck is much better than the raptor SD I'm getting skeptical.
Dang....Everything else I love about the raptor SD.....the deck.....has me wanting more.

 

[PVHIII]

Could I be cutting too SHORT?

It's been two days since my last cut to 3" and I went and tinkered with the mower today.

Pulled off the belt covers, wanted to check how the belt and pullies looked. It was definitely packed good with grass, but no evidence of misalignment, damage or glazing to the belt, or anything else not working right:

I always take my blower to mine when I get done mowing... Keeps buildup outta the trans fans and outta all the nooks and crannies on the deck

 

[FieldCut48]

Your yard looks awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!