Cleaning grass from deck

[over60pirate 24]

Just wondering how many people cut the grass when it's wet?

The reason I ask, is, I've read a number of posts, about coatings to keep grass from sticking to the underside of the deck.

I never cut wet grass, and never have anything stick to the deck. I get a lot of grass on top of it, but not any under it. It's a RD 42" deck on a 414-8 

[leeave96 490]

I've cut a lot of grass when it's wet.  I also have a 42 inch RD deck - great for mowing and sweeping at the same time, wet or dry grass.

 

The best deal, IMHO, is to mow when it's dry.  I try to coat my deck underside every year with slip plate to hold down the build-up and keep a painted surface under the deck.  For the top, I blow off the deck with a leaf blower.

 

However, there are places in my yard where it is still damp long after other yards have turned brown from the August drought and heat.  I guess the water table is just close to the surface in those places.  Also, sometimes when you get home from the salt mine, just as you pull into the driveway, a thunderstorm hits and gets everything wet.  Late evening brings dew, so again, you got wet clippings.

 

I know a lot of folks wash out their decks, but I don't - just don't have time and my back in it's older age, ain't ready to wrestle off a deck and scrape it but once a year.  So what I do is - first, mow when it's dry if I can.  I coat the deck with slip plate over the winter and here lately I've been trying to stock up on some spare decks.  If you are going to rust out a deck - as I believe I will do, then I feel the need to have a spare or two on hand.

 

Good luck,

Bill

[Hydro 131]

I have a 48" SD.  I do not have the luxury of always being able to cut dry grass.  I used to have a 42" RD but with an acre and a half I opted for a bigger tractor and a wider cut.  Grass holds up underneath.  Like Bill I'm not into taking the deck off everytime I use it.  I try to drive the tractor up on something so I can get under it with a wrecking bar and scrape the lumps away cleaning off the spindle housings.  I do this after every 2-3 cuts.  You can see the difference it make in the discharge. 

 

I usually pull the deck mid summer for service and a real good cleaning.  I also oil it with used oil in the fall, spring and mid summer during the service.  It's a 97 with 400+ hours and still in really great shape.

[dsholler 54]

Every time I change the oil, I take the deck off, scrape the old clippings off, and paint the bottom of the deck with the used motor oil. (and run a file over the blades, just for fun)... I mow whenever I have the time, wet or dry, so there is usually some stuff stuck there. Service interval is about 4 mowings. The bottom is never clean, but heck, it is a lawnmower, that is what it is supposed to do.
I do know that some of the newer decks on other brands have a hose fitting on the top that you can attach a garden hose to and engage the deck, so the water splashes all around under there and cleans it out... I think I recall a thread here from a while ago where someone had done this to a WH deck.

[DoctorHfuhruhurr 137]

I put a fan near it to dry it out and cool it down and/or use an air compressor wand to blast out clippings. 

[over60pirate 24]

I think I will keep mowing just dry grass, as my deck looks new on the bottom. Of course I only have to mow 1/2 acre of grass, so I can stop if it starts to rain.

[Stormin 9,986]

Dry grass? I'm in the north of England. What's dry grass? I remove and clean my deck after every cut and coat the underside with old engine oil.

[RMCIII 838]

Wet or dry, clippings will still accumulate unless you do some treating or washing to the underside of the deck. Myself, I wax the underside, at least twice a season, and also use a product called Mo-Deck.. It does keep down the buildup and you will see a difference in how the clippings exit the deck with a side discharge deck. If the underside is not kept clean, it does reduce the "lift", in wet or dry, that the air creates under the deck.

[RMCIII 838]

I am sure others have very clean decks also, but here is a deck, that is 18 years old. Has been on this tractor since 1998. So, if you look to keep a clean, long lasting deck, wash, wax, polish and it may last 40 years.

 

[qd-16 15]

What works for me is a "mo-jack" lift.  This makes it easy to scrape and blow out the underside of the deck after every use.

[953 nut 62,277]

A few years back I sand blasted and primed the under side of one of my decks. I then sprayed "Plasti Dip Protective Coating" and nothing will stick to it. This product is made to coat tools such as pliers but it works well for   too.

 

 

[Tankman 3,523]

I always use my backpack blower after each use, to get loose grass.

Always try to mow when dry.

I have ramps that I drive up on and power wash the underside when required. Don't need it too often mowing dry. I vac the air screens after every use.

Winters the decks come off, plows go on for winter duty. At times, I use the plow during the summer to level some stone in my driveway. Deck is oiled and cleaned thoroughly when the deck is off.

A clean machine is a mean machine. :smile:

[Hydro 131]

Bottom line...don't leave the deck dirty for a prolonged period of time.

[specialwheelhorse 174]

I use Slip plate hookey gookey works good so far. I just turned a deck over to replace

Woodruff key on a forty year old deck I coated with SP two years ago and it looked like the day I coated it

No need to do anything to that, just one LITTLE wad of grass in the front middle.

Save a lot of work and do it right to begin with !!

[dsholler 54]

I use Slip plate hookey gookey works good so far. I just turned a deck over to replace

Woodruff key on a forty year old deck I coated with SP two years ago and it looked like the day I coated it

No need to do anything to that, just one LITTLE wad of grass in the front middle.

Save a lot of work and do it right to begin with !!

How long do you think it would take me to clean up a rather dirty 48 inch deck with some rust pitting on the bottom? (Just trying to figure out if i have to wait until fall to do this) ... also, did you use the regular slip plate, or the mowerguard stuff?

[specialwheelhorse 174]

DS :   I can't recall how long it took to clean up that bugger but it wasn't easy

And I just used the regular stuff from TSC and now that it's kind of coming back to me

It seems I gave it 2 or 3 coats and if I were to do it again I would probably use

the mower guard stuff if its by the same company, maybe only need 1 good sloppy

coat that way.     I need another quart now, I've coated 4 or 5 other decks I've rebuilt

and have on the shelf now. The deck I've mentioned was a pitted gear drive 32

rear discharge.

[Jeff-C175 7,207]

 

How long do you think it would take me to clean up a rather dirty 48 inch deck with some rust pitting on the bottom?

 

Have ya got a pressure washer and old clothes and safety glasses or face shield?

 

About 15 minutes if you do!    (pretend that's a pressure washer!)

[dsholler 54]

I have the old clothes, but do not own a pressure washer. I am thinking  a cheapo HF grinder and a cupped wire brush...

[over60pirate 24]

Wow!! scraping, grinding, coating. I'm sure lucky that my 42" deck on my 1987, 424-8, was spotless, when I bought it 7? years ago. I will be sure to never cut wet grass with it. I know, once rust starts, it's almost impossible to keep it from coming back.