7117 deck question - gator blades

[mroman59]

For those who have a 7117 or similar model, do you know approximately how far off the ground the deck should be (bottom of rollers) when fully raised? Also, I have gator blades and they work very well with my 6216 for mulching grass and leaves, however not well on my 7117. I was told that this is because the 7117 has too deep of a deck. Has anyone tried to modify the shoot portion of the deck, lets say cover it with rubber, plastic, sheet metal about half way down to block the grass from coming out? I was thinking this could possibly act like a mulching deck or shallow deck and the grass will continue to circulate under the deck longer and get mulched up. I appreciate your thoughts. Mike

[cwm1276]

My rollers are only an inch or 2 off the ground with the lift all the way up. I also have my deck adjusted to mow at it's highest when the lift is down, that could make a difference in your measurments.

[RayS]

I have a 48" deck that I blocked off using the thin galvanized metal used in heating and air conditioning ducts. It is cheap and helps with the mulching. The gator may mulch some when side discharging but will do alor better with discharge area blocked off. I use gator blades year round for mulching and side discharge. I can get them cheaper than OEM and they seem to stay sharper to me. I have been using them for around 10 years.

[Burntime]

I second the gator blades. I just redid my rollers and someone told me a new deck is 3 1/8 inchs high. Once they get worn it would not suprise me to see 2 inchs. Especially with the gull wing design of the gator blade. Wondering, does blocking it off really make that much of a difference? I know gators do stay sharper longer...

[mroman59]

Ray, you have photos of your design for blocking off the side discharge area? The question is, is it better to block off the top section, say half way down or maybe block off some of the side area instead? Mike

[mendon-chalmers]

I have used the 1/2" square chicken wire before it clogs with the leaves but still lets some air out. Does anyone out there have the meg-mo system. I would like to know how good that works.

[TomSchmit]

I wanted to try the Meg-Mo system, but they dont't make blades less than 12" diameter so it would not work on 36" Broadmoor decks (with blades about 11-1/2" long). It looks like a good system to me and would fit on a 42" or larger deck. Tom

[mroman59]

Tom, Wow, never saw anything like that meg-mo system. Ill look into it. Thanks

[mendon-chalmers]

Hey Tom good reason for a B112 :D:D look at it again & it says less than 18" cut not blade length. I want mine for my agco 1920 with a 60" cut.

[sunrunner]

What # gator's you using on the 6216 and is it a 48" deck? Thanks Chris