What is Causing Raptor 54" Uneven Cut

[Carscw]

My SD cuts great,,only issue is the discharge opening leaves windrows in taller wet grass,,it leaves a scraggler here and there but only when the blades are getting beat,,just like any other mower I had,,and i had the best of the best....the tip speed is good..maybe people are having problems with the wide tires pushing grass down?

On decks with a anti scalp wheel in the front of the deck in the center also will lay the grass down.

 

[577jersey]

On decks with a anti scalp wheel in the front of the deck in the center also will lay the grass down.

I bet thats why I get those scragglers once in a while,,that anti scalp wheel..the deck still scalps,not really a true free floating deck on the RSD for sure.

 

[kraky]

In my book that's a pretty big stretch to say that single rounded wheel up front of the deck on RSD is pushing grass down. It's nowhere near the ground in most cases and barely below the lip of the deck and being round if anything maybe grass goes around it just a tiny bit. Certainly nothing like the front wheels pushing the grass to the ground.

 

[turboawd]

In my book that's a pretty big stretch to say that single rounded wheel up front of the deck on RSD is pushing grass down. It's nowhere near the ground in most cases and barely below the lip of the deck and being round if anything maybe grass goes around it just a tiny bit. Certainly nothing like the front wheels pushing the grass to the ground.

exactly what i think.

 

[577jersey]

Yeah thats true,,I was thinking about that last night in bed actually..lol..my anti scalp wheel is way above the ground and my deck is always at least 3" up so there is no way its the wheel unless the ground is always humped or uneven in the center which is not the case,I cut a 3 acre yesterday and didn’t notice any scragglers..it was all really nice grass no weeds.

 

[Carscw]

The anti scalp wheels should touch the ground before the deck does.
So if the wheel is above the lip of the deck then it really does not do anything.
I forgot the SD only has a small round wheel.

 

[kraky]

When we sold a ton of Deere lawn tractors we told people to have their gauge wheels one quarter to one half inch off the ground at their favorite cutting height. Most of the Deere decks had a spring assist lift.....they lifted themselves really easy. As part of our sales pitch we would reach down with one finger and lift the deck up. If you run a gauge wheel on a zero-turn one-quarter inch off the ground you're going to really put some stress on there when you do those they tight tight turns. Big difference doing a turn on a lawn tractor vs. Spinning around on a zero-turn.... Zero Turn Mower gauge wheels are going sideways!

 

[577jersey]

I have my wheels in the lowest position,they are just below the deck,not sure by how much I will check,,the deck still scalps with them maybe they are too small.

 

[kraky]

I think most the zero turn manufacturers know what would happen to their wheels and brackets if they gave you the ability to put them close to the ground! It's kind of a catch-22 if they put a lift assist spring on that deck so it would float really easy at the speeds everybody goes at that deck would be bouncing up and down all the time....

 

[kraky]

Drifting from the subject a little bit but I think most homeowners would be better served by a tight turning lighter weight lawn and garden tractor with a deck that had the blade tip speed that most Zero Turns run at. The slightly slower speed of the lawn tractor would allow you to put a better floating deck on it and you could hug the ground Contours with your rollers. A three-point turn at the end of a straight away with a good Hydro lawn tractor is actually pretty quick.
But here's what I think the catch is...... manufacturers are scared to have high speed deck with wide-open discharge out there on the market for inexperienced homeowners in huge numbers...... there's too many lawyers out there when somebody gets hit by something flying out from under the deck.
I was told that deere had a special room at the Horicon facility. The engineers were told to make a great discharging deck but then they would hang it in the middle of that room and draw lines on the walls and inject Nails into it while it was running....
If any nails came out above a certain line in the room the engineers had to go back to work.... talk about a demanding job......lol!