Mulching blades on mower

Some days ago there was a question about side vs rear discharge. Several answers mentioned putting mulching blades on a mower and closing the discharge.

I have a push mower set up that way (discharge or mulch). But it was "made that way".

Can I get feedback on putting mulching blades on a regular machine? Does it work?

I use that push mower in a few tight spaces. Love the mulching option as it doesn't blow clippings in the flower beds on both sides of the path, etc.

I have a much larger mower for the main lawns, but sometimes also want to keep clippings off flower beds/driveways/ponds etc. Sometimes this is easily done by discharging the other way. But sometimes there is an "obstacle" on both sides.

How does a non-factory mulching retrofit actually work in real life? (Before I plunk down money for new blades.)

I have a JD mowing deck that has a mulching kit. It just fits over the side discharge chute has hole to allow some
air movement. The under side of the deck is pretty much the same as the others, so the only differences are the
blades (mulching type and discharge cover.).
Chuck

If the discharge of your mower be closed off then mulching blades will probably work fine. If the discharge cannot be closed then mulching blades won't make much difference.

A potential solution is to make a flap that can be lowered over the discharge when mowing where discharge is not desired. If
you are handy with a hinge and sheet metal, you could fabricate one with a push pull cable or linkage that operated the flap
from the operating station. The use of a mulching type blade/s would not be required, but would produce smaller chunks when
covered with the flap, and slightly less distance on the discharge when the flap is up. The mulching flap should be nearly
as close to the blade tip path as the remainder of the deck to prevent a wad of clippings from being built up to fall into a
pile when the flap is opened. I would make it in a way that prevented it from possible encounter with the blade, and
probably thicker than the deck material for safety. On my small self propelled mower, the mulching factory mulching cover is
plastic ABS about 1/4 inch thick. Jim

(quoted from post at 13:31:59 03/19/20) If the discharge of your mower be closed off then mulching blades will probably work fine. If the discharge cannot be closed then mulching blades won't make much difference.

Click to expand...

They way my deck is made a discharge cover would be pretty easy to make, I think. And pretty easy to take off if I decided this experiment didn't work.

Janicholson: I like the idea of the flap I could raise and lower. This could be especially useful as 90% of the time the side discharge is great. But there are those times when a discharge results in clippings where I do not want them. Nice idea. Let me stare at the machine and think a bit. I bet I could pull that off without too much work. It's at least worth a try. And if promising, then I might spring for the new blades.

I use oregon g6 blades on my 48" john deere. They work good, don't have as much coming
out discharge and the grass is cut in smaller chunks.

How can a deck work with discharge cloed off? Even with nothing in way I had problems with getting the grass out from under deck because discharge was too small and would plug up and stop mower? Years ago 40+ years had a mower with no discharge and it would not work because it could not get rid of the clippings.

I bought a Hustler Dash this winter.

It is a mini ZTR mower with a narrow 2 blade deck,made for residential lots, getting through gates.

The deck is a fabricated deck with minimal flow directing baffles, only one air dam type to direct the flow to the side discharge chute.

I didn't really like the side discharge because it was rather big and in the way, held the right side of the deck a good distance away from being able to get close.

Before I ever even used the mower as it came, I took the deck off, cut the discharge off and eliminated it, fabbed a replacement piece to round the side of the deck as it it were never there.

I've only mowed twice so far, once with the factory blades, next with a set of mulching blades.

I could not tell any difference with the different blades. The grass was not tall, just knocking down sprigs of dandelions and clover, a few left over leaves. I was somewhat disappointed in the ability to mulch leaves, it just seemed to blow them away.

I will be able to tell more once the growing season gets underway.

i have a mulcher push mower,and it's great for tight spots and near flower beds,but to be honest,it clogs so much easer and therefore stalls all the time if used for anything more than the front lawn because the grass doesn't have anywhere to go unless you keep stopping to unclog it.in my opinion,that is why they don't make riding/zeroturn mowers with mulching decks,just baggers.

Rock

Steve, sounds like you are trying to do what I wondered if I could do. I'm curious how it works out.

You also mentioned something else... the discharge chute on my mower is huge and often in the way. I could slip through smaller spots more easily if it were set up to mulch. But then again, only it it works as a mulcher.

I have been mulching the neighbors yard every Monday ( during the season) for four years now. For her yard I use a Snapper 28" rider. I installed a Snapper mulcher kit. For mulching to work the grass must be dry. You have to use 1st or 2nd gear and the higher deck settings. In the spring the mulcher will kick out wads of wet globs of grass. How much depends on how tall and damp the grass is. If you stop moving, The mower will dump a pile of wet grass. Enough that it will kill the grass if you don't stop and pick it up. The globs will also collect on the rear tires to the point large chucks start to fall off when you turn.

To keep down the globs of grass the mower kicks out. You need to mow at least twice a week.

It works best if you only cut off about 1/2 to 3/4 inch off the top of the grass. From July on they work really well. The grass is dry and does not grow as fast.

I thought I would post a follow-up now that the grass is green and growing here.

I put a piece of treated 2x6 on a hing so that I can lower it and cover the discharge hole, or lift it and let it discharge. Just regular blades at this time.

(I might make a prettier setup someday, but this worked for a quick and dirty test.)

I find it remarkable how well the mower works even with the discharge blocked. Some very minor clumping when the grass is tall and lush. And I assume if I let the grass get extremely overgrown I might have more problems.

But for my purposes this works quite well. I keep the discharge open for normal mowing. But when I am mowing someplace where I don't want to blow clippings I just close the discharge.

I should note that since it's hinged but not spring loaded it will swing open very slightly due to the air movement. This allows minor discharge of the clippings. Not enough to cover my flower beds (or pond or whatever) but it's not truly closed completely shut. I also tend to mow high if that matters at all in a case like this.

I'm not saying I recommend this. Not saying any mower manufacturer recommends this. But I can more easily mow near the flower beds without blasting them with grass clippings.

Thanks for your input.