side discharge or rear discharge?

[JackC 616]

If I could have only one it would be the SD hands down. It will handle a greater variety of conditions including wet and tall grass.

Most of the decks in the world are SD for a reason.

Many of us have more than one horse and have both.

The RD is OK if you really keep on top of the mowing intervals and cleaning the machine.

I have had the same experiences as Herb.

[bean 85]

A rear discharge deck is boring! It just seems as though you are doing nothing but riding around the yard with one. Being able to watch the clippings come out of the side discharge keeps me entertained.

:laughing-rolling:

[gwgdog66 23]

I like both. Get two tractors, put the side discharge on one and the rear discharge on the other!! :grin:

[archw 0]

Looking for a 05-42MR04 rear discharge deck for my Wheel Horse 520-H...

Contact Arch Weathers 603-735-5989.Thanks

[mrc 724]

hi bean, lots of good thoughts already but, i 'm with gwgdog66.  GET 2 TRACTORS!!!  mike in mass.

Edited June 13, 2014 by mrc

[specialwheelhorse 174]

Want to breath easy the rest of your life go for the RD.

Got a good friend that has a SD Z turn and he won't even use it any more

Because he can now breath with the RD I just sold him.

Just continue the breath that cloud of BS if you want it's your lungs.

[Tankman 3,515]

Presently I only have the SD decks. If the grass is heavy, I start mowin' down the middle. This throws the grass over and over again to the outside.

 

I have trees on one side, grass mulches them. A forsythia row, high 'n wide on the other side, grass mulches them.

 

Otherwise before the luxury of throwin' the grass off the lawn, the Ms. used a RD deck and towed a sweeper. Lawn was always clean. Keep in mind grass buildup on the lawn is not good, you would need to remove the thatch eventually.

 

The sweeper removed the thatch, lawns looked great. The Ms. loved the Stallion and mowed and swept while I was onsite workin'.

 

Best bet, get two Horses! RD for one Red Stallion and a SD for the other War Horse. Makes sense to me!  

 

PS. You could get two more Horses to tow sweepers! Another great idea! A fifth Horsey could haul a cart to dump sweepings into! Perfect! 

 

PSS. You might purchase a "thingy" for mowing from a BIG box store! In a short while you won't be able to mow anyway. 

 

I am a Horse-a-holic.

[slammer302 2,154]

Me and my dad talk about this subject all the time if you have a lot to mow then you would be crazy to not use a larger deck like 60" 48" so on but if you have a smaller yard then a 36 rd works great makes the yard look nice to or if you have ruff or really tall grass 36rd work great there really tuff they have 3 short blades they seem to handle being used like brush hoggs pretty well I've not had the pleasure of using a 42rd yet I've been looking for one but haven't had any luck in my area. For the best cut and looking yard would have to say my suburban 400 with 32" rd deck really makes my grass look good and fun to mow with

[squonk 38,843]

RD for me. I got 2  42 inchers. I have a flap on the back to keep the hydro clean and wash it when done each time anyway. I also sweep the yard to keep my beagle from eating all the grass and getting sick. I have lots of trees and obstacles so I need to trim close to each side hence the RD and Hydro.

[Chainsaw 0]

I just got a 856 with a rear discharge, I really like the rear discharge as it doesnt throw clippings all over my deck/sidewalk/bushes etc. And as mentioned above not having windrows is nice. Im cutting about an acre.

[km3h 543]

I have both decks. My 417A has side discharge and the 416H has rear discharge. Of course they are interchangeable. I have mowed grass as high as 16inches with both decks and of course when you do you have to slow down a bit but the rear discharge seem to be my favorite. I use it all the time on the front lawn and it just plain makes a pretty lawn. Using the side discharge always leaves clumped line of grass on each cut whereas the side discharge leaves no evidence of being cut.

Now both of my mowers are hydraulic and I have seen no buildup of clippings around the pump. I think normal maintenance will keep things ship shape. I like to clean the deck after mowing to prevent rust. Nothing worse than wet grass on the bottom of a deck.

[MaineDad 85]

I have had both and I will pick the RD deck any day. No dust bath when it's really dry, no windrows, no accidently throwing objects, much easier to clean, trim on either side, and a much better cut. Just my two cents.

[AMC RULES 36,940]

...and, try cutting in reverse with your RD...

turns it into quite the little mulching deck.     

Edited June 15, 2014 by AMC RULES

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,114]

I have both as well (and this topic comes up often here )

 

The 42" SD deck seems to blow some grass out the left front of the mower (as well as the shoot on the right).  The problem is that this grass makes a bullseye right to the engine flywheel.  On the Kohler it hits the screen then your leg, on the Onan it hits the screen and gets packed in there.  The hood near the hinge also gets clumped with grass on the SD.

 

The 42" SD deck (at least in my case) will clog if the grass is longer and wet, usually in the spring, requiring stops to clean the shoot.

 

The 42" RD deck, the newer ones anyway, do not have baffles and will consolidate the grass on the right side (same side as the hydro fan).  This DOES put a little more clippings on the hydro, but not terribly bad.  It also puts clippings under the center cover, but cleaning in there is a good idea anyway.

 

I think that the SD deck gives a better cut, but the RD deck is easier to trim around objects and is narrower.  The RD also won't put a hole in your siding by ejecting a rock out the side. 

 

So, for me I have the RD on my Onan 416, and the SD on my Kohler 414.  The RD gets most of the work in the spring, as I can hook a sweeper up and mow and sweep at the same time.  Once things get hot, the grass grows less, the SD does a nicer job and gets most of the summer work.  

 

Now I have left out the C-160 with the 42" Recycler which is perfect for the really dry grass in the hot summer when you don't want clippings!

 

 

Edit: And in all cases, I use the hand blower to clean the loose clippings off the tractor, deck, rear etc!

[Terry M-(Moderator) 2,125]

The only wheel horse decks I own are the RD type on my lawn rangers.   I just think those don't work well at all.   Wish I could adapt or modify a SD type for my tractors and then I believe that would do a nicer Job without shooting grass all-over the rear of the tractor...

[papaglide 541]

I just cut grass yesterday with these 2 decks. The 416 with the Onan had the 42SD and the 314 with the Kohler had the 42RD. The SD blew loads of grass out the left side which the Onan voraciously sucked up into the screen and some grass made it to my left foot. The SD also led to windrows.

The RD seemed quieter, didn't blow grass anywhere, and didn't leave windrows although in places where the grass was damp the grass did clump up some. When I looked behind to see my progress, I didn't even noticed grass shooting out the back. It's been stated before but I think that the RD cuts and the grass just falls in place.

In comparing the results of the cutting, I would say that anyone would have a hard time choosing which deck cut what part of my yard. Both sample areas looked very similar (with the exception of the windrows.)

In conclusion, I will be using the RD in lieu of the SD for the foreseeable future. Less grass blowing around, no windrows and maybe a touch quieter.

On a side note, my 48SD cuts beautiful and absolutely no grass blows out the left side. I wonder how the design is different between the 42 and 48 that makes the grass react in different ways?

Edited June 15, 2014 by papaglide

[jdleach 525]

I love my 42" SD deck, mows easily in all conditions, is quiet, and does a superb job. Just blows my other deck away.

Disclaimer: The 42 incher is the only deck I own, and the other "deck" is the push mower. :)

[papaglide 541]

I like that jd!

[seuadr 488]

Do rear discharges on a hydro gunk up the trans fan?

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,114]

Not significantly, mine has always had a RD and in 20 years is just fine.

[leeave96 487]

The biggest downside to the RD decks are that unlike the SD discharge decks, you can't watch the clippings fly out the side of the mower....

 

Otherwise, I like both!

[rjcap 13]

I am looking at another wheel horse to mow with, and the owner has both a rear and side discharge deck. both are 42" and in usable condition. the rd deck looks like it is in better condition.

i mow 1-1/2 acres and there are times when one of our lots, which is low lying, gets 2-3 days of rain and takes a while to dry out. usually, it is 4-6" tall by the time it dries out. other than that, it is pretty straight forward.

so, given those circumstances, would you opt for the sd or the rd deck?

 

I cut the last two seasons with a 42" RD, and prior to that I did not know that RD's were even around. I marveled at how well it cut, easy to go around either side of the many trees I have and left no clumps of grass. I often wondered why other company's never adopted a RD deck. A month or so ago I picked up a beautiful condition 48" SD. Don't get me wrong, it's a great deck and cuts down on the time it takes to mow, but I do miss the neatness of the RD. 

[cod 116]

With either the RD or the SD, just adding a set of 'Gator Blades' will give you smaller clippings and better throw (six blades = 12 cutting edges, about $50/3 blades).

• Keeping the original metal extender chute on the SD will reduce blow-back onto the tractor by extending/lowering throw, but it sticks out another 8" (some people have added a hinge to reduce the storage width).

• A firm rubber baffle can be added to the back of the 42" RD, (the original 6 bolt holes for it are already in there), that would reduce the clipping 'blow-up' (I bought and used a 4' long strip of black kitchen rubber edge base molding, 4" tall, $2, Menards, but have to replace it yearly, gets brittle over the Winter here in Michigan). Wheel Horse did offer a metal baffle for this at one time, but using it makes it harder to slide the deck off & out sideways for blade sharpening (unless you lift the entire front end to pull the deck forward & out to remove it, like I have to).

Both mower decks have their advantages/disadvantages that were well pointed out above; condition of the deck is a big factor, and if the price is right, get both and sell one. They each do take different belts and blades, are not really interchangeable.

FWIW, I'll second this even though I've only owned my horse for a year.  I bought it specially for the rear discharge as I like to mow my lawn in any direction and as the "boss" has filled the yard with plantings, the RD make it easier.  I suspect the SD's can be more useful if one prefers to pile clippings and leaves but that's something you'll have to think about.

I also like the idea of multiple tractors but finding another 418-A has been more of a challenge that I thought...