Struggling With 54" Deck On 4110. Really Poor Performance.

1465 Views 63 Replies 19 Participants Last post by Fosti, 4 d ago

Wirlybird

Discussion Starter · 15 d ago

Hi all,
So the 4110 is a great little tractor but the 54" deck leaves a lot to be desired.
If I try to mow anything that is a little taller than your mowed lawn or pretty green the deck just clogs up.
One issue is very poor discharge of clippings. At times it is pretty much non-existent. Like there is a mulch plug or something.
You can hear the clumping grass slam around and thump in/under the deck but it doesn't discharge. You mostly get a trail of wet soupy grass that looks like a kale shake straight from the blender!
The discharge chute is perfectly clear also so it is not clogging like in the traditional sense at the chute.
The deck is in very good condition and I have cleaned the underside and replaced the blades with the JD blade from the parts diagram for this deck. Same blade was on it.
Part Number M115496 Description - Mower Blade - Cut Performance Blade for¬ 54 In. Mower. Does not look like a mulching blade.

I suspect the blade is one issue. I am working on leveling and when you mow a kept up area the cut looks good.
My X585 with 54C deck will mow circles around this one in heavier grass. I run G6 Gators on it.

Should I start by going to a different blade? I do not want any mulching, just good lift/cut and discharge!

Thanks for any advice.

21 - 40 of 64 Posts

Gizmo2

· #21 · 15 d ago

Wirlybird said:
Blades are what JD parts book calls for and have been replaced with new ones.

That has bit me more than once. Check the space between the blade tips.

Benz88

· #22 · 15 d ago

There are so many deck and blade options for CUT's. SCUTS,Mcuts and large garden tractors I almost always check the old blade when a customer comes in, Or I get the Tractor/deck and both serial # information. You'd think blades and spindles would be easy lookups but they can be a task and a rabbit hole.

Reactions: 1

Wirlybird

Discussion Starter · #23 · 14 d ago

Gizmo2 said:
That has bit me more than once. Check the space between the blade tips.

Will do, thanks.

Wirlybird

Discussion Starter · #24 · 14 d ago

Benz88 said:
There are so many deck and blade options for CUT's. SCUTS,Mcuts and large garden tractors I almost always check the old blade when a customer comes in, Or I get the Tractor/deck and both serial # information. You'd think blades and spindles would be easy lookups but they can be a task and a rabbit hole.

As far as I can tell there is one 54" deck for this thing. The blade the parts diagram lists is what was one it so, on the surface, it seems the blade is correct.
But I suppose that doesn't mean it is a good choice!

Reactions: 2

Gizmo2

· #25 · 14 d ago

Wirlybird said:
As far as I can tell there is one 54" deck for this thing. The blade the parts diagram lists is what was one it so, on the surface, it seems the blade is correct.

I thought a mulching deck required shorter blades to make room for the mulching hardware. I could be wrong.

John D 2

· #26 · 14 d ago

Gizmo2 said:
I thought a mulching deck required shorter blades to make room for the mulching hardware. I could be wrong.

When I added the mulching kit to my 1025R MMM the blades were the same length. The differences were the shape of the blades in order to increase lift and the baffles to keep the grass from being thrown out after it was cut.

Reactions: 1

DRobinson

· #27 · 14 d ago

Wirlybird said:
Ground was dry. "grasses" were typical springtime. Green and moist. The picture was a few days after my testing and was the result of just regular mowing for less than an hour. This one isn't capable of mowing anything more than the lawn.

I believe that is what the mid-mounted decks are designed for.

Reactions: 1

wally2q

· #28 · 13 d ago

A long shot but does the 4110 pto have an option for fwd or rev?
I wonder if the deck is spinning the blades in the wrong direction.....

Wirlybird

Discussion Starter · #29 · 13 d ago

wally2q said:
A long shot but does the 4110 pto have an option for fwd or rev?
I wonder if the deck is spinning the blades in the wrong direction.....

Interesting idea but I am not aware of anything like that on this one.

Kennyd

· #30 · 13 d ago

wally2q said:
A long shot but does the 4110 pto have an option for fwd or rev?

No.

wally2q

· #31 · 13 d ago

Is the deck original to the tractor?
How old is the setup?
Is it still under warranty?

From the description it sounds like the deck on the x585 is perfectly fine, while this one doesn't work at all....
So it's not the grass.
It's either a malfunction in the tractor (pto.clutch slipping?) Or in the deck (belt slipping etc)
Meaning - if this is a new machine - warranty could be invoked?

MarkEagleUSA

· #32 · 13 d ago

wally2q said:
Meaning - if this is a new machine - warranty could be invoked?

The 4110 was built from 2002-06... no warranty left.

wally2q

· #33 · 13 d ago

So is this a new problem?... or did the OP live with it 20years before he had to finally vent his frustrations?

Or did something change?...
Or did he buy it used recently - in which case who knows what happened to that mowing deck at the hands of the prior owner?

Reactions: 1

mrhonda buys a Deere

· #34 · 13 d ago

You had mentioned levelling the deck but I didn’t see an update or I missed it. For a few bucks get a blade gauge and use the blade tip for both side to side and front to back and not the deck itself. Most decks work best slightly forward but your manual should state that. If this is too far out of whack you may be losing suction and discharge. You had also said belt routing as the above pto comment had me wonder if was possible to thread the belt on the wrong side of even one pulley (I highly doubt this is even possible but who knows).

Wirlybird

Discussion Starter · #35 · 13 d ago

wally2q said:
So is this a new problem?... or did the OP live with it 20years before he had to finally vent his frustrations?

Or did something change?...
Or did he buy it used recently - in which case who knows what happened to that mowing deck at the hands of the prior owner?

I bought the tractor last fall from the original owner with the intention of using it to replace my 755 which I use to maintain some paddocks and other smaller field areas.
The previous owner used it to mow his lawn.
The deck is in excellent condition, seems straight and no rust or obvious damage. Some of the lift turnbuckles where bent up some so I replaced everything to get it all good.

The picture I supplied is from mowing for less than an hour on my lawn, which is done weekly, and you can see how much build up is under the deck.
The main issue is the deck just can't handle anything more than a maintained lawn as far as grass height. It just acts like a mulching deck with little to no discharge and all the clippings just build up under the deck until you get that soupy, mulched up "paste".
At this point all I can assume is the blades have poor lift and discharge ability. New blades of a different style coming.

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Reactions: 1

Wirlybird

Discussion Starter · #36 · 13 d ago

mrhonda buys a Deere said:
You had mentioned levelling the deck but I didn’t see an update or I missed it. For a few bucks get a blade gauge and use the blade tip for both side to side and front to back and not the deck itself. Most decks work best slightly forward but your manual should state that. If this is too far out of whack you may be losing suction and discharge. You had also said belt routing as the above pto comment had me wonder if was possible to thread the belt on the wrong side of even one pulley (I highly doubt this is even possible but who knows).

On leveling- Have the JD gauge.
I first thought I had the back to low or level to the front. It was at about an 1/8".
I was able to get the chute side up more but still trying to get the left side up. Presently, if side to side is "level' then the left side is even front to back and the right is now a 1/4 higher in the back.
I don't care for the whole list system on this one as it relies directly on the 3-point lower draft arms to raise and lower the deck. Lot's of room for error in leveling.

Wirlybird

Discussion Starter · #37 · 13 d ago

Here is an example of what I want to be able to mow with this 4110. This is 8 acres I do every 2-4 weeks or at the customers request.
One note is that I am not going for perfect, golf-course cut here.
I have been doing this with either the 755/60" deck or the X585/54C deck. The X585 is in the pictures as I was mowing yesterday.
Most of this is not very heavy growth, just gets some taller stuff, and the X585 at a 3" cut height can mow this without issue. This is 4 acres I did in about 2+ hours.
If I try this with the 4110 the deck will almost immediately start to clog up as it simply doesn't discharge much at all.

Again, at this point, I am thinking the blades are the main issue so we'll see how the new blades do once they get here. Really hoping it will be better.

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Benz88

· #38 · 13 d ago

I can tell you most decks besides a 3 point brush hog or flail will struggle with that height unless you take half passes and only do it in very dry conditions. I wouldn't even try to mulch that

Reactions: 5

DRobinson

· #39 · 13 d ago

Benz88 said:
I can tell you most decks besides a 3 point brush hog or flail will struggle with that height unless you take half passes and only do it in very dry conditions. I wouldn't even try to mulch that

I agree.

Reactions: 2

rtgt

· #40 · 12 d ago

Superglidesport said:
Any chance the blades are turning in the wrong direction?

Kind of what I was thinking.

Wirlybird said:
Am going to verify belt routing etc.

Reactions: 2

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