Alternate blades for 48" Deck

[BrianX128 113]

I'm not sure why, but the 48 deck I have can't "clear" the grass it cuts very well. Blades are sharp and everything is "normal" factory with pulleys and engine rpm and whatnot. It just seems to have no "oomph" wind wise to get the grass out. I'm wondering if there are any alternate blades that move a little better. It's a 16hp and it's not struggling to mow what I ask. It just seems messy. My 42" deck on a 12hp does better than it and it boggs down some while cutting the same areas. I just noticed the blades on it have more of an angle at the back side then the 48 does.

[peter lena 9,459]

@BrianX128  first question  would be are you cutting grass at the highest level ? very important for a deck to be able to  empty itself out , another thing would be what speed / gear are you in ?  how easily does your deck spin up ? thinking  a functional  issue , if you are dealing with high / dense grass , low range / hi gear , makes a world of deference . experiment . pete 

[BrianX128 113]

I cut somewhat low, but usually every 4 days until the heat starts to stunt the yard from growing. It spins up easy. Grass is definitely dense though. I mow in second / high range. It's just odd I can do the same thing same deck height on the 12hp with the 42 and it behaves differently. 

[BrianX128 113]

On 6/21/2025 at 7:57 PM, peter lena said:

@BrianX128  first question  would be are you cutting grass at the highest level ? very important for a deck to be able to  empty itself out , another thing would be what speed / gear are you in ?  how easily does your deck spin up ? thinking  a functional  issue , if you are dealing with high / dense grass , low range / hi gear , makes a world of deference . experiment . pete 

Just wanted to reply back as I figured out what the issue was. I had one of those small tach's that wrap around the spark plug wire, turns out something is wrong with it. When I put this engine in I used that to set my max rpm at 3600, turns out it's been wrong the entire time. I put a "better" tach that runs off the AC wires on the voltage regulator and it was only running at 3100 pre-load.

 

Slid the throttle cable over in the little locking channel while it was at wide open until I got that fixed and now it's a lot better. I guess the different mufflers and different engines can make it hard to tell RPM's by ear, especially if a "bad" tool is telling you that you are good.

 

Also my blades were shot, put new stens blades on and it seems way closer to the others.

 

 

Edited June 26 by BrianX128
Forgot Pic

[pfrederi 18,972]

To set your high speed stop  Small movement in the stop makes a significant speed change.