Zero turn leaves grass long where wheels run

BarnyardEngineering

Well-known Member
Location
Rochester, NY
Mower is a Husqvarna Z254 zero turn. Clean deck, sharp blades. Machine has 15 hours on it.

Where the right front caster wheel runs, it leaves the grass slightly long. The lawn looks great the day you mow it, but the next morning the grass has stood back up and now there are "ridges" with every pass across the lawn.

This is not an unmown streak. The grass is mowed but it is about 1/2" taller where the wheel ran.

The only way to get rid of it is to run with the caster wheel in the mowed area from the previous pass, but then the mower is only taking about 1/2 of a pass at a time.
 
Try a set of high lift blades.
What height setting do you have
your deck set at? Setting it
really high gives the deck a less
vacuum to suck up and make stand
up the grass blades especially in
thick grass.
 
How fast are you running the engine?? These mowers work
best when the engine is run wide open. The machine is
designed that way and the governor will protect the engine
 
It might not make a difference
but I would run it at 3 to 3.5
also as said run it wide open
throttle and get a set of high
lift blades. Speed can also be a
factor as said. Most zero turns
are not really designed to mow as
fast as they will go. Yes a lot
do it and in certain conditions
it might mow ok at top ground
speed. The fast ground speed is
considered transport speed.
 
Yep, when wheels out front of the deck run over the grass it gets mashed down just a bit and doesn't have
time to raise back up before the mower and once it recovers/raises you're left with the thin strip of taller
grass grrrr..........NO wheels out front ahead of the deck or off to the sides could prevent that but that
sounds more complicated mechanically speaking. Seems like I saw a brand without caster wheels out front of
the deck but I may have dreamed that ?????

Hey its tough out there lol

John T
 
That can be a problem when the grass has a high moisture content during the rainy season here, like now. High lift blades work a little better than my normal Gators. But what seems to work best for me is waiting until it is as warm as possible and slowing down a bit. And, some places are worse than others, fescue over 3 just won't pop back up behind the tires. Bermuda cuts clean. My normal mixed trash green stuff does good too.
 
My zero turn does that. Some times are worse than others. I suspect the person who mentioned moisture content might have a point.
The tractor type mowers I had before also did it.
 
(quoted from post at 08:12:44 05/16/22) I have the deck set at 4.


Barnyard, how fast are you running the engine. My Ferris doesn't do that. I always run at full throttle while mowing.
 
I used to mow with a John Deere 345 garden tractor. On turns it often did what you're saying. Must be what part of the deck goes over the run down grass. My John Deere 275 doesn't miss any.
 

After reading all the responses, do you now wonder how come the strip of uncut/less cut is only behind the right tire????
Why not on the left as well?
 
My Ferris doesn't do that. But it cost about double what your Husky cost.

My theory is this: I think the blades on your mower turn clockwise, so the blade behind the right caster is turning away from the caster, while the blade behind the left caster is turning towards the caster. So the left blade tends to lift up the flattened grass, while the right blade doesn't.

Why doesn't my mower do the same thing? I'm guessing it does, a little, but the blades are turning fast enough they still tend to lift up the grass regardless of which direction they turn.
 
Try mounting some brushes between the front wheels and the deck. The brushes will help lift the grass that the wheels push down. A stiff broom would work. Could mount it directly to the deck.

Next time you go to town, browse around until you see something that will work.
 
What? The brushes would be
pushing the grass down the same
direction the wheels are unless
I'm just not understanding what
you're saying.
 
Mark you are spot on , exactly right the right blade is chasing the grass or cutting going backward where the left blade is coming into the grass./ The is this the effective tip speed is reduced two ways to solve it slow down the travel speed b ut best way is install HIGH LIFT blades but I do not know if husky offers them or not. If it is bad now this early grass is usually lush and tender normally do not see that until dry August and grass gets tough then the streaking shows up
 
That's a good point Mark. Also deck design can have a lot to do with it. Air flow, vacuum, depth of deck etc... That Husqvarna has a stamped steel deck unlike your Ferris and my Toro 3000 Zmaster. I don't have that problem either.
 
Mark you just explained why my last Simplicity(I should have kept it)had one blade ran counter clockwise,and two that ran clockwise. It had the best cut I have ever seen.
 
(quoted from post at 18:06:05 05/16/22) What? The brushes would be
pushing the grass down the same
direction the wheels are unless
I'm just not understanding what
you're saying.

Yup, you're right. I was thinking backerds again! :shock: :oops:
 
BarnyardEngineering ,Just some things/tips that will help you out. First check blade height mower setting on level concrete tires aired up the same on the front and same on the rear.First deck set to cutting height check of the blade tip turned to the outside side to side on the left then right ,check distance between blade tip and concrete, adjust deck till both sides are the same.Then set the center blade front to back,adjust the deck till you get the center blade tip 1/4" lower an the front than the back.If not lower in the front , or raise the rear you are culling it twice and using more horse power than needed.
Do you have high lift blades on your mower,if not get some.
Does the deck have baffles/shrouds behind the blades,this helps vacuum from the blades lift the grass up to cut.
Run the engine at full throttle when cutting grass for maximum lift.
It is better if the grass is dry when cutting it.
Are the blades sharp and the ends not rounded or worn out of square.
Is the deck clean and no grass build up under it.
 
Mark.
My 6 ft rm660, right discharge, will leave a strip of grass on the right side if I let the grass get too tall.

I'm guessing the right blade is getting too much grass covering the cutting edge..

It does a great job if I mow 5 inch tall grass.

Taller grass I have to mow the 2 ft on the right side 2x.
 
At 4, the grass I mow with this tractor doesn't look like it has been cut the next day. I keep it like that because the 1 1/2 acre walking trail I mow with it is rough. Just me, but no way I would mow my yard that long. BTW: Pete from a Few Acres Farm gave you kudos' for your TA adjustment procedures.

cvphoto125964.jpg
 
The guy's comments below may be on to something.
Could you fashion a temporary bracket to move the front caster forward a few inches?

Those high lift blades are ok. I increased the lift by welding pieces of scrap blades in front of the tip's curve to make a paddle.
It really improves the velocity and vacuum.
 
BTW: Pete from a Few Acres Farm gave you kudos' for your TA adjustment procedures.

Just to be clear it was Farmall Doctor's TA adjustment procedure from Red Power. Not sure if he's on this site.

That was just a shoutout for other posts that I made that he found helpful. It got me 7 subs on my youtube channel, LOL.
 
(quoted from post at 18:33:05 05/16/22) Mark you are spot on , exactly right the right blade is chasing the grass or cutting going backward where the left blade is coming into the grass./ The is this the effective tip speed is reduced two ways to solve it slow down the travel speed b ut best way is install HIGH LIFT blades but I do not know if husky offers them or not. If it is bad now this early grass is usually lush and tender normally do not see that until dry August and grass gets tough then the streaking shows up

That makes sense why it's only on the right side.

If I have time I will try to slow down and see if it helps. Usually I mow when I can, not when the lawn needs it, so conditions are rarely ideal.
 
WoW, You guys ALL want him to replace mower blades on a mower with ONLY 15 OPERATING HOURS ON IT? On my Cub
Cadet LZ54 Tank I didn't sharpen the blades till the start of the 4th YEAR of mowing my 2-1/3 acres, mowed 3
years before I removed the blades.
I ALWAYS walk around the yard in both sunny & shady spots before I mow, if ANY moisture gets on the toes of
my work boots I go back in the house for an hour. All mower decks are different, my TANK spins the high lift
blades faster than any of the old IH Cub Cadet tractors I have, the zero turn throws clippings 9-10 feet away
from the mower, creates lots of suction to stand grass up straight for a clean cut. The old IH decks barely
got clippings 3-4 feet away from the deck. They struggled to stand damp/wet grass up that was driven over.
I haven't started ANY of the 3 Cub Cadet tractors I have since the dealer delivered the TANK.
 

I have a older cub lawn tractor it leaves a streak between the blades. I used it yesterday I had to stop when I came back to the mower I noticed the front of the deck was lower than it should be I spec that's my issue.
 
(quoted from post at 05:36:37 05/18/22) Time for new blades. You lost your overlap in the center.

As I stated the mower has 15 hours on it. The blades are perfect, not a nick or the slightest sign of wear on them.

This is not a "streak" of unmown grass. It's also not in the center.

There's no overlap in the center anyway. The deck has three blades.

This is directly behind the right hand caster wheel. The grass is cut, but it was cut "leaned over" so that when it stands back up it's slightly taller than the grass around it.
 

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