60" deck plugging tips sought

[wh500special 2,160]

Ok, I already know the easy and obvious answer to this question is to cut the grass when it is dry and not remove too much at a time...but that's not what I am after...I'm looking for optimization tips.

The 60" deck on my 724z (same deck as used on the 520 and 5xi tractors) has a tendency to plug up on the blade furthest from the discharge chute. When it does plug, the problem quickly excerbates and forms that green sludgy stuff underneath that sticks tenaciously until I jack up the front of the tractor and scrape the schmutz out. Then I hit the yard and wait for the problem to start again...usually very quickly.

The deck is an SOB to remove from this tractor since it doesn't have a tach-o-matic type hitch and is heavy to boot, so I never take it off unless absolutely necessary. I change blades by hoisting the front of the tractor in the air with my big tractor's lift boom...wife just rolls her eyes at this sight.

During the summer, when the grass grows slowly and isn't as lush, I don't really encounter a plugging problem unless I run balls-out into a thick spot. but in the spring/fall the volume of grass to be cut really overhwhelms the deck's ability to chuck it out the discharge (even when I slow the ground speed way down). The tell tale that it is starting to (or has already) plug(ged) is that grass starts to spit out the left side of the deck.

I have sharp blades (sharpened to the hub on these models), a new belt, a properly adjusted electric PTO clutch and 24 HP spinning this sucker. The spindles are all well greased and in good shape. Really, this is likely just a case of cutting too much at a time but i am wondering of I am missing something here. When it plugs, it drags the Onan w-a-y down even when I halt forward motion waiting for it to clear.

Any suggestions on how to prevent plugging on this deck? My 6' Deere deck performs admirably in the same conditions and never plugs, but the 724 really is a time saver most of the time (minimal trimming and much more manueverable that the big tractor). A 48" WH deck under the same conditions yesterday did OK, but I had to mow really slow too.

After using the 724, I really hate using the conventional tractors to mow anymore...

Suggestions? Comments? Threats? Insults? All are welcome (especially the insults as they can be entertaining).

thanks,

Steve

[kj4kicks 151]

Hi Steve, I've been using a product called "Mo-Deck" that I picked up at my dealer. It keeps the grass from sticking to the metal. Basically, you get the underside pretty clean and dry, and spray this stuff on the underside of the deck, blades, spindles, etc. Let it dry, and apply another coat. Then they recommend to mow with it once, and hose out the underside (which should be way easier now), and apply another coat. After it drys, you're ready to rock for a while. They say it will "build" with more coats, and will penetrate any grass that you don't get off the first time.

The grass doesn't really stick anymore, and what does is easily removed.

Hope that's the answer you're looking for. If not, slow down, and mow more often !

(there's a little poke there).

[Curmudgeon 28]

I don't know if it will help the plugging issue, but I have a hunch it might. Does the deck have the 3/4" center hole in the blades? Does it also have washers along with blades? Maybe a touch of extra thread when the blades are on?

If so, I'll tell you how you can improve the quality of cut and probably help the plugging issue to boot. Leave the washer off next to the spindle, and put an extra blade on there at a 90 degree angle to the first.

It'll look a little like this:

I've been doubling up blades for years, and LOVE the results!!!!

[CasualObserver 3,408]

I was thinking that graphite paint (perhaps that's what MoDeck is) would work... one of the best out there is Slip Plate. You can get it from Grainger, McMaster Carr or CF Bender. I've heard of lots of folks who use it on snow blowers/throwers too... keeps snow from building up in the chute.

Grainger

McMaster Carr

CF Bender Co

You might also find it at a local Ag dealer.... Case/IH, JD, Agco.... etc....

[KyBlue 655]

ThirdRock... that deck has enough lift It'd take flight!!

[Jim_M 178]

Dale,

I use the same setup on the 48" deck on my 416-H. It sounds like a jet taking off, but the quality of the cut is fantastic.

Steve,

I have Gator blades on the 60" deck of the 520, they're a little pricey, but in my opinion they're well worth it. I mow 4 acres with it out at the farm and sometimes the grass is a little taller and wetter than it should be but I've never had a problem.

Jim

[wh500special 2,160]

Thanks guys.

I guess the ultimate solution might be to coat the bottom of the deck with the graphite coating, double up on gator blades, and slow way down!

I have seen the slip plate stuff before, but haven't known anyone who has tried it...I think that (or the Mo-deck) will be path #1 for me.

Really, this is generally a seasonal problem for me. In the spring it is cool and wet and the grass grows like mad and gets out of control. Last week I had to park the 724 and get the "big" tractor out since I was running into so much trouble. If I can keep on it until summer gets here I will be in fat city.

Dale,

I forgot you fabbed those giant decks for your tractors. They look at least as good as the OEM WH decks...better in fact. Nice work!

Thanks for the suggestions!

Steve

[rustbucket 4]

can always try the poor mans solution and spray the heck out of the deck with WD-40. it worked for me several times but dosnt seem to last all that long.

[Duff 206]

can always try the poor mans solution and spray the heck out of the deck with WD-40. it worked for me several times but dosnt seem to last all that long.

When I've known I was going to be facing tall, wet grass I've used PAM or one of the generic cooking sprays on the underside of my decks on my green tractors (oops! shoudn't be talking about those here! ) with some success. Only works, though, if I was energetic enough to hose off the underside of the deck after the previous mowing!

Same process does work very well on my snowblower chute, but requires reapplication before each use.

For the 37" SD I'm restoring I'm now going to look into Slip Plate - thanks for the info!

Deereman

[wh500special 2,160]

Deereman, et al;

I just noticed from your signature line that you and I live in the same town! Of course, we're in different states...and I'd venture that your West Lebanon is bigger than Indiana's West Lebanon.

I've too used cooking spray on snowthrower chutes. Seems to work well enough but had improved success with spray silicone. Of course, forget about EVER repainting something once it has been siliconed...

A couple buddies I had in South Bend who plowed snow with their trucks also liked the PAM idea and used it judiciously. All those sprays are is vegetable oil in aerosol form (soybean, canola, etc.). Cheap, cheap, cheap.

The graphite impregnated paints are interesting to me...they must have a high content of the material suspended in them for it to provide for increased lubricity. At my last job I recall experimenting with loading various epoxies with different levels of graphite (and other mat'l too) to get better "self lubricating" properties in our composites. As I recall, it took a LOT of graphite...on the order of 5+% or so (by weight) to do any good.

It must alter the surface chemistry of the coating in some way and make it behave similarly to Teflon or Polyethylene. Kind of a mystery to me on WHY it would work (the graphite) since when used as a dry, powdered lubricant it is the "sliding" motion of the microscopic sheets of graphite passing over each other that provides for reduced friction. in the case of the Slip Plate/paint unless the coating is constantly sloughing off there HAS to be something else going on there...different surface energy perhaps...i dunno.

I wonder what the "best" deck material would be to help prevent sticking. Seems like Polyethylene would offer the best bang for the buck (nonstick like Teflon and still reasonably strong/tough and cheap). I think I recall Honda used to offer plastic decks on their walk behind mowers...wonder how well they worked? Given the tendency for belly decks to hit all kinds of stuff in rider applications, unreinforced plastics probably wouldn't hold up all that well, but perhaps a hybrid Poly/steel assembly would be ideal.

But, judging by the lack of durabilty we've seen with the plastic fenders on Wheel Horses from the 80's (D250 and the black stripes) maybe a stronger material would be needed. Or, at least a better design.

Oh, as an aside to the last paragraph, please NEVER confuse the molded, unreinforced plastics used on those tractors with Fiberglass. Two different animals altogether and akin to saying a Deere and a Horse are the same thing...

Sorry for the brain dump,

Steve

[linen beige 14]

Deereman, et al;

I just noticed from your signature line that you and I live in the same town!

I wonder what the "best" deck material would be to help prevent sticking.

I grew up in, and my parents still live, just west of Lebanon, Ky.

The porcelainized enamel used to coat oven racks. When I was a kid my dad bought an old used push mower that had a deck coated with this stuff. Even in wet grass, the motion of dropping the front of the deck back down after raising it up a few inches to make a turn would knock any clippings that did try to stick right off. It never had any buid up under it. But man, was that thing heavy!

[Duff 206]

I just noticed from your signature line that you and I live in the same town! Of course, we're in different states...and I'd venture that your West Lebanon is bigger than Indiana's West Lebanon.

Hi, Steve,

First time I saw your signature line I thought we were neighbors, and I have to admit it was a few posts before I brightened up and realized the states are indeed different. This West Leb is fairly small in west central NH. Nice town on the Connecticut River. Darn few Wheel Horses around here, though.......

Now, back to searching for the be-all and end-all of non-stick deck undercoatings!

Deereman