Question about Walkers

[pcs]

I am still trying to decide on which mower to get for some bigger commercial jobs. I was just thinking if I got another walker with a 48" GHS deck could I just open the catcher and let the grass go out the back instead of getting a Side Discharge deck. That way I could use the new machine on some of my Res. customers that want to be bagged. Would this work?

[MOW ED]

That is what I do. I have a Walker as my main mower but if the grass is real long or wet I use my Toro Proline walkbehind. I am not doing huge commercials but a mix of res. and commercial. The no-catch bagger Walker sells for about 70.00 US works well. If I had alot of big commercial (2+ acres) I would consider a Chopper.
The Walker is quick with a speed up kit but not close to a chopper or lazer. I can cut about 8mph with my 26efi if the blades are sharp. Good Luck.

[Randy Scott]

I don't have a walker, got a lazer, but what is a speed up kit for the walkers everyone talks about ?

[Eric ELM]

Randy, I went to my search page, clicked on Walker and there are 116 threads on Walker, here is a good one on the speed up kit. http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=4893

[Randy Scott]

Thank you, oh wise grasshoppa, answered my question.Or maybe I should say, oh wise grasschoppa!

[Currier]

Sometimes I notice that the grass still clumps when flying out the back of the hopper. I saw another lmo put a piece of pvc (elbow) under the hopper (the hopper rests on it) and over the place where the grass blows up the chute. I bought a peice of stovepipe (elbow), it fits over the lip of the chute perfectly and it turns the mower into side discharge. The grass has more speed coming from the blower and seems to spread better. You can also angle the pipe to aim down or up.

The OBVIOUS risk. The grass is shooting out the side from about 3 feet up. You must use common sense! I would only use this in wide open areas so as to keep from causing any damage to windows...or people!

[bababooie]

i dont have either, but the scag couger is able to pickup grass, or side discharge or mulch,wouldnt this save tons of time ,you dont have to change decks,and it will save money on not buying seperate desks.and how fast can you go without messing up the cut of the grass?

[cantoo]

I have the flaps for the back of the Walker bin and they do clump too much in my opinion. I have also tried a deflector hooked right onto the blower tube, it worked okay but when the wind was the wrong way you constantly get a mouthful of grass. What I do now is unplug the wire running to the discharge chute when it is pointing to the far side then I cut the lawn then double cut where the " windrow" is. By this time the sun has dried the grass and it chops up fine and disappears. For most of my properties I can dump on site so usually I just use the bin for collection. I really think that the blades don't turn fast enough to cut the grass fine enough to discharge it without clumping look. And of course double blades aren't an option on the GHS model.

[pcs]

Hey cantoo. Could you tell me what a 48" GHS 26EFI costs at your dealer off the top of your head??

[cantoo]

Sorry pcs, I heaven't priced any of the new ones this year. I'm afraid to ask prices, I might just talk myself into a new one. I already have more equipment than I can use so I don't need another one. Except for a Steiner and maybe a Dixie. Going to London to look at a cube van on Thursday,,, more money.

[cantoo]

I was looking at a used 60" deck off of a John Deere tractor last year and I think one could be modified to fit the Walker. It would be alot less money than the new 62" Walker deck Can. $3000 I'm keeping my eyes open for another deal like it, it came off a burnt tractor $100 and I didn't buy it. Oh well " you snooze you lose"

[mwallingford]

I bought the rear deflector for my Walker, but it seems to clump (windrow) the grass to much. Is there a better way to get an even discharge from the deflector. I didn't quite understand one of the explanations?

[MOW ED]

If the grass is real long it will windrow, if its real long its usually wet and it clumps. If the screen at the top becomes blocked then performance will not be real good either. If it doesn't break up easily I will open the rear door all the way up and then try it again.

Sharp blades help a little but really the Walker is a bagger so you aren't gonna get perfect results with this system.

[jeffyr]

PCS,

By me the Walker 20 with a 42"ghs and large hopper/dual tailwheel is $8100--add $900 for the 26EFI. Thats US dollars.

jeffyr

[bababooie]

so basically forget about the $9000.00 walker in the spring whenits wet and tall, sound like a good investment?

[Currier]

No Don't forget about it...It does great. Wet and tall no problem. You get what you pay for.

[nlminc]

The only gripe I have with walkers is the grass clumping in the deck and shoot when its wet. Other than that I love them.

[cantoo]

Buy what you need for the work you do.
I have two Walkers, a Toro wbh, a 72" Ransomes and access to two different types of bush hogs. No one mower will do it all. I use whichever one I feel will do the best job at the site I am at. The Walkers get used the most but if the grass gets out of hand the Toro gets the first pass with the Walker collecting it after. For soccer fields that don't need collected the 72" Ransomes is used, the ball diamonds get the Walkers.
I still say the decks for the Walker are too expensive, I bought the GHS model to collect and that's what it usually does. If I wanted to always discharge I would have bought a different brand of mower likely. If I can find a used 62" deck I might buy it but for now I prefer to have dedicated machines so I want the Steiner.

[JJ Lawn]

In Dec, I bought a Walker 26hp EFI with 48" GHS deck, 9.5 bushel box, low profile tires, and deluxe seat. I wrote a check for $10004.36. That includes tax.

Waiting for Spring to give it a work out.

Jim