Bahia Help Please

[mromaner]

Just bought new mini 52 inch with 19 hp Kaw. I love it. Best mower I have ever used. I bought a small side discharge bagging unit with it for $300 that was actually made specifically for the Hustler. Works great on bermuda lawns around house. No blower. Easy on-easy off. The only issue I have is that the cut leaves lots of bahia stalks in my pastures. Anyone have any tips for me? Dealer says there are other mowers that do better with Bahia -- the ones that leave a gap between front edge and blades. But I like the Hustler so much I don't want to change. Help!

[J.Gordon]

I have never used the 52 mini and have not cut Bahia. On my Super Walk-behind, I eliminated 95 percent of my cut issues with High lifts, double high lifts I will just about guarantee will take care of those tough stalks.

[mowerconsultant]

Just bought new mini 52 inch with 19 hp Kaw. I love it. Best mower I have ever used. I bought a small side discharge bagging unit with it for $300 that was actually made specifically for the Hustler. Works great on bermuda lawns around house. No blower. Easy on-easy off. The only issue I have is that the cut leaves lots of bahia stalks in my pastures. Anyone have any tips for me? Dealer says there are other mowers that do better with Bahia -- the ones that leave a gap between front edge and blades. But I like the Hustler so much I don't want to change. Help!

Your dealer needs to check the belt tension, engine speed and deck pitch to make sure you are 100% on the cutting on your unit.
Bahia stalks are among the toughest types of grass (if you want to call those weeds grass) to cut, and your dealer is correct some deck designs are better than others, but we feel with our deck design we cut 99% of the grasses out there as good or better than most MFG's.

Pj

[026TB4U]

You're not the only one having problems with bahia. Look at the thread below for some more tips on how to better handle bahia.

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=112723

[yardman1]

I have a super z 60" 28 efi, and it cuts bahia awesome. The thing that I have done to make mine cut it good is to run double blades, I am running a scag regular lift and a gator magunum, with a 1/4" spacer to drop the blades down a little bit. I have also had good results with the scag regular lifts by themselves, but with a 1/2" spacer. I also opened the discharge chute to the new deck specs. Let me know if you need somemore help with this.

[mromaner]

Your dealer needs to check the belt tension, engine speed and deck pitch to make sure you are 100% on the cutting on your unit.
Bahia stalks are among the toughest types of grass (if you want to call those weeds grass) to cut, and your dealer is correct some deck designs are better than others, but we feel with our deck design we cut 99% of the grasses out there as good or better than most MFG's.

Pj

Are you suggesting the mower might not be adjusted properly? It's brand new. Seems perfect, other than the Bahia. Should I be taking it in to get tested?

[mromaner]

I have a super z 60" 28 efi, and it cuts bahia awesome. The thing that I have done to make mine cut it good is to run double blades, I am running a scag regular lift and a gator magunum, with a 1/4" spacer to drop the blades down a little bit. I have also had good results with the scag regular lifts by themselves, but with a 1/2" spacer. I also opened the discharge chute to the new deck specs. Let me know if you need somemore help with this.

What specifically did you mean by "opened the discharge chute to the new deck specs." What does that mean.

[mowerconsultant]

The discharge opening has been enlarged on most of our mowers in the past 5 months or so, depends on the model and serial #.

Pj

[Ric]

The discharge opening has been enlarged on most of our mowers in the past 5 months or so, depends on the model and serial #.

Pj


Mower Consult

DC has a removable leading edge on their decks. For that reason they are very popular here in Florida for roadside and empty lot mowing. But by the same token I am not real impressed by the Quality of cut on fine turf. It is Pensacola Bahia that has the issue with seed head folding over so the blades miss them. Argentine or Paraguay Bahia does not have that same issues.

[mromaner]

My dealer says Hustler is modifying their decks in the coming year model. He says they are specifically being re-designed to handle bahia and other tough grasses. I wish I knew this sooner. You guys have any intelligence on this?

[Texas Red]

I have a bad habit of waiting till my bahaia gets high and really stalks out.

The only thing that works for me is to keep blade speed high and slow the machine speed down a bit.

[Ric]

I have a bad habit of waiting till my bahaia gets high and really stalks out.

The only thing that works for me is to keep blade speed high and slow the machine speed down a bit.


Tex

That is know as increasing your CLIP RATE. The ratio of Ground speed to blade speed is called clip Rate. The higher the clip rate the better the cutting ability. With the advent of faster mowers and OSHA regulation on blade speed, Clip rate becomes an issue. The best cut comes from a 21" Push mower. You can't beat the cut it gives, but your don't want to join the 21" push club either.

[Equipguy]

Make sure you have sharp blades. We've found high lift blades work best. Try to cut when its dry if thats possibile and go slower. Good Luck :)