Terrible cut

[sgoalie23]

my lazer is cutting like crap, leaves two strips of partially cut grass. Only 50 hours that was bought in March 2004. Still under the 1 2 3 warranty. What should i do, i can't keep double cutting. I am extremely frustrated with this Lazer Z 60 inch. ADIVSE!!! please

[eXmark]

Sgoalie23,

Your best bet would be to get the unit into the dealer ASAP. This may be something difficult to diagnose without actually seeing what the deck is doing but if you could provide me with the following information we may be able narrow it down a little for the dealer.

First are you mulching, bagging or side discharging? What type of blades are you using? What height are you cutting at? How much growth are you cutting off? I assume the grass is still growing fast and is fairly lush and full of moisture in your area yet. Please verify. I assume the problem is in Bluegrass and Fescue and not on properties with heavy weed growth. Again please verify.

Also send me a pm to terry.eckert@exmark.com with your name, serial number and the name of your dealer. That way if we eliminate some possible causes I can let them know what not to look for.

Thanks,

Terry

[sgoalie23]

Originally posted by eXmark
Sgoalie23,

Your best bet would be to get the unit into the dealer ASAP. This may be something difficult to diagnose without actually seeing what the deck is doing but if you could provide me with the following information we may be able narrow it down a little for the dealer.

First are you mulching, bagging or side discharging? What type of blades are you using? What height are you cutting at? How much growth are you cutting off? I assume the grass is still growing fast and is fairly lush and full of moisture in your area yet. Please verify. I assume the problem is in Bluegrass and Fescue and not on properties with heavy weed growth. Again please verify.

Also send me a pm to terry.eckert@exmark.com with your name, serial number and the name of your dealer. That way if we eliminate some possible causes I can let them know what not to look for.

Thanks,

Terry

Terry,
I am mostly side discharging with high lifts and gators on top. Grass height ranges from 2.5 to 3.25. Thick grass, a lot of growth. When i cut my own lawn at 2.5 it leaves barely any uncut grass. When it gets to 3 inches it looks terrible with not one but two strips of partially cut grass. Since it is still under warranty will this cost me a lot of money? Again i appreciate your help. I will get the serial number ASAP.
Thanks,
Brian

[eXmark]

Brian,

First remove the doubles and put on a set of notched airfoils. It probably won't matter if they are Excalibur’s or the older style. If you haven't tried the factory set up in the current conditions you may be surprised what you'll see.

Also please call me at 1-800-667-5296. We may actually be able to get this one taken care of real quick without a trip to the dealer. You never know.

Thanks

Terry

[MikeLT1Z28]

if you are side discharging, do what terry said, dump the doubles and put on the excaliburs... something to be said about those suckers!

[chuckwk]

FYI .. I have noticed many members mention that the gators are causing the 'strips',

[TLS]

Gators on a 60" Exmark deck are only good for taking off about 1-2" of grass. Any more and they leave 2 strips of grass cut slightly higher (About 14" in from each side.

Like Terry said.....Try a set of NEW, SHARPENED, OEM blades.

This time of year, with the moisture in the grass blade, GATORS are a poor excuse of a blade.

Right now I'm running a set of 1/4" thick (.250" vs .203") DC OEM high lift solid foils. They take more HP, but with the long thick wet grass, I was flexing the thinner ones.

[sgoalie23]

i took the doubles off, and put on high lift excaliburs. Still a strip and now i have more clumps before the doubles.

[eXmark]

Cool,

Now we're getting somewhere. It can be a lot more difficult to determine what is going on when we're dealer with blades or blade combinations we are not familiar with.

Where is the strip of uncut grass? Is it between blades, which ones, in the center of a blade, just off center etc. Again you can also call me at 1-800-667-5296 if it's easier.

Thanks,

Terry

[BigDave]

sgoalie, you can call, but please also post :) because if your strip is between the blades, then you're seeing what I see in some places, and I'd like to see the resolution.

[sgoalie23]

Originally posted by eXmark
Cool,

Now we're getting somewhere. It can be a lot more difficult to determine what is going on when we're dealer with blades or blade combinations we are not familiar with.

Where is the strip of uncut grass? Is it between blades, which ones, in the center of a blade, just off center etc. Again you can also call me at 1-800-667-5296 if it's easier.

Thanks,

Terry

There is a strip of uncut grass to the left of the center, and one just inside the right rear wheel. the strips are about 6-8 inches wide. Running single excaliburs. Could it be the spindles, bent deck, pitch, engine?? Still under warranty? Running out of time! I did call left a message. Will call again tomorrow. Thanx

Brian

[eXmark]

Brian,

The strips of uncut grass can be caused by many things. One of them is negative pitch. This is when the front swing of the blade is cutting higher than the back swing of the blade. Measure the pitch at the blade tips and let me know what you've got. You may also want to take it to the dealer ASAP to get a second set of eyes looking at it. It may be much faster and cost effective in the end. While you checking everything out go ahead and remove the belt shields and lay a straight edge on the top of the deck pulley's from one pulley to the next. They should be in alignment.

Thanks,

Terry

[sgoalie23]

Terry,

I went to the dealer and played with the deck pitch. First about 1/8 of an inch, and then he made it completely level. Level seemed to work better, but i am still getting these two strips. They are not as bad but they are still extremely noticable. I don't know what else is left.

Brian

[eXmark]

Brian,

I was re-reading your post. The 6-8" wide strip of uncut grass has me a bit befuddled. Have your dealer place a straight edge on the top of the spindle pulley's to ensure that the deck isn't tweeked. Also have him line the blades up tip to tip. It wouldn't be a bad idea to scrape the deck and have him measure from the tip to the deck at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 9 o'clock.

You can also give me a call and let me know the name of the dealer and I can give him a call as well or you can send me a pm to terry.eckert@exmark.com as well with your name, s/n and dealer information.

Thanks

Terry