Mowing/Mower Deck Question

[grnlark 0]

I have a 65 Landlord with the 48" deck, left side discharge. I find that going around the islands and plantings in the front yard is a pain without blowing grass all over everything. Is there any issue with closing off the side discharge and just running the mower like a mulching/recycler deck?

[Burntime 1]

I was going to try and make the inside baffles for my sovereign and close the outlet, was just hoping someone else would try it first to see if it was worth the effort...

[RayS 79]

I have a mulch kit for a 42" deck and it works great. Your deck should be 42" as well. Don`t believe there is enough room for a 48" on a Landlord. If you do decide to block it off buy a set of Gator Blades.

[Burntime 1]

Hey Ray, I have the gators on my sovereign and it does help, but I think if it stayed in the deck a little longer it would mulch it up better...

[jmhusby 0]

Agree 100%, it won't work without mulching blades. Eventually plug up with wet grass or leave clumps without the mulching blades.XX(

[grnlark 0]

yeah, I meant 42" deck. Is there a specific mulching cover for the deck? Does anyone have one they want to sell?

[Burntime 1]

I don't think they knew what mulching was in the 60's. I think its a custom fab thing all the way...

[MrSteele 476]

I made a cover for mine a few years ago and it works great. I also bought the inner baffles for the deck from Sandy Lake a couple of years ago. They improve the cut about 200%. If you are missing the inner baffles, you are likely also missing the rollers under the deck that also improve stability of the deck. The inner baffles greatly improve discharge over using the deck without them. I only use the mulching cover for leaves, and do not have Gator Blades. If the mower is blowing grass on your flowers, do a couple of rounds blowing away from them, then turn around and cut normally. I have done that since my Dad showed me how to cut grass when I was a kid

[grnlark 0]

quote:

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Originally posted by MrSteele
If you are missing the inner baffles, you are likely also missing the rollers under the deck that also improve stability of the deck. If the mower is blowing grass on your flowers, do a couple of rounds blowing away from them, then turn around and cut normally.

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I know the rollers are there and quite honestly I never looked under there to see if there are baffles. I'll have to look. I do make a few passes now going away from the flowers, but just thought it would make life a lot easier to just be able to drive and not worry about the direction of the chute.

[PhanDad 3,248]

"I don't think they knew what mulching was in the 60's." Hey take it easy on us old guys; check out mfg #990284 - Leaf Mulcher on pages 2 and 3 of the manual. It has both leading and trailing baffles in addition to the discharge port blocker.

[Burntime 1]

Not rippin on the old guys:D I hope to get there one day:D I just do not think they marketed it as such...

[HubbardRA 19]

Yes they sold mulching mowers in the 60s. My Grandpa had one 50 years ago. It was a regular push mower with a block-off plate for the discharge chute. He never used the block-off plate because he wanted to spread the clippings out and not have to rake up the clumps.

[rm 0]

there was a mulching kit from the factory, i dont see any info on it on simpletractor its painted yellow i have one! theres a front baffle, side cover and rear baffles. not sure if you can search manuals but the form # is tm-309a

[JohnMBerst 36]

Added a wood plate to the end of my 42" deck, mostly to mulch the leaves, and a bit of grass as I cut a bit lower. Drilled a few hole and used wire ties to hold in place. Worked great, and as you have noted before, cleaned the bottom of the deck well. Hope to move up to a metal plate for next fall, but have the pattern made. Now if I could prevent the grass on the left side from blowing up onto the deck....

[RayS 79]

Mine is an original from the 60`s. Bought it NOS a few years ago from Levi. Works great.

[BLT 708]

When you are done mulching for the season, run the mower over dry leaves. That makes a fine pumice and cleans the clinging grass off the mower deck, plus it gets rid of the leaves. The ground up leaves will disappear more quickly then if you leave them lay.

[BrendonV 0]

Leaves are the best fertilizer for your lawn/trees. They won't tell you that though because they look "ugly" and the fert. companies will go out of business. Look at the forest, nothing but leaves and dead wood "feeding" the trees. Gotta love it.

[grnlark 0]

A member sent me a direct email earlier today graciously offering their mulch cover for me to copy if I wished. I seem to have accidentally deleted the email and do not recall who the member was. I wanted however, to acknowledge reciept of the email, so he didn't think I blew it off. I really appreciate the offer. If it's a matter of fabricating one, I'm pretty good with metal work so I think I can just follow the contours of the deck. But again, I sincerely thank you for the offer, and I hope whoever that was, sees this message. dOd

[MrSteele 476]

There is a fertilizer to be gained by mulching leaves. However, every few years (your lawn will let you know) you will need to add lime to the yard to "sweeten" the acid left behind by the rotting leaves. Those who already lime their yard on a regular basis will not need to worry, but those of us who are lazy and wait, will notice that their yard kind of stops growing. Add lime. Soil test kits are available at any farm supply, and will give a decent idea of how much lime.

[timflury 1]

Remember guys, it was called a "Leaf Mulching Kit" for a reason or else you would have seen mulching mowers back in the 60's and earlier. There weren't such things as Gator Blades back then. With the gator blades and the kit installed, I have heard the mowers are quite capable of mulching grass clippings as well as leaves. Now adding lime to my lawn,,,,,,,,, The bare spots under my trees seem to be increasing in size.

[rsnik 1]

My experience mulching with gator blades is that it works great when mowing conditions are good. I mulched for years. I got burned out on mulching as we get way too many rainy summers being near the ocean. If the grass is a bit too tall or holding too much moisture I leave a heavy trail of clumps. No problem, you just keep mowing until she cleans up. Turn the lights on when it gets dark. grnlark I broke a window in my house when I hit some tiny rock and suddenly got interested in that safety chute we are all supposed to have on the side discharge. I found one on a deck I came into that has a hinged mount assembly which let's you flip it back out of the way when not wanted. The safety chute (or whatever it is called) plugs up at times and usually gets removed, but it should prevent your deck from spraying discharge onto your plantings.