The Green Industry's Resource Center

maelawncare · #11 03-23-2012, 05:57 PM

I have 6 years and 2000 hours on one of mine. About every other year I will have to replace a motor, but that is mostly from employee abuse, they hold the trigger and strip out the gears.

Just bought a 3rd one for my new mower. I will never run a mower without one now. If he ever goes out of business, I am going to have to start making my own.

jelgan · #12 03-23-2012, 09:05 PM

I am out of town tonight and tomorrow, but when I get back I am going to order one. Thanks for all your replies and comments.

lawnguy 2 · #13 01-12-2013, 08:12 AM

I'd like to buy one. Which make power chute are u guys refering?

lawnguy 2 · #14 01-12-2013, 08:16 AM

Which make power chute are u guys refering? I'd like to buy one. Is this it? http://powerchutedesign.com/ I have a Scag Turf Tiger.

weaver · #15 01-12-2013, 12:37 PM

I have the manual one's on my zero turn & walkbehind and like them alot. Really good products...

mtmower · #16 01-12-2013, 02:32 PM

I'm a solo operator, so no employees to blame. I bought one last spring. I don't believe I'd be without one of some type and this may be the best available on the market.

That being said I've gone through three motors in one season already. I also folded mine up pretty good hitting an object head on more than once and was able to bend things back due to the decent metal used to make them. I strongly recommend keeping a bungee cord on the machine so if it breaks in the field you can hold the shoot open to finish the area since they just go limp and flop closed. Some of my properties are quite large and it can be a drive back to the truck. I also keep a new motor on hand so I can swap it out on site. Fairly quick and easy job to do and about $45.00 at Napa.

If you remove the unit for any reason (mulch kit, bagger, etc.) zip tie the loose wires out of the way. I learned the hard way by stuff/wrapping them out of the way. They made their way into the deck belt/pulley even so, and I lost about a foot of it. Only way to purchase that new part of the harness is to buy the whole pedal assembly for around $150.00. I ended up splicing and putting non-oem blade ends on to the motor to make it work and save the dough.

My experience is that the plastic gears are stripped more often then not by running the chute in a position other than full open or full shut since this is a metal chute. Many times I'll have it approx. a 1/4" open to keep clippings from going in a flower bed but will still allow it to disperse, mostly on a second pass situation. If your in a ditch or near an obstacle and bump the chute from the bottom up your the proud owner of a new motor in many cases.

I've had several manual style chute blockers, including a homemade one, and at least one had conveyor type rubber and another was a thick hard plastic. One of the next things I plan is to purchase a piece of thick rubber and to make a hinge bracket for it so it flexes so there is less impact on the motor gears.

The slots in the metal chute IMO do nothing but make it look cool. They plug up instantly. The advertisement that some of these chute blockers aid in blowing things off hard surfaces IMO also is a stretch to say the least. So don't buy one thinking it is the end all for this.

If it hasn't been mentioned already there is a similar system using a manual foot pedal/cable that I believe is called Grass Flap out there as well.

yardguy28 · #17 01-12-2013, 02:45 PM

I would recommend some sort of chute blocker.

I have a toro grandstand and have the oem ocdc and I love it.

gl1200a · #18 01-12-2013, 04:26 PM

I know in my instructions that came with mine it says that if the chute hits the blades it's because you have flattened out the chute by bumping it into something and it is now pushed in toward the blades. It's shipped with the center bowed outward a bit so they won't hit the blades and you just need to put a slight bend back into the center again.

Also if you go to their website there is a page that talks about the motors and what happens to them and a fix so you can try and get the motor working again. It's not a gear striping problem at all and that when you want to place the chute at an angle always start from the bottom and go up slightly. That is alot less stressful on the motors than trying to stop it on the way down.

orangemower · #19 01-12-2013, 09:53 PM

4 years and 2 switches. Other then that, it works great and I wouldn't do without it. With that said, if any part goes bad, I'll make it or go to the auto parts store and get it cheap.

mtmower · #20 01-12-2013, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gl1200a

I know in my instructions that came with mine it says that if the chute hits the blades it's because you have flattened out the chute by bumping it into something and it is now pushed in toward the blades. It's shipped with the center bowed outward a bit so they won't hit the blades and you just need to put a slight bend back into the center again.

Also if you go to their website there is a page that talks about the motors and what happens to them and a fix so you can try and get the motor working again. It's not a gear striping problem at all and that when you want to place the chute at an angle always start from the bottom and go up slightly. That is alot less stressful on the motors than trying to stop it on the way down.

I disagree with this statement. The plastic drive/worm gear on the motor shaft and the gears within the motor box are what are shearing. They are the weak link. If they were made of metal and it were impacted things would bend instead which isn't always good either.