Mulching experiences?

IaLeo

Well-known Member
I chose in my retirement to groom a 5 acre old farm site for an exercise program and some low-challenge time use. To that end, I now have a JDX534 aws tractor with a 54" deck. Seems to be a perfect tool for mowing rough ground and around 50-60 trees, new plantings and other obstacles.BUT, the grass grows too tall and too fast, so the whole place looks like a drying hayfield all summer as I am mowing and remowing constantly.

Question: will a $200+mulching kit bring other problems? The tractor has plenty of horsepower and the ground is too rough to go very fast and the deck has plenty of capacity as it is now.

Appreciate your experiences with mulching before I buy anything that expensive. The tractor/mower about broke the bank as it is.
Leo
 
You might be disappointed with a mulching attachment/kit because of the clumps left behind from thick wet grass. I've also heard that blades in some kits aren't balanced well. You're probably in the same boat as everyone else right now fighting high grass constantly growing and getting time to mow between the rains. Don't think a mulching kit will help that situation. If spending $200, I would look into a lawn sweeper. Mow the high grass and let the clippings dry. Then get them up with the sweeper or a lawn rake.
 
If you are mowing an old farmstead, it probably is not as smooth and even as it could be.
If you get a wide lawn sweeper to sweep it up fast, it won't work well on uneven ground.
I would try to mow it more often and if you can open both sides and the rear of the mower deck it will spread the clippings out better. Probably going to have to bag it to make it look good.
 
Sounds like you need 20 to 30 meat goats or sheep. They will eat it all down and there will be no dried clippings. When the grass season is over, send them to market or butcher a few. However you will have to fence around all trees and shrubs as they prefer them to grass! Don't pay any attention to me, I should have been doing the same at half scale for almost 25 years and have not done so.
 
Mulching is effective only when the grass is cut very often and very dry it is not a fix for people who get behind. The fix for your problem is free and standard equipment on the tractor, the lift lower lever. You need to raise your mower up. It is a hard concept to grasp for people who are used to cutting their grass short believe me I know from experience but you need to raise it up, way up if need be. We got behind this spring due to constant rains and we are currently cutting at 5" and our lawn looks nice, Neighbor has his mower set at like 2-3 and is a mess of clumps and cuttings. Taller grass will stay greener in dry weather, chokes out weeds better and looks lots nicer than clumps and cuttings. When growth slows down in a month lower the mower if you wish. We never cut below 4" now and the lawn looks great all summer long.
 
Raise the mower up to at least 4". The taller grass
will look nice and provide a better environment for
the clippings to fall below the lawn surface. I mow
with the ZTR in transport. I'd like it higher but I does
not go any higher. Of course, it's a 35 year old
mower and thoughts have evolved about lawn
height.
 
Thanks, everyone! I used to mow at 3", now at 2" but I will try at 4" and see what that does. I have a lawn sweeper but it isn't very user friendly as it fills quickly, then I have a 300-400 foot trip to a dump site, wearing itself out all the while (cannot turn it off). Then the dump site has to handle several dozen feet of dumping because in my sorry case, I have to drive along side the last dump, not back up to it. Try it yourself sometime! Finally to reach back and struggle with the dump rope, lifting the load and jerking it to discharge the well settle mass (due to long trip over rough ground--you get the idea.) And due to the size of this lawn it takes longer to reap than to mow! It looks like my old mantra "short is good" will have to change. I do not want a "townie" lawn! I happen to like dandelions, violets, plantain, etc. and watch the bees, goldfinches and Robins feeding on the yard goodies. Leo
 
All good advise below,,, to add I learned over 30 years ago that grass keeps around 80% of it moisture reserves in its leaf, so if you have 2" of grass 2"' H20 4" grass 4" H20,, my lawns always stay greener from leaving them longer like suggested I also sold Dixon mowers for many years and the others below are spot on about mulcher units, 1/2"-3/4" growth most all work "ok" if the grass is somewhat "dry" even the best ones hate wet tall grass,, I do not like that way myself just my two cents
cnt
 
Yo Leo,
I agree, cut high.

I'd keep side-discharging and just quickly double-cut some of the more aesthetic areas. :)
Do you know for sure if you have high-lift blades?
If not, high-lifts would chop pieces a little finer than med-lift.

You could consider trying some Gator G5 or G6 blades, still side-discharging.
They would chop to smaller pieces than high-lifts.

Try & keep the deck clean underneath!
Check your deck for level X & Y directions then drop the front about 1/4".
Tire pressures around 12psi.

Nice machine!
 
wider deck unit 60 at minumum 72 really sweet,ztr unit on full suspension will let you mow quicker
pace and easy ride. mulch is not for you you have to much material. best option i have seen is self
powered lawn vac with huge container. the cyclone rakes are one great option at very reasonable. but
wider deck unit would make big difference. near my shop have 4 acres mow with what ever mower test
running and pull two 60 'swisher pull behind units 15ft swath works great and was cheap to rig up.
you can pick those pull units up for 300 to 700 in the used market.
 
Well thanks guys! I haven't visited this string for a few days, so I am a little late!
ZTR--I have two Swisher 60" tow mowers and had a blacksmith make me a two at a time tow for my old JD 200 series tractors. Worked fairly well but on this place you had to watch getting into a spot where you couldn't turn or back out! Slow and wide worked for years. BUT WITH the new 4wheel steer, the control of the outlying end of the tow mower became darn near impossible due to the side shifting of the hitch. I just didn't have the patience to master it around some expensive baby trees in cages. The mower can cut way faster than I can stay on the seat and the no-effort power steering cannot keep the tractor on a steady course when the upper body is swaying!
I have pretty small problems in my life, thankfully. Leo
 

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