Leaf Season is Coming !

[Fareway Lawncare]

I hate to be Pushy but how about an update on those anti-blowout baffles...Yea or Nay for Leaf Season !

[dishboy]

I gave up on waiting and fabricated my own, it keeps the leaves in the deck but I hope yours is better [adjustable?] if you guys could [for 36tthp] post a picture of the much talked about but yet to be seen ABB you could probably talk me out of some cash, if they ever become available. I guess you meant next June.

[eXmark]

Guys,

This may help.

[Fareway Lawncare]

Thanks Terry !

Nothing for the 32" Decks? Would a Modified Viking 48" Kit Work on the Viking 32"'s?

& Whats the "Flanged Baffle"?

I assume for Leaf Blowout problems I want the Anti Blowout Baffles?

[eXmark]

Fareway,

Nothing for 32's.

The flange baffle seams to perform well in the southern grasses helping to eliminate stragglers (such as bahaia shoots). It also works well in side discharge, bagging and mulching.

Thanks

Terry

[Fareway Lawncare]

ok, ordered the ones for the Tracers but still would like one for the Viking 32"...If I cut a piece of the 48" AB Baffle do you think I can make it fit?

[jasonlong]

Terry,

What te difference between the flanged kit and the anti-blowout kit? Which one would work better in the south?

JL

[eXmark]

JL,

Once you open the link you can scroll down and see a line drawing of each.

From what our engineers are telling me I'd go with the flange baffle in the south.....especially if your mulching.

Terry

[Fareway Lawncare]

Terry...Viking 48" Kit....Would it be easy to modify to fit the 32" if I cut a piece off?

[eXmark]

Fareway,

That's pretty unlikely. Freddy in tech support tells me that removing all of the blade spacers on the 32/36 or leaving only one will do a real number on leaves for you if your looking to chew them up.

As a side note I wanted to pass along a thank you to Fred and our tech support team as well as everyone else behind the scenes that helps us take care of the Exmark forum here at Lawnsite.

Thanks

Terry

[chariot]

Maybe I am crazy but to me the Anti-Blowout Kit in the diagram looks like what is on the deck I have (Ultracut), that came on the mower. Does the FLanged Baffle just bolt on at the front of the deck? Anyone have a real picture of one of these? I am looking to get one of these by fall.

[eXmark]

Chariot,

Your not crazy. The anti-blow out baffle simply extends the flow control baffle (welded under the deck) a little lower.

Thanks

Terry

[gogetter]

Originally posted by eXmark
Freddy in tech support tells me that removing all of the blade spacers on the 32/36 or leaving only one will do a real number on leaves for you if your looking to chew them up.



Hmmm, I'll have to try that. Thanks for the tip.
I wonder if it might work as well as going in reverse over the leaves. Of course, going in reverse with a belt drive walk behind mower sucks! LOL! But I've done it on whole lawns and it sure does make leaves disappear before doing the final clean up at the end of fall.
I need a Lazer Z! LOL!.

But I'll try your tip first.

[Fareway Lawncare]

Removing the blade spacers is option #2 but it doesn't give as much suction or as good a cut...You can ignore my thread re: the Baffle...I didn't read this first !

[eXmark]

Fareway Lawncare,

Yes you are right for cutting grass you don't want the blade all the up to the top. I would run at least 2 spacers below the spindle for grass.

Now for leaves it is a great improvement when mulching. A simple rule of thumb here is, the slower you go the less spacers you want below the below the spindle.

I would also suggest a Gator type blade for leaves, but our standard wavy blade works very well too. Each his own.

Thanks, Fred.

[MWE]

This might be a dumb question. But how do I order the Flanged Baffle Kit? Also when I mow on my 60" Z I have grass that blows out from under the deck in the front, right where the left and middle blade meet (if you are sitting on the mower). Grass blows out and since I'm moving forward it gets all over me, and I can't stand it. When I am attempting to bag leaves the leaves get blown away from the front of the mower where the grass is blown out. Will the Flanged Baggle Kit stop the air from blowing out the front of the mower?

[eXmark]

MWE,

All of the various baffles are available through your local dealer. For your application I'd probably lean more towards the anti-blow out baffle for bagging and side discharge.........especially if your chasing leaves.

Terry

[erock53]

I have a 48" Metro with the mulching kit. Am I to understand that for cutting grass, the more spacers below the spindle, the better? What is my best setup for mulching leaves? Do I need an Anti-baffle kit?

[eXmark]

Erock,

You can leave one spacer below the spindle which I understand will help grind the leaves up quite a bit. This could however cause a little more blow out.

I ran a 32" metro for several years (I really miss this mower especially for fall leaves) and it did a phenominal job on leaves. I found that by leaving at least two spacers below the spindle and pulling an extra spacer out of the front caster I could not only mulch leaves well but I didn't have many issues with blow out. This will create a lot of dust when the leaves are dry and the grass is thin or dormant but it'll pretty much powder leaves, at least with the 2-blade 32" deck. If the deck starts to plow the leaves because it's low in front simply float the nose up a little and back down on the pile before it get too large to manage.

Traditionally when mulching leaves power isn't a major concern so if you begin to see signs of blow out simply back the throttle off until you hear a slight change in tone from the engine. This is usually about 1/4" of throttle movement.

Thanks

Terry

[Turfdude]

I printed out the aforementioned document & oredered a kit from my dealer for my 52 Lazer HP (He has never sold one before, but knows how meticulous we are). Anyway, I've been told that its been backordered. How long do you think I have to wait??

[eXmark]

Turfdude,

All backordered means in this case is that the distributor hasn't sold any of these yet and hasn't recieved his "stock" of them yet either. Your probably looking at around 10 days maybe 14 before your dealers sees the baffle. If you'd like you can ask the dealer to put a rush on it but it'll add a bit to the freight costs.

Thanks

Terry

[naturescape]

I ordered the anti blowout baffle for the 48" TT HP. According the the label on the box and the instructions, it appears to be the correct baffle, but -- there is NO WAY it will fit the deck of the 48 TT HP I have.

Is it possible the wrong baffle got packed into the box?

[eXmark]

Naturscape,

It's possible...........anythings possible........some things are just more probable.

My recommendation would be to swing by the dealership with the baffle and the mower and let them compare the two. It's possible that the baffle may not be formed perfectly to the flow control baffle but if you can get the bolts started it may fit up.

Thanks

Terry

[grasssin]

i just got mine for my 48" lazer hp and it does not look like it would fit at all. The mulch deck is getting in the way of the flanged baffle for the right side and I cannot get it in place to bolt.. the left side is fine but I am not going to install half of one while the other half is not there.

any help would be appreciated.

[Carolina Cutter]

Fareway,

That's pretty unlikely. Freddy in tech support tells me that removing all of the blade spacers on the 32/36 or leaving only one will do a real number on leaves for you if your looking to chew them up.

As a side note I wanted to pass along a thank you to Fred and our tech support team as well as everyone else behind the scenes that helps us take care of the Exmark forum here at Lawnsite.

Thanks

Terry


Can you be more specific? Remove them from over the blade....pulley area...where?

[eXmark]

Grassin,

I did some checking and we made a slight change recently to the mulch kit to accomodate the flange baffle. I'm guessing that if you remove a notch in the mulch baffle approximately 3/16" deep and 1" long the baffle will fit..........let me know if this sounds correct.

Thanks


Terry

[eXmark]

Merlin,

We're talking about the number of blade spacers below the spindle.

Terry

[Fareway Lawncare]

They must have mixed up packaging on these baffles...the 2 I got for 36"'s were totally different...one fit...one didn't...the other fits the 48"...

Terry, do you think these should be removed in spring when mulching thick grass to increase air flow @ lower sttings ?

[eXmark]

Fareway,

If it were may machine I'd be temped to leave them on for the spring to see how it works but my gut tells me that the extra clearance and air flow will be needed during any time of heavy growth.

Thanks

Terry

[naturescape]

They must have mixed up packaging on these baffles...the 2 I got for 36"'s were totally different...one fit...one didn't...the other fits the 48"...


That's probably the one I should have had for MY 48"!! Still haven't received the proper one yet.........

[Tadams]

I asked my dealer about the baffle and the parts guy said that he didn't know what I was talking about and looked at me like I was an crazy. I then went and talked to the head mechanic and he said the only baffle that he knew of that sounded like what I was describing came with the mulch kit and you couldn't buy it separate. I looked at my deck and under it thinking that maybe they were already installed on the new mowers but there was nothing there. I didn't even see any holes for it to mount to. Is it possible that this deck was made without the holes ? What should I do about the dealer? Thanks.

[eXmark]

Tadams,

Most dealers get a TON of paperwork from the various manufacturers the represent. You can either give the the part from the table in the first page of this thread or have him reference service bulletin number 04-14. In either case he should be able to order what your looking for.

Thanks

Terry