Export thread

I have a Craftsman 21" self propelled mower. I bought it new several years ago. The problem is, I cant cut the grass evenly. I can go over my yard(small yard) 2 or three times, and there are still small clumps of tall grass. I bought a new blade, sharpened both the old and new, checked for balance, all to no avail. I keep the underside of the deck clean. This is perplexing to me. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Is the blade on the right side up. what happens when you take real small paths.is the belt tight. is the engine running fast enough.

Blade is installed correctly. What belt? The engine is running fast.

irishmike63 said:

Blade is installed correctly. What belt? The engine is running fast.

Click to expand...

What LandN was getting at is ... it's not that uncommon to mount a blade upside down, happens a lot,

You have had this mower for several years... has it always had this problem? Or is this something rather recent... :smile:KennyV

I also recently just got this problem, Any Ideas or solutions?

Same type of lawnmower 21" gas with a governor which is also a little wonky..

yeah..im with the upside down/wrong way theory....seen it too many times:thumbsup:

a lot of blades have a grass side down stamped on them...russ

damn!...thats a scary avatar you got there!:laughing:

My lawnmower blade never changed, it just started happening.

reddragon,that's my pet Grasshopper and it is a monster. russ

well as least he has good taste in trains:laughing:

DoBoY said:

I also recently just got this problem, Any Ideas or solutions?

Same type of lawnmower 21" gas with a governor which is also a little wonky..

Click to expand...

blade upside.....or bent or damaged edge on blade

irishmike63 said:

I have a Craftsman 21" ...still small clumps of tall grass.

Click to expand...

Are you mulching or discharging the grass? In the dead of summer, sometimes the grass is just too thick for mulching. Not necessarily too tall but too thick. Blade tip speed is everything. There is also different blades for different applications. If you are not mulching you want a high lift blade. Here is a few blades that show the difference
21 mulching blade with star center
MULCHING TOOTHED BLADE / HUSQVARNA 532 13 89-71
21 mulching blade with round center
MULCHING BLADE / AYP 406712
21 High lift blade with star center
HEAV-DUTY BLADE / AYP 138971

I would check the body itself. I was havin this problem with my rider and found the deck bent. Big hammer fixed it. Good Luck.

One other (remote) possibility is a bent crank.:frown:

Is it a 1 touch adjust (adjusts the hieght with one lever) If so, it sounds like something is bent causing it not to adjust evenly. If its a seperate hieght adjuster for each wheel, check to make sure they're all on the same hieght. If that doesn't fix it, put it on level ground (pavement preferably) and measure the 2 sides of the deck, they should be the same hieght off tthe ground, if not, it's a problem with the wheels or adjusters, if the hieght is the same, it's a problem with the blade setup.