Turf Tiger cutting problem

[snow4me]

I bought a used 2005 Scag Turf Tiger w/ Kawasaki 27hp liquid cooled engine that has 1,200 hours on it. I rebuilt the deck and replaced all the spindles and one idler pulley due to bearing issues at the start of the season and installed new clutch and deck belts.

The problem I am having is the grass on the discharge side spindle is not getting cut mowing even through not so thick grass at 3/4 to full speed. I literally have to back off on the speed to 1/2 or it leaves behind a patch of uncut grass. Actually the whole deck seems to lay some of the grass down instead of cutting it.

Is this caused by the slower blade tip speeds on this mower or am I missing something. My Exmark mows clean and crisp even at full speed...

[P.Services]

im in the same boat, brand new tiger though and ive never had these kind of problems. disharge side is leaving a 2" wide strip uncut.

[ashgrove landscaping]

Depends on the type of scag deck and if you leveled your deck correctly with proper pitch. Also you just may be going too fast. 7-8 mph is pretty avg. top mowing speed.

[snow4me]

Originally Posted by ashgrove landscaping

Depends on the type of scag deck and if you leveled your deck correctly with proper pitch. Also you just may be going too fast. 7-8 mph is pretty avg. top mowing speed.

Yes the deck was completely removed, taken apart and reinstalled at correct pitch and level side to side by me in March. It's been like this since I started mowing in March. I've been overlapping my discharge side passes or completely mowing 2x to compensate.

Are you serious 7-8mph? Then why do they advertise 12mph on these mowers. Why sell a mower that can go 12mph if it isn't capable of mowing at that speed. I'm not talking about thick lush lawns as it has been a very dry spring here in northern Illinois.

The deck is a 61 Advantage...is there a design flaw? I was thinking it could be 1 of 2 things.

1.) Belt slippage on that discharge spindle pulley. I have a new Stens belt on there...is the OEM belt less prone to slipping or is it possible the spring is getting worn out and not providing enough tension?

2.) Loss of power across the deck due to the slower RPM's of these units. I was told that SCAG had to slow down the deck RPM's due to the driveshafts not being able to withstand the rotational forces at this high of speed. Does anyone know the actual RPM of these aka blade tip speed?

I see other brands advertising over 18K RPM but with Scag it is not mentioned. Perhaps they are trying to hide the truth because they don't want to admit that the driveshaft design doesn't work well with an engine that can't produce a lot of torque such as deisel or a Big Block gas sucking B&S Vanguard 35hp...

[snow4me]

Originally Posted by P.Services

im in the same boat, brand new tiger though and ive never had these kind of problems. disharge side is leaving a 2" wide strip uncut.

Is your engine 27hp? I think these engines lack the torque needed to keep that drive shaft spinning at a constant RPM. As you get into thicker lawn that discharge side blade loses power and just won't cut everything.

My Exmark is slow but provides a clean cut every time in all conditions...my Scag does a nice job of laying 1/4 of the grass down and cutting the other 3/4. It does mow faster but what good is that if I'm overlapping or mowing twice?

FYI - I sharpen the blades on my Turf Tiger twice a week as opposed to the Exmark which only needs it once weekly. This is how I've been trying to manage this problem with some success.

[Jimslawncareservice]

I had an 04 or 05 with the 61 advantage. It has a 25 kohler I believe. I never had a problem that you mention, even going fast on thin lawn or lush lawn.
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[bvillefarm]

Is the turbo baffle still on the discharge side of the deck? If it is, try taking it off. Fixed a couple issues here in Indiana by removing the turbo baffle.

[Mtnmn]

Originally Posted by snow4me

Yes the deck was completely removed, taken apart and reinstalled at correct pitch and level side to side by me in March. It's been like this since I started mowing in March. I've been overlapping my discharge side passes or completely mowing 2x to compensate.

Are you serious 7-8mph? Then why do they advertise 12mph on these mowers. Why sell a mower that can go 12mph if it isn't capable of mowing at that speed. I'm not talking about thick lush lawns as it has been a very dry spring here in northern Illinois.

The deck is a 61 Advantage...is there a design flaw? I was thinking it could be 1 of 2 things.

1.) Belt slippage on that discharge spindle pulley. I have a new Stens belt on there...is the OEM belt less prone to slipping or is it possible the spring is getting worn out and not providing enough tension?

2.) Loss of power across the deck due to the slower RPM's of these units. I was told that SCAG had to slow down the deck RPM's due to the driveshafts not being able to withstand the rotational forces at this high of speed. Does anyone know the actual RPM of these aka blade tip speed?

I see other brands advertising over 18K RPM but with Scag it is not mentioned. Perhaps they are trying to hide the truth because they don't want to admit that the driveshaft design doesn't work well with an engine that can't produce a lot of torque such as deisel or a Big Block gas sucking B&S Vanguard 35hp...

You have your terminology mixed up. Blade tip speed (surface feet per minute, SFM), and revolutions per minute (RPM) are to different things. Nobody is running deck spindles or engines at 18,000 RPM. Some or running tip speeds of 18,000 SFM. Do you have a tachometer on the engine and is it running at proper RPM when mowing? A few hundred RPM slower will make a big difference on blade speed and cut quality.

[snow4me]

Originally Posted by bvillefarm

Is the turbo baffle still on the discharge side of the deck? If it is, try taking it off. Fixed a couple issues here in Indiana by removing the turbo baffle.

What does this turbo baffle look like?

[weldondl]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/424209-NEW-S...item19cc02048c


Hope that worked but the baffle is just inside your shute opening 3 bolts 1-thru edge of deck / 1 thru top of deck / one is the bolt that holds the spindle to the deck hope this helps. you might also check the tension arm on the belt it has 2 48224 sealed bearings stacked on top each other at where the bolt goes all the way through the deck if those are sticking or bad it will prevent proper tension on belt good luck. I am re-building a 2001 tiger with the 61 advantage deck the gear box is being a pain.