Rear Discharge Deck in Florida

[Landscape Poet]

I am interested in the concept of the rear discharge deck that Hustler has and was talking to another Lawnsite member tonight in front of my house tonight and seeing if he had any experience with them down here and he did not.

We both agreed that maybe someone had experience with them down here on residential lawn?

So anyone have experience with them?

[Mowingman]

I have seen the results left behind with the Hustler rear discharge deck. Every place it was used looked like crap. In fact, the final result is the same as a cut hayfield with the hay windrowed up real nice. The rear discharge deck Hustler makes is for a rough finish cut only, in most cases. Well, if you were taking of 1/4" when mowing, it MIGHT look good. It is a great deck for mowing highway medians, and that is about it.
The best rear discharge deck available is the Grasshopper rear discharge. They have a very clever design that uses a 4th blade to help spread the clippings coming out the back. Therefore, you get a more manicured looking cut. HOWEVER, in heavy thick growth, the Grasshopper deck will also leave some windrow behind. The Grasshopper dexk can be used in a lot more places than the Hustler, because it does generally leave a nice looking cut, most of the time.

[Landscape Poet]

Originally Posted by Mowingman

I have seen the results left behind with the Hustler rear discharge deck. Every place it was used looked like crap. In fact, the final result is the same as a cut hayfield with the hay windrowed up real nice. The rear discharge deck Hustler makes is for a rough finish cut only, in most cases. Well, if you were taking of 1/4" when mowing, it MIGHT look good. It is a great deck for mowing highway medians, and that is about it.
The best rear discharge deck available is the Grasshopper rear discharge. They have a very clever design that uses a 4th blade to help spread the clippings coming out the back. Therefore, you get a more manicured looking cut. HOWEVER, in heavy thick growth, the Grasshopper deck will also leave some windrow behind. The Grasshopper dexk can be used in a lot more places than the Hustler, because it does generally leave a nice looking cut, most of the time.

Thanks for your input - I knew there must be a reason that these deck were not more common down here and I figured it had to do with either cut quality because of the lack of any true lift being able to be gained or the discharge of the clippings was just a mess.
I figured it might be worth discussing because the advantages could be great because of less potential clean up and of course each side of the deck could be a trim side as there is not a opening exposed.