Too much lift?

[Lawn-Scapes]

I had been having a hard time with my 3 month old Lazer not giving a clean cut from day one. I brought it in to the dealer a couple of times to have it looked at. After adjusting the engine to 3750 rpms and putting more of a pitch... there was no significant change.

I was getting really disgusted that a $7000 mower could not cut grass cleanly... So I brought it in again yesterday. Told the salesguy and mechanic to come out and give me an explanation. I did a pass over the lawn and they both were in agreement... bad cut. Thank God! I thought maybe I was expecting too much.

They checked the blades: sharp... the deck: clean, level and pitch good... belt: tension good... engine: rpms at 3750. Anyway they didn't know what to say except, "could I leave it with them". So I did and went back this morning to see what they came up with. The mechanic came out and said he took the high lift (solid foil) blades off and replaced with gators. He showed me where he cut some grass next to the swipe I did yesterday and it was an improvement.

He said that maybe there was too much air being sucked up to the top of the deck and the air flow was being forced back down causing some grass to be blown back downward. Make sense?

It did cut better today :confused: and i love the way the gators chops up the grass to itty-bitty pieces :)

[fivestarlawnken]

If you think about it may be right..Hopefully they are being honest with you.Did you guys check blade spacers also?Maybe the ailens built this Lazer..Good luck and have fun with it!!!:alien:

[geogunn]

interesting. too much lift has got to be better than not enough lift. because you can obviously step down from the high lifts to standard lift.

I swear by the high lifts on my lesco 48. they cut better than standard gators on that machine. I have not tried high lift gators yet.

GEO

[HOMER]

Well................like they say, those Lazers do suck!:rolleyes:

[rdh]

i dont no about lazers
but i run dbls hi/gators on my chariot it would do the same thing but it also had alot of blow out .
got to looking to see why and i had the washers wrong to many above the blades.
now no bad cut i cut as fast as it will go and i dont eat grass all day.
did you have blowout?

[kutnkru]

TSG

That is exactly the case! Many LCOs in our area have tried these new Hi-Lift blades that look like the vert ramp at the skate parks. I dont know of anyone I talked with who said that from a 36 up was able to keep full rpm.

Our machines ran like the fuel/air filters were clogged. We changed them earlier than normal, and still had the problem. After finding out about this, I put the old filter back on and a Medium-lift blade and they purr like kittens once again.

Im not sure the specifics of the blades, but the fins are longer than others and have a steeper pitch to the fin as well.

For once, I dont think your mechanic was trying to give you the shaft~!

Kris

[mowingmachine]

High lift blades can definitly cause a reverse problem. I have spoken with blade manufacturers that told me to much lift will cause a updraft that hits the top of the deck and actually pushes the grass back down leaving many straglers and a poor cut. Most new designed decks have straight tight blade corrals which don't require a high lift blade to maintain vaccum. Stick with the low to medium lift blades and you should see a much better cut and a horsepower increase. Everybody has been talking about these double blade systems lately. On a Lazer I doubt the cut is better. The discharge is going to be much finer because of more cutting edges but the cut quality in some conditions should go down. When talking to people I have found that you have to determine what they mean by a good looking lawn. Some people think a finely cut up discharge makes a lawn look good and others think that a level cut lawn without straglers looks good. That is why the gators work so well because it will give you both aspects. Fine discharge and no straglers. Hope this helps.

Mowingmachine

[BRL]

I have experimented with different blades, mower heights, adjusting blade spacers etc. on each of the mowers I've had. The one thing I've learned is each brand of deck is different, and the set up that works on one mower was not necessarily the best set up for another one. I used to have a mower that did a fantastic job with high lifts, but I can't use them on the ones I have now. So I would believe the mechanic on this one.

[awm]

you startin a spittin contest homer.lazers got a bunch notches.
now theys a fast draw in yellow an black . just another notch
for old big bad red.:D

[65hoss]

The airflow for exmarks is one of the reasons they cut so great. Those blades could have been doing just that because they mess up the airflow needed.

[mklawnman]

Hey TSG
Was your Lazer leaving a mark after u cut the grass down the middle of your stripe?? Im thinking i may have the same problem u do but with my scag TT advantage deck, it leaves a mark down the middle of the stripe, but it looks like the blades of grass r somewhat cut but yet they r knocked down like the air flow on those advantage decks have too much lift or not enough. Ive looked at other lawns that r cut with TT by other companies and it seems they have the same problem with that stripe down the middle. Ive bought new high lift blades sharpened them and still have the problem.
Just my thoughts/question
MATT

[Lawn-Scapes]

mklawnman,

I was getting tragglers all over the place. I've heard/read that the high lifts with the 'U' notch leave a strip.

Well... another day with the gators and things are looking better... Not perfect but definitely a cleaner cut.

Thanks for the feedback.

[mklawnman]

TSG
Yeah i have high lifts from Scag, with the "U" shape cut out in them, actually have two sets now, both leave a stripe down the middle but its cut. Just talked to a guy about going to NAPA for some blades, he had the same problem on his TT and said after he bought blades from NAPA the stripe went away, so im hoping my funny looking mark will go away soon after the purchase.

Happy Mowing cause up here their wont be too much mowing after Nov. 1 here, its called winter :(

Matt