[davisj4]

How do I stop the grass from clumping. I mowed on Saturday and yesterday, double cut both times lowering height one level after first cut. Grass was dry using G6 blades with mulch kit on 54d. I don't recall it being much different with the blades that came with the mulch kit. Would gladly swap blades again or do anything else. Speed seems to make minimal difference.

I don't need perfection, but all would be great if the lawn didn't always look like

Thoughts? Please do not suggest a zero turn.

 

[Sparky64]

For me it's super dry grass, very clean deck, sharp blades and not making too deep of a cut.
Anyone of those things not up to snuff I'll get green gophers out of the chute.

 

[dixie460]

What RPM are you mowing at? Try full throttle (should put you just past the PTO speed marker on the tach) if you ain't done that already.

 

[davisj4]

What RPM are you mowing at? Try full throttle (should put you just past the PTO speed marker on the tach) if you ain't done that already.

I can try that and be more aware, I'm usually just under the pto mark just under 3k?

Thanks I will try anything. We have people coming by next week for law games and I want to avoid leaf blowing large swaths of lawn

 

[farmer52]

How tall is the grass that you are mowing? What is the deck cutting height? Dry or wet grass?

 

[flyweight]

Like dixie460 stated, full throttle.

I use factory mulching blade with my mulching kit. Works fine.

 

[Dan in Ohio]

I have the six blade set up on my Toro Zero turn 2500 with a bagger attachment. Still had some plugging problems when things were still very wet.

 

[davisj4]

How tall is the grass that you are mowing? What is the deck cutting height? Dry or wet grass?

I mow typically when dry I mow on the highest deck setting then drop it one level if I do a second pass. I did two passes Saturday and another two yesterday and that was what the lawn looked like. The only thing that seems to help is mowing in reverse.

I don't need perfect, but I am pretty sure I should be able to do much better.

 

[Old Machinist]

The only cure I can think of would be to use a bagger.

 

[davisj4]

The only cure I can think of would be to use a bagger.

Yeah I just sold mine last year I never used it because swapping on and off for the loader was too much work. I can deal with the clippings, just figured some people may have better success than I have had. Maybe I will try the JD blades or something similar.

 

[ClydeLogan]

Going out on a limb here, but I believe I see a pattern of stripes in your second picture. That makes me think than one of the three blades is not doing its job correctly. Have you recently checked the blades to make sure they all are turning freely, one is not mounted upside-down, one blade's cutting edge is not dulled or damaged, or one of the blades is not loose under the washer and not turning at full speed. If one of the Belleville blade washers is upside-down, that blade might not be as securely locked in place as the others when spinning under full throttle conditions but still feel tight when you wrench on it.

 

[myrna]

How do I stop the grass from clumping. I mowed on Saturday and yesterday, double cut both times lowering height one level after first cut. Grass was dry using G6 blades with mulch kit on 54d. I don't recall it being much different with the blades that came with the mulch kit. Would gladly swap blades again or do anything else. Speed seems to make minimal difference.

I don't need perfection, but all would be great if the lawn didn't always look like

Thoughts? Please do not suggest a zero turn.
View attachment 790585
View attachment 790586

If you haven't solved this yet by other means, reverse you cutting heights when you mow over the second time. Use the lowest setting on the first cut and "raise" the deck on the "second" pass. The higher setting won't cut any thing, but it will disperse the grass clumps and they will be gone.
Because you just mowed yesterday (Monday), mow back over the clumps at a "higher" setting this time only, at the higher setting which will not cut anything but will disperse the clumps that are there now.

 

[davisj4]

Going out on a limb here, but I believe I see a pattern of stripes in your second picture. That makes me think than one of the three blades is not doing its job correctly. Have you recently checked the blades to make sure they all are turning freely, one is not mounted upside-down, one blade's cutting edge is not dulled or damaged, or one of the blades is not loose under the washer and not turning at full speed. If one of the Belleville blade washers is upside-down, that blade might not be as securely locked in place as the others when spinning under full throttle conditions but still feel tight when you wrench on it.

I have not checked recently but have checked in the past because I had similar thoughts. Is the correct way to try to spin each blade by hand and check that the other two turn? If not what is the correct method, and is there anything else I should do?

 

[davisj4]

If you haven't solved this yet by other means, reverse you cutting heights when you mow over the second time. Use the lowest setting on the first cut and "raise" the deck on the "second" pass. The higher setting won't cut any thing, but it will disperse the grass clumps and they will be gone.
Because you just mowed yesterday (Monday), mow back over the clumps at a "higher" setting this time only, at the higher setting which will not cut anything but will disperse the clumps that are there now.

Interesting and makes a lot of sense, worth a shot if it does not rain I will try this evening when I get home from work

 

[farmer52]

The grass looks brown for freshly mowed. Perhaps you have a lot of thatch that is getting picked up by the blades.

Also, check the deck is level.

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

Is this the old style 54D with the mulch kit that isolates the outer blade? If so, is the debris from that side of the deck? If so, something could be out of whack under there.

My 54D w/mulch kit (both new style) hasn't left a trace of anything and has even obliterated twigs, pine cones, etc.

 

[davisj4]

Is this the old style 54D with the mulch kit that isolates the outer blade? If so, is the debris from that side of the deck? If so, something could be out of whack under there.

My 54D w/mulch kit (both new style) hasn't left a trace of anything and has even obliterated twigs, pine cones, etc.

It is a 2013 deck the mulch kit was purchased a few years after. I will take a look at where the debris is

 

[Tlyons83]

I have used the G6 blades on my rear finish mower, swapped them to factory last weekend so I could sharpen the G6. I actually like the factory blades more, they seemed to spread the clippings over a wider area and not create the windrow affect. Also the G6 blades seemed to cause a lot of clippings to stick to the the deck. I would check to see how clean your deck is, and maybe swap out to a factory blade. I know your struggle sir, and its real. Good luck

 

[davisj4]

I have used the G6 blades on my rear finish mower, swapped them to factory last weekend so I could sharpen the G6. I actually like the factory blades more, they seemed to spread the clippings over a wider area and not create the windrow affect. Also the G6 blades seemed to cause a lot of clippings to stick to the the deck. I would check to see how clean your deck is, and maybe swap out to a factory blade. I know your struggle sir, and its real. Good luck

Thanks for the tip about factory blades, I was also looking at these as they may be the same without jd labels 6 REP HEAVY DUTY XHT BLADES JOHN DEERE M143520 M145516 ON 54" C DECK MOWERS | eBay

 

[MarkEagleUSA]

You can try swapping to 2 outer blades to see if clumping moves to the other side.

I'm guessing the problem is with the blade/mulch chamber furthest from the chute.