Josh1979 0 #1 Posted May 29, 2020 Recently bought a 1996 312-8 42 inch SD Well taken care of other than some cleaning. Factory Toro blades a little worn. Will replace at end of this season. I'm very disappointed with the deck. It only cuts nice on the highest setting. It also blows grass out of the front left. Makes a mess of the left side and clogs the engine fan. I've owned other mowers in my life. From MTD to Kubota. I've never seen a deck do this before. What's up with this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daveoman1966 3,628 #2 Posted May 29, 2020 (edited) When the blade 'tips' become worn, a strip of grass may not get cut evenly.... Do you hve the blades SHARPENED and balanced? The engine speed should be near high RPM...and the PTO belt MUST be on the INNER 'V' of the Engine PTO. Otherwise, the blades will spin at a MUCH SLOWER speed, detrimental to 'vacuum' effect and discharge flow of clippings. Is the underside of the deck clogged at all? Is the DRIVE BELT correct OEM and at the right tension? , or some chea[ after-market. A wrong belt will slip sooner or later, causing the blades to not spin with any force...allowing them to slow. ps...after 30+ years of using Wheelhorse stuff, this is the FIRST time hearing of your problems. Edited May 29, 2020 by daveoman1966 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bottjernat1 2,189 #3 Posted May 29, 2020 Welcome and this is the forum to be on! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lynnmor 6,817 #4 Posted May 29, 2020 Dave gave you some good information, I would add that the engine speed should be at full speed and the deck needs leveled front to rear. Yes, most any deck will allow some clippings to come out, especially on the higher settings, and a Wheel Horse has the air intake where it will need cleaned often. Depending on the conditions when you are mowing, the left front tire will kick up some clippings adding to the problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldlineman 1,450 #5 Posted May 29, 2020 Front of blades should be 1/8th to 1/4 " lower than the rear of the blade tips. You need to measure blades not the deck, gets a little tricky but can be done.Place blades in line front to back and measure to a flat surface. i use blocks of wood the that are 1/4" difference to measure with. As Dave has stated having mowed with these tractors for over 40 years I have never experienced this problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Josh1979 0 #6 Posted May 30, 2020 Thanks everyone. The mower is currently at my other property. I definitely sharpened the blades to razor sharp and cleaned under the deck real well. The deck probably needs set-up better. Im glad to hear it’s not a common problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
clueless 2,902 #7 Posted May 30, 2020 15 hours ago, oldlineman said: Front of blades should be 1/8th to 1/4 " lower than the rear of the blade tips. You need to measure blades not the deck, gets a little tricky but can be done.Place blades in line front to back and measure to a flat surface. i use blocks of wood the that are 1/4" difference to measure with. As Dave has stated having mowed with these tractors for over 40 years I have never experienced this problem. These decks need to be leveled and adjusted properly, for maximum efficiency. If you don't have the WH instructions on how to adjusted your deck you can get it here. These deck will cut grass okay even when their not properly set up, used my first one for a couple of years and it cut okay then had the WH dealer adjusted it . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tom L 0 #8 Posted September 16, 2023 On 5/29/2020 at 2:46 PM, Josh1979 said: Recently bought a 1996 312-8 42 inch SD Well taken care of other than some cleaning. Factory Toro blades a little worn. Will replace at end of this season. I'm very disappointed with the deck. It only cuts nice on the highest setting. It also blows grass out of the front left. Makes a mess of the left side and clogs the engine fan. I've owned other mowers in my life. From MTD to Kubota. I've never seen a deck do this before. What's up with this? I have one and have the exact same problem! I have leveled the deck, cleaned it up completely and even put a brand new set of blades on and it didn't change anything. I had a 48 before and it never blew grass out like this no matter how high you set it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick3478 377 #9 Posted September 16, 2023 On 5/29/2020 at 2:46 PM, Josh1979 said: Recently bought a 1996 312-8 42 inch SD Well taken care of other than some cleaning. Factory Toro blades a little worn. Will replace at end of this season. I'm very disappointed with the deck. It only cuts nice on the highest setting. It also blows grass out of the front left. Makes a mess of the left side and clogs the engine fan. I've owned other mowers in my life. From MTD to Kubota. I've never seen a deck do this before. What's up with this? Some of the decks can have a flow/pressure balance problem. The left blade can suck air around more than 180 degrees of its edge, but the center can only suck air from about 60 degrees in front and less than that in the rear, plus it has to deal with all the stuff thrown in from the left blade. And there's a little triangular area between them where stuff can blow out and head for your left foot. And the engine is sucking air in the same neighborhood. The flow path gets wider for the right blade, so it doesn't usually have any problem. Try putting a fresh high wing blade on the middle and the wimpiest most worn-down blade you can find on the left. And I'll just briefly mention two other things: It IS possible to put the belt on wrong and have the blades running backwards. And the blades don't cut well if you put them on upside-down. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
