mower blades and cleaning deck OT

[Rick Kr]

Morning,

Switched from a 12' batwing to a 6' zero turn. The batwing was easy, just fold up the decks and clean. Plus it was rear discharge, seemed to have less grass buildup.

Just wondered if anyone mowing a lot of acres has any tricks to cleaning the deck. I use a putty scraper on it after every use. Then spray it with silicone. I see some of the mowers at Home Depot have a hose fitting, just wonder if those actually work.

Also how many acres or hours do you get on blades? I have about 100acres/25hours on the blades and they are due for sharpening.

Thanks,
Rick

 

[glennster]

i use an old sheet of 4x8 plywood, on the backside mount some 1/2 inch pvc pipe with a couple t's and drill tru the plywood. set it up so you can hook it up to the garden hose, lay the plywood down, drive the deck on it, turn the hose on and let the deck run. the spinning blades loosen up the grass and wash the deck down. when you are done, shovel the clippings off the plywood.

 

[Anonymous-0]

that's a great idea, glenster. I usually just lift the deck as hi as possible and use my long spray wand to "wash" out the grass but some always sticks. As far as blade life, my brother-in-law mows about 60-70 acres with mainly a 20' bat-wing and with the help of a pair of 72" X-Mark styles and he says twice a season he has to sharpen if he doesn't hit anything with them and cuts when the grass is a sensible height. He mows the rally grounds for the local motorhome manufacturer, so, after the rallys are over, that's what takes it's tole. esp. if it has rained when they are there.

 

[deadeye012]

Clean the deck under side real good with a hi pressure washer and let it dry.. I coat mine with SLIP DECK that we coat wagon boxes with. Make it a lot easier to clean....JB

 

[hlc]

I have a cub cadet LT1050 with the ability to to hook up a water hose. Does not seem to work very well. Seems useless to me.

 

[Dave Sherburne NY]

Drive it down in the creek and turn it on WATCH
out for big rocks