YEAH! Just got my First 32" Exmark!

[Doogiegh]

Hey Guys,
First off, thanks for all the help that you've given me on this site. The advice and input is terrific on here from any range of topics!

And following the advice of many, I'm doing small residentials for now just starting out, and I picked up my first 32" Exmark Metro with the bagger! So far, I absolutly love it as I can get thru all the gates I've come across and the power and cut is fantastic. I used it for the first time yesterday just playing around and the speed is terrific.

Next thing to get is the Mulching Kit and a sulky/velke/pro-slide.. Any opinions on which one to get for a "small" 32" mower with a 12.5 Kawi' engine would be appreciated.

I THINK I heard someone say that the Mulching Kit is $500? Is that RIGHT???

Do any of you guys run doubles on a 32" Metro? If so, what blade type?

And how to do you space out the casters on the front wheel or under the blade. Right now, it's factory stock, with 2 above and 2 below on the blade and 2 above and 2 below on the front wheels. Do you guys change that around at all??

Thanks for any help or insight!

[Esby]

I know that the mulch kit does NOT run $500. I would say more like $100 or so. I dont really know the exact cost because my dealer threw it in for free when I bought my Lazer, but especially for a 2 bladed unit, it just wont cost you that much. I have a one wheeled velky on my Metro HP 48"-I like it, but wish it didn't leave the tire track down the middle of the pass. I don't use that machine much anymore, the Lazer is just so much nicer. Still has its places in the business though.

[bobbygedd]

glad to hear u bought it. i picked up two new lawns on friday, both with tiny gates, if i had a 36 instead of 32, i would have had to turn them down. u will love it

[CLM1103]

Jungle Wheels will go great with that new mower. Congrats!!

[Holloway Lawns]

Great you got you a new 32". I just got a new 36" Toro Proline last week and just won a two wheel velke for $212.50 on ebay. My mulch kit is on order and it was $129 and the dealer will put it on for nothing. So far I like the mower will have to get the hang of it.

[Doogiegh]

So far it's terrific. I just have to keep practicing so that I don't make the divot marks whenever I do a 180 degree turn.. Gotta keep that inside wheel moving somehow someway..

Other than that, it's absolutly terrific.

[ceaman]

I use doubles on my 36 metro, I use the stock notched airfoil on bottom and a gator blade on top.

(I havent figured out how to not make a divot on a 180 degree turn either!)

[Doogiegh]

Well, it's been a solid 1 month later of use and here's a quick update.

I installed a pro-slide or dura-slide. It works absolutly terrific. Only thing I noticed is that if the grass is damp or moist, I have to take off s-l-o-w-ly from doing a u-turn. Otherwise the wheels spin and I leave what looks like skid marks behind. On dry dirt, it is fine. I know it's because I weight 180 and it's a 32" mower (small wheels), but on large properties in dry weather, it flys and does great, no problems at all.

Just picked up the Mulch kit from my dealer tonight. I'll probably give it a shot at installing it tommorow night, I'll see how it goes. I definatly want to try to convince as many of my customers as possible of how important it is to mulch, compared to bagging, which I have 3 customers right now who I bag every single freaking week.

Also installed a Tiny-Tach tonight. Mounted it right in the middle of the handlebars, so I can easily see RPM's as well as hours of operation. So far, it works great.

I noticed that the running rpms at are 3470 at full speed, without the blades engaged. Should I bother to raise that up to the 3600 limit or is 3470 high enough?

Just curious as to how much I'm gonna get out of an extra 3.5% or so of engine speed... Thanks

Gary

[johnhenry]

Exmark is a great mower. Sounds like your having fun

[randosh4]

i have a 32 husky with a proslide a little light on the front end but is just great

[scottishmaximus]

is there a website that has pro-slides on it. can't seem to find them on my own

[Doogiegh]

http://www.novaecorp.com/

That's them for the pro-slide.

Do a search on here for proslide or pro-slide. You'll find plenty, with lots of guys praising them and other saying to get a regular wheeled velky.. it goes back and forth all the time..

I love mine.

Never tried the wheeled sulky/velke though.

Enjoy.
Gary

[TLS]

I used a Velky on a 48" 14hp Kawi and NEVER had any power issues when it came to PULLING. Mowing power is not quite where I want it, but it'll pull till the belts slip without bogging down. Belts never slipped unless it was swampy wet.

Most of the newer 32"s have 14hp Kawis on them. Some of the older ones had 9 or 11hp motors. Even back then, that would surely have been enough power to pull a sulkey.

[Doogiegh]

DBGroup,

Right now, I'm not cutting on any hills, so having a 32 on hills isn't a problem.

If I do get hills, I would still be using my 32, and I'll walk. Oh well.

I'm not able to step up to a bigger mower (48") or whatever you feel is needed to pull a sulky uphills, as then I would have to eliminate about 70% of my accounts since I need the small mower size to get into the backyard gates, etc.

So my 32 is good for me, for now.

48"'s have more power and speed, but I wouldn't be able to take full advantage of that right now on many of my properties.

Gary

[trimmer]

I installed my mulch kit on my 44" Toro and it was pretty straight forward only took a couple of hours. If I were you I would install the bagger when I mowed those customers yards that want them bagged, just so it looks like you are bagging. If you don't want to do that Exmark makes a pamphlet on mulching vs. bagging that is great. Best of luck.

[Doogiegh]

I'll be stopping by my Exmark dealer tonight to pick up an oil filter (time to change the oil), so I'll ask them about the mulching brochures at the same time. Thanks!

And I also thought of putting the bagger on as well, just not using it. I wonder if they'll notice that I didn't stop to empty it.. <G>
Gary

[MJStrain]

Originally posted by Doogiegh
I'll be stopping by my Exmark dealer tonight to pick up an oil filter (time to change the oil), so I'll ask them about the mulching brochures at the same time. Thanks!

And I also thought of putting the bagger on as well, just not using it. I wonder if they'll notice that I didn't stop to empty it.. <G>
Gary

Do you really want to get caught NOT bagging when the customer is paying for it? Tsk Tsk...