310-8 RD - blades, discharge, etc.

[JR1 0]

Hi. I have issues. Well, Wilma - my Wheel Horse 310-8, has the issues... so I guess then I do, too. So I have a 310-8 with a 42" rear discharge deck. The guy I bought it from had some kind of cover over the discharge and it always cut fine for me. So I got another mower at one point (new Crapsman) and sent Wilma to my brother who has a decently sized chunk of land. Well, when the Crapsman crapped out after a few years (SURPRISE!! NOT!!), I got Wilma Wheel Horse back. By this time a friend of my brother had done whatever to the discharge, covering it with a piece of metal. I used it and over time it seemed to cut worse and worse, mainly leaving piles/clumps and forcing me to go over the lawn twice to clear everything up. So I started last night with removing the deck and cleaning it. Today I popped some grease into the spindles and other grease fittings. I coated the deck underside with some old oil, put the deck back on with a new belt, and left the rear discharge opening uncovered. I also sharpened the blades a bit with a file as my friend could not find his balancer and sharpener. Now the grass was a bit high but same results, taking me a good 2 hours to mow and clean up, when it should be taking me about 45-50 minutes.I seems almost forced to mow the majority of it in 1st gear with also having to use a lot of clutch to slow it down more. I may switch to Low Drive and second gear. I also want to point out that the blades that are on Wilma are mulching blades, with the up pointing wings. I cannot recall if these were on when I originally got it or if my brother changed them. I checked the deck front to back with a level and the front does seem 1/4" or less lower than the back. I was thinking of looking into a Recycler kit as a local Toro dealer told me they may have one somewhere in the building But I don't know if I want to bother, considering I have clumping/piling issues as it is. So any suggestions? Do I get new regular "non-mulching" blades or something different, like Predator or Gator blades? Or is there some other solution? I am hoping that if I cut a little more often the issue will not be as severe - but I am a born pessimist. Thank you all in advance!

[lynnmor 7,803]

Don't expect a good distribution of the cut grass with a RD that has no baffles.  Make sure that you have the belt on the larger PTO pulley and that both belts and the PTO are not slipping.  Run the engine full throttle and verify that it is running 3600 RPM.  More frequent cutting would be a help, I only use my RD for fall cleanup and pull a large sweeper.  Do put on the correct blades. Grind the blades to a sharp edge at the proper angle and never grind the bottom side, then balance, filing will take forever to get it right.   You level a deck by correcting tire pressures then measuring the distance from the blade tips to a FLAT floor, a level is no way to do it properly.  The front tips should be 1/8" higher than the rear, that is opposite of most other decks.  You will need to clean the deck after each mowing if you have grass that sticks.  I never installed a cover on the rear and don't know if it will make matters worse or better, but it might help reduce the mess over the transmission.  You should grease the front axle often with the tractor jacked up and the tires hanging free, I grease those 3 fittings every time I mow my several acres, to push out dirt from those unsealed joints, you will see the excessive wear when you jack up yours.

 

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[Handy Don 13,999]

12 hours ago, JR1 said:

the blades that are on Wilma are mulching blades, with the up pointing wings

As noted by @lynnmor, going back to the correct blades is an important start. Mulching blades are appropriate when the deck shell has been shaped to give the proper airflow. WH decks were not (except for the Recycler)--they were made before mulching was a thing (much as I’d like to convert my ‘64 to mulching).

 

Also, the mulching mowers I’ve used caution against cutting more than an inch at a time to give the mower time to chop up the grass and drop it down to the soil (as opposed to the cut-once-and-spew of a regular blade). They specifically recommend making a high pass and then a lower pass for too-high grass.

Edited May 8, 2024 by Handy Don