[swiver]

My yard has some very dry sandy areas and the 1025r mmm is quite aggressive with its blowout power. If I blow with the wind all is good. When I turn around and blow the other direction I get covered in dust. This can’t be good for my eyes, lungs, etc.

I am not going to wear a dust mask when I mow. Nor do I want to irrigate these areas.

I am currently thinking about buying the mulch kit (BM20827) and the anti-blowout kit (AM133765). It’s an expensive solution but if it works I should get an extra year or two out of my lungs.

There are a couple threads on this same topic, but the discussion was quickly derailed and OP never got an answer (probably the only two threads on here that got derailed). So, three questions:
1) Anyone try something similar? Will this help my problem with dust?
2) the anti blowout says it is for the 54c deck. Will it also fit on the 54d?
3) I have quite dense tree coverage in my yard. How much of my fall leaves can I realistically mulch and leave in place? I am guessing at some point I will need to vacuum some of them up as to not smother my grass?

 

[rwmeyer]

Can't answer 1 or 2, but I really don't think the anti-blow kit will stop dust! This is to stop clippings from blowing out from under your deck, not dust.
Now, #3, yes you CAN mulch the leaves. Set your ground speed and make 1 pass. See if anything is left behind. If so, slow down and make another pass. With the proper (slow) ground speed, your leaves, grass, and whatever should disappear into VERY small (barely visible) pieces, will decompose and fertilize your lawn. Bob

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

I have a 54D with mulch kit and it creates one heck of a dust storm when the soil is dry. These are high lift decks so that's just the nature of the beast.

 

[Dr Maphesto]

Can't speak for the JD deck, as I have Snapper commercial mower.
I start the year out with traditional blades and outlet, and as things get drier I install mulch blades and outlet block. It definitely helps with dust with side wind. But it eats power. Works engine pretty good.

 

[Red Fox Creations]

wait until it rains. i live in northwestern wisconsin and the rain has missed us for 3 weeks now. soil is sand. i drive my 2025 on grass and it breaks the grass. no way around dust, until weather changes.

 

[Babyhauler]

I use low profile blades on my 60" ZTR. Many customers properties are dusty and these help a little.

The best thing to use for dusty conditions to help me breathe is a Wolf Snout mask. It's different.
Developed for motorcycle racing in the desert. I've been using them for about 5-6 years. There have been some 8 hour bush hog days where the radiator needed to blown out every other hour, but I could still breathe. I have tried 4-5 different mask and nothing comes close to working as well as this thing. You can breathe in it and it rarely fogs my glasses. Excellent product.

 

[ClydeLogan]

Hold your breath

I get covered in dust. This can’t be good for my eyes, lungs, etc.

I am not going to wear a dust mask when I mow. Nor do I want to irrigate these areas.

I have quite dense tree coverage in my yard. How much of my fall leaves can I realistically mulch and leave in place? I am guessing at some point I will need to vacuum some of them up as to not smother my grass?

I can only share my opinions developed from 6 years of mowing with my 1025R both with and without the mulching kit, sandy coastal plain area soil (calling it soil is really a joke). and a few areas of oak trees.

If you must resist using a dust mask or wetting down the soil, your best option is to hold your breath as much as possible, particularly if you have really fine sand that will lodge and stay in your lung's alveoli. Having to drag around an oxygen tank everywhere you go as an old man really sucks. If the sandy and dusty areas are not growing grass, avoid running the mower over them whenever possible.

I have had limited success with trying to mulch the heavy fall of oak leaves, so I have returned to hand raking the bulk of them. Mulching does fine with the leaves I miss, so I'm not anal about raking every leaf, just de-bulking will do.

 

[swiver]

Ah yes, good old silicosis. Thanks for reminding me, now we opened a whole new can of worms! I would need to wear an N95 or better to provide protection. (I fully appreciate that this sounds like an ordeal we as a society just dealt with). I did check out Wolfsnouts website, they appear to be silent on particle size.

As for holding my breath, I usually try to do one better and actively exhale when feasible.

I am going to give the mulch kit a try once it gets here

 

[Andursun0013]

The mulch kit was a very minimal improvement over side discharge with my 60D in what seems like similar areas from your description

 

[tj1]

You're not going to solve the dust problem with a mulch kit! I mulch and the dust is pretty bad.
Wear a mask, it's the only way to stop inhaling dust, pollen and all that comes with dust! I wear one whenever mowing. It's not a non-macho thing or a PITA. I would rather breath then as mentioned; lug around an oxygen kit eventually. An Inogen oxygen portable pump is around 2 grand...
The crap in your eyes,, no way getting around that unless you put on a diving mask too.

 

[eric102]

I back the throttle down on the few short dusty areas I have, seems to reduce the dust cloud since the blades aren't spinning as fast. Probably not a solution for large areas.

 

[ridesdirt]

I feel your pain... I cut with a 72" zero turn mower and it moves a LOT of air. I have several bare spots (more like a lot of bare spots) and the dust is brutal.
I typically wear a mask when cutting and shower afterwards... sunglasses do help the eyes a little, I am not going to wear motocross goggles or a diving mask while cutting.
I sometimes look like Pig Pen after cutting, there is a dust cloud following me around. cue the theme song to Peanuts.