tj13 Posted June 4, 2005 Posted June 4, 2005 i have a new(to me) 96 soverign. what do i do about mulching? changes blades ? plug the discharge ?my honda 21" was sealed tight to mulch,now that i have over 1 acre its a different game for me. thanks for any info.
RayS Posted June 4, 2005 Posted June 4, 2005 I mulch spring and fall to clean up the mess. I don`t mulch in the summer because it requires more mowing if you irrigate your lawn. Get you a set of gator blades and block off the discharge hole and they work great.
tj13 Posted June 5, 2005 Author Posted June 5, 2005 i hear different stories on plugging or not plugging the chute.any more info on this? i have read pros and cons on this topic. gators no gators plugged not plugged etc...
RayS Posted June 6, 2005 Posted June 6, 2005 Gator blades were designed to mulch that is why the top edge of the blade is serrated to re cut the grass on a deck that is set up to mulch with the discharge chute blocked off. If using them for side discharge you are going to see very little if any difference in the size of the clippings. They do seem to stay sharper alot longer than OEM blades and quiter than the OEM blades. When mulching you will have to mow more often than when you just discharge out the side. I normally only mulch during fall and spring clean up, but I use gator blades year round with no complaints.
Tom Deutsch Posted June 6, 2005 Posted June 6, 2005 I'm in the same boat with TJ. I had a small lawn up until a couple years ago, now I have 1.5 acre to mow. I bought a 54 inch walk-behind JD (I know, I know) because it had the "tri-cycler" mulching setup. My wife will not abide with dead grass thrown on the lawn, and I'm not going to rake and try to dispose or compost that much grass. When I bought the 917, I thought I could convert it to mulch but I haven't found any good alternatives yet. Certainly these machines were intended for clean-cut lawns -- did they just figure you would rake or "vac" if you wanted that? Seems like there ought to be some kind of "kit" so that we can mulch and drop the clippings all at once!? I'd hate to think John Deere has Simplicity beat on this one?! And another thing ... cutting height. I have my 917 deck ratcheted up to full height but it's still a worm-burner. My JD walk-behind leaves it nice and tall (which is better for the grass and I don't have to water it to keep it from browning out.) As a result, my 917 sits unless I need to use the plow, the tiller or pull the kids around the yard on a trailer.
RayS Posted June 6, 2005 Posted June 6, 2005 These mower decks have a maximum cutting height of 3 inches. If the rollers are old and worn they get smaller and the height of cut will get shorter as well. The roller bar that the rollers ar installed on also wear as well and and will effect the height of the cut. I have been mowing with these machines for along time and if you cut the grass often or 1/3 of the new growth of at a time you are not going to notice that much grass on top of what you cut. They did make a mulch kit for these at one time. For the older decks that were made in the 60`s it is no longer available. I don`t know about the newer style sovereigns, but I have on for my Prestige and have made one for my 48 inch deck on my Hb 212.
gjh Posted June 6, 2005 Posted June 6, 2005 I too have the Gator blades, but find in as much as they cut nice, don't see much mulching action. I have Toro walk behind super recycle & it works great. I notice that Toro has some curved attachments under the deck that help with uplift to re-cut. I was thinking of fabricating something like that out of some 2x4's to try. Has anyone done something like this? p.s. I'm mowing with a 3416 (AC-Homelite) rh discharge 48" deck.
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