toro(wheelhorse) mower deck jams

[kheldor]

I bought a toro riding mower only cuz my last wheelhorse kicked so much butt...boy did i make the mistake of a lifetime there!!! The tractor is too slow for anything but mowing lawns...but thats not my problem. I have a 42" rear discharge deck with 3 double blades..it's supposed to mulch, but all it does is hold all the clippings up until it either jams completely(requiring me to take it off the tractor and scrape it out-about 6 times PER LAWN CUT in about 1 acre of grass...takes about 15 minutes each time) or the blades just stop altogether and it dumps a huge pile of grass(which i have to rake or the lawn will die). I saw something in an earlier thread about a washer for the right spacing...but if this forum cant help i'm gonna smash my mower deck with a sledge hammer and buy the first non-toro mower deck i see.

[lahanko]

My father (now 82) has a Toro 520 with the same deck you write of.
He has had the same situation you have since he bought it. Always breaking belts because the grass builds up under the deck, the blades stop but the motor doesn’t, belt slips and bingo the belt breaks. I try to always keep him up and running but last year was enough. Took the mulch insert off the deck and smashed it. Put a single set of regular high lift blades on and he has been okay since. I do like Toro equipment but the mulch insert is one piece of junk.