O.T. ZTR problem

I have arthritis in my back, and an artificial hip, so I bought a Simplicity Citation ZTR mower for the independent suspension. For the first season and a half I owned it the weather was so dry I hardly used it . Lately though it has been extremely wet, and I am having a problem. If the grass is even a slight bit wet, the grass stays suspended above the blades building up till you can no longer mow. It does not block the chute, but simply stays right over the blades. To clear it, simply turn the deck off. The grass falls out and you can mow again for a few feet. This is a commercial mower with a heavy welded steel deck. I mow at full throttle, with the deck set 2 1/2 inches high, and the blades are sharp. I tried Gator blades and they helped a little, but not much. Contacting the dealer was of no help, he said he had never heard of anyone having that problem, but said it so quick I am suspicious. Does anyone have any suggestions, are has anyone else experienced the same problem?

pretty much a common problem in wet or damp grass with many mowers.Not much one can do about,but cut when it is dry.

some folks around here get their decks done with Rhino Liner and use Pam cooking spray.

Just stay away from too many rocks.

It's the design of the deck. Most of the commercial mowers have a very heavy duty welded simple deck that has 90 degree corners welded together and are made of very heavy guage steel and are actually kind of crude. They just collect wet grass and plug up. My friends Land Pride does the same thing. Toro has a Superflow deck that is designed to get the grass out after the first cut and it doesn't build up even in high wet grass going 10 mph. Next time you see a Toro look at the way the front of the mower deck is designed. I'd bet it's different than yours. I have one and I mow all the time in wet grass with no problem. Also want to make sure that big guard on the side is tied up so it doesn't clump up in there.

Stamped decks with rounded corners....RULE!!

Try raising your deck to 3 1/2 inches. The dealer told my wife that she was mowing to close at 2 1/2. It solved a lot of problems she was having with gouging, belt life and clearing the deck.

I think you have a design problem.
I have a new Kubota ZTR mower. I have mowed my 3 acre yard many times when it is wet because of the abnormal amount of rainfall. I have a fabricated 54" deck and I have never had a buildup that hindered my cutting.
There are certain places that the grass collects under the deck but I simply reach under the deck and remove with my hand.
I remove the grass mainly to elimate the smell because it is parked in my basement garage.

It's just your mower.I have a grasshopper that will mow through water with no problem,but our john deere front deck will plug up with a slight dew.

John,

I have the Ferris which is a bigger version of your Citation. Yours should have the same style fabbed-deck. Bought my for the same reason, suspension for a broken tail bone.

I have the 72" deck, which the grass has a long way to get out the other side to the chute.

I mow at 3" in some pretty heavy and wet grass (clover) and rarely have I ever plugged up. If it does it is from clumping. I run at full throttle 10 or 12mph. Just slow down a little and the mower can still handle all the cut grass.

The under side of my deck built tight around all the blades.

Two things I could suggest.

1. Raise the deck (as already mentioned)
2. Don't wait to let the grass get too long before you cut. You should only be cutting 1/3 of your grass off at a time. If the gator blades helped, they chop up the grass finer, mulching blades. Thats what makes me think maybe you are cutting too much at once.

If that don't work, I am stumped.

Post back with an update.
Rick

Thanks for everyone's help and suggestions. Last summer and this it has been so wet and humid in this area that the grass frequently is still wet at 4 or 5 in the afternoon. It is a fabricated deck, but there are no square corners, it has U shaped baffles welding around the blades forming close fitting channels. One of the reasons I bought it was that several years ago I bought a used Homelite T15 (made by Simplicity), that one was one of the best all around mowers I ever owned, and the decks were of a similar (not identical) design. I discovered by accident, when i removed the baffles on it to rebuild them that it mowed a heavy or wet grass much better, and made very little difference in the quality of cut normally. I thought about trying this with the Simplicity, but on the Homelite the blades were mounted at the front of the deck with the baffles behind, so removing the baffles made room for the grass to exit the blades at the rear. On the Simplicity the blades are at the rear of the deck with the baffles in front of them, and the baffles are welded in rather than bolted. I don't think removing them on the Simplicity will help, since the incoming grass will still be blocking the cut grass getting away.

After owning this thing for about 4 years and regretting buying it every time I get it out I finally solved the problem last week. I have been only using it around the house and trees, and using my 65 year old Farmall cub with flail mower for the rest, and last week I had a little extra time so decided to take one more try at figuring out what was wrong. After some measuring and studying, I realized my biggest mistake was in ASSuming that a dealer who had owned his own lawn and garden equipment equipment sales and service for 25+ years would know how a mower deck should be set up, and make sure it was correct before he loaded it on a customers trailer.

Normal set up on a rotary mower deck is when the blades are lengthwise, the end at the front is 1/4 to 3/8 inch LOWER than at the rear, this prevents cutting the grass twice and from creating a lot of extra very small clippings to move from blade to blade and finally out the discharge. This one was reversed, it was lower at the rear than the front, resulting in the engine working harder and in more clippings to deal with. After I got through saying a few "expletives deleted" both about the dealer and about me for not checking that, it took about 10 minutes to redo the adjustments so it was the way it should be, and it is now unbelievable the way it mows. I went out about 3 hours after it had stopped raining, and waded into some grass that was very thick and 6 to 8 inches high, and mowed about half an acre without having to stop to let the cut grass fall out of the mower a single time. Cutting grass that high and wet it did not make a real smooth even cut, but it sure blasted through it. Under normal less severe conditions it makes a nice even cut. For the first time in 4 years I am happy with it.