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mower leaving uncut strip

4K views 32 replies 15 participants last post by  Flipperneck 
#1 ·
i know i asked this before, but there are new people now, see if anyone has any ideas. my 36 bobcat, always cut great. this one customer was always asking me to lower the cut, i said no, i aint takin the blades off and lowering them. so, i tried this, i just lowered the front end by pulling the wheels off and moving the spacers. now, this was my first stop of the day. on this morning, i also put doubles on this machine for the first time ever. i did the cut, and it left an uncut strip, on the side. i just double cut, most of my lawns are small anyhow. after a while, i just left the 36 in the garage, and always used the 48. when i decided to use the 36 again, i put new high lifts on, and tried to remember where the wheel spacers originally were, i couldn't remember. so i leveled the deck, and started over. no good, same strip. no time to mess with it, i brought it to the shop, they went over it, said all was fine. still leaving strip. i tried going to extremes putting the deck all the way up, all the way down, it got better, but still a little strip. any ideas?
 
#29 ·
Lots of reasons you could leave uneven strips in the time IV been doing this I have seen.

Low tire pressure on one side.

Bent blades if you put them on a flat surface your see if they are.

Loose belt

Poor maintenance i.e. lack of grease on a spindle causing it to bind and move slower then the other 2

Bent deck or damaged spindles this is easy to see lift the deck and see if the blade tips are lining up with each other when you turn the spindles so that the blade tips are next to each other.

Dull or damaged blade edges I leave the shop each day with edges I could shave with some leave the blades on way to long.
 
#30 ·
I have seen a problem with a strip of grass not completely cut because of 2 situations:
1) A build-up of clippings under some part of the deck, which interferes with the airflow, and thus hinders lift. I assume since you've been looking under there a lot, you don't have that problem.
2) a section of the baffle behind the blade bent back by running over some obstacle. Have you looked at the baffles?
 
#31 ·
Originally posted by bobbygedd
so runner, you don't level the deck, and get the 1/8" pitch by adjusting the deck? the blades are 18". i will see a 1/8 difference from the front of the blade, to the back?
Bobby, yes, this is correct. You should ultimately end up with a 1/8" difference from the front to the back (the back being higher). For your mower, I believe the front casters are how you adjust this, but I'm not fully sure, because that MAY be how you adjust your height, also. This is how the Toros are set up. There also must be some sort of longer term adjustment in the rear wheels, also. Many of times, it will be a different combination of bolt setting on the series of holes that holds the axles on in the rear. I hope this helps.
 
#32 ·
Also, it just occured to me, that said that your blades are 18". This must mean that you are only running 2 blades, for a 36" deck. If this streak is not directly in the center, (which you described it being off to the left side, a bit), we can pretty much eliminate any chance of it being improper blades - even off by a few centimeters. Another thing I'm thinking (and this is a long shot), could be that your left spindle housing can be bent. Now, the reason I say the HOUSING (or deck where it mounts), is that as the blade sweeps around (clockwise, as you're looking forward down onto the mower), if that thing is somehow bent so that the bottom of your spindle is more toward the right hand side (center) of your deck than it's supposed to be, then the blade edge is actually turned up a bit more than it should be, and it's not cutting down into the gras like it's supposed to be. It's sort of "spreading over" the turf. Just a possibility, but I hope not. I'm hoping it's somthing simple... I like the "grass in the deck thing", myself. I hope this helps.
 
#33 ·
Hey bob I know a great greazy little bastard at JB Mower on route 36 in hazlet. This way you don't have to go all the way down south. Take the parkway south to exit 117 not a just 117. Get on route 36 after you pass burger king pass though 1 more light at IFF take the Laurel Ave jug handle turn around on the right you can't miss it. There's this skinny little redneck looking dude that lives lawnmowers. The dealer there wheels and deals too if you are looking for anything else. I got an EB7001 for 450 and he threw in a 35 dollar spool of .095 echo whackey string for free. Check em out......
 
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