mower deck

[cat man 137]

up under my mower deck is a metal curved thing going around up by my blades to make the grass to come out the side shoot but it has came loose digging into my yard when i mow if this was took off the rear of my decks is made with the open back end the only thing from the grass coming out as a rear discharge is that curved metal part so can i just take it off and it rear discharge the grass? thanks

[Maxwell-8 4,367]

I guess you could, but if heard a lot of "complains" that a RD deck isn't so good at cutting long grass as a SD. I believe this is because a SD is more closed, therefore has a bigger sucking power sucking up the grass before the blades.  

[EricF 589]

I'd think it would be better to find out why that baffle came loose. Clean up the underside of the deck and all around the area and look for what's wrong. It might just need to be a weld that broke and needs to be repaired.

[Marv 979]

Consider too that the baffle tends to lend some additional rigidity to the deck.

Marv

[biged77 113]

When I bought my 414-8 with 42" RD the baffles had been removed by the PO.  I have put at least 700 hours on the deck and am very happy with the performance.  Clippings exit the back with no problems.  I have no way to compare to a deck with baffles but you can go without them and I think you will be OK.

[peter lena 9,273]

@biged77, agree with you on the baffle issue , typically decks are not thoroughly serviced  , rarely if ever sun dried out , cleaned out and lubricated down. those baffles tend to vibrate , trap rotting grass and get bent with anything solid on the lawn . the vibrations turn into a crack and just keep going , all of my decks are , r/d and baffle free, with great cutting results . been doing this for years now , and my decks are issue free,  also changed all my lubricants over to lucas hi temp grease , bombproof , pete 

 

[cat man 137]

thanks all that had some input on this yes it is a spot weld or 2 that broke being i have no welder i guess its coming out

 

[Tuneup 1,452]

There just has to be a welder nearby that can tack that back to where it belongs. I would think that rigidity would greatly suffer if cutting the back of that deck away. I for one am happier with my SD than the RD. Better cut at higher speed, hands down. That, or you can take a trip and get a cheap flux/mig welder at HF which is nearby to you. All I had to do was convince the better half that an HF welder and added stuff for under $300 was better than buying a Home Crappo MTD piece for $2,000. It didn't take much convincing.

[EricF 589]

I agree, the deck was designed structurally as a side discharge. Cutting out the back would probably weaken it, possibly causing it to bow, which would throw the drive pullies out of alignment and cause more problems. Worst case, remove the baffle. But better to get it welded up and keep the basic integrity of the machine as it was designed -- kind of a ground rule for safety and longevity of any sort of machinery.