Lawn mowing not even

[Bad Wolf]

I have a Craftsman tractor with a 42" deck. Lately its been doing a crappy job on the right hand side. The grass is cut but ragged and not as short as the left hand side. The grass is kind of tall but if that were the problem I would expect to see it on both sides. From what I can see both blades are spinning freely and were sharpened at the same time.

Right now I'm only moving over halfway on the following pass so that the left hand blade can clean up what the right hand didn't. This sucks because it takes twice as long.

Any ideas?

 

[1kzwoman]

Sharpen blade, properly torque blade and all deck attachments. What type of terrain? Smooth level or sloped?

 

[Dune]

Sharpen the blades

 

[heat seeker]

Check the belts for slippage.

Make sure the right hand blade is not installed upside down.

Loosen/remove the blade belt(s) and check by hand to see if the arbors turn freely.

Make sure the deck underneath is not clogged with grass clippings.

 

[bobdog2o02]

Are you mulchin or discharging?

 

[Bad Wolf]

Does the same uphill down hill and on the level. Currently using mulching blades so I know they are right side up. Mulching tines are on the top. Both blades turn clockwise when seen from the top, so there is no "left and right"

Spindles turn freely, no build up of grass.

So I sharpened the left hand bland again took off the thing that blocks the discharge chute when mulching and slowed down the forward speed. Improved the cutting but I can still see a difference in height. The deck looks level but tomorrow I'll park it on the level and measure everything up.

 

[Captain Hornet]

You need to check the spindle mounts. They have three spots where the bolts mount to the deck. These bolt mounts are small and a made of aluminum as a fracture point so there well be some give in the mower if you hit rocks or a stump. If one or two bolt mounts are broke it well let the spindle set not square with the deck. The whole thing well not cut even, just like it's doing now. Check your spindle bolts and mounts! David

 

[maple1]

I get this happening with my JD135 sometimes, doing side discharge. When I'm overdue for a mowing, and in the heaviest growth. All the cut grass goes out the right - I figure the cut from the left is messing up the right cut on its way to the chute. I just slow down, seems to make things better.

Did it always do this? I got a mulching plate for mine to try, thought it would alleviate having to deal with clippings. But it just kind of bound things up, found myself having to go much slower. So I don't mulch anymore, and got a lawn sweeper - I think all of my issues are just from going too long between mowings. If it's tall & thick, just have to slow down.

 

[johneh]

Check your deck for level it may be sitting up higher on
one side causing an angled cut . I know and have adjusted
mine to level to get a smother more uniform cut . also bent
or miss sharpened blade .

 

[Highbeam]

Tire pressure. One back tire that is low on air will lower that deck quite a lot. You will discover this when you level your deck but before leveling the deck, verify that the tires are all at spec.

 

[billb3]

Deck height and tire pressure.
Those little riding mower tires look fine until you sit on the mower and then you likely can't see how 5 PSI instead of 20 is affecting the tire.
Especially on the turf.

If it isn't cutting at all a blade fell off. ( it does happen )

 

[mustash29]

1 - Grass is too long before being cut.
2 - Going too fast.
3 - It's a Craftsman, what did you expect? LOL.

My LT-1000 with 42" deck is about 12-14 yrs old. It's done the same thing since day one with the bagging / discharge or mulch / discharge blades.

Everyone else touched on all the normal issues but one is missing. The deck is vented. It sucks air in at the base of the blade mandrels. Make sure you keep those areas clean so the deck can breathe properly.

I only mow about a 1/2 acre. I start at the house and drive counter closkwise, blowing all the grass out, toward the right, where I haven't mowed yet. The further I get the worse it gets because the deck is re-proccessing all of that grass. I cut the outer sloping end off my discharge chute and also have a small string on it to keep it tied up "level". With the bagging blades it will throw clipping 3 swaths wide. With the mulching blades only about 2 swaths. About 1/2 way through my mowing I have to stop and clean the clipping from around the mandrels.

 

[Butcher]

Buy some sheep and a tall pair of boots.

 

[heat seeker]

Now you're talking! No winter storage problems, either, just cut 'em up and put 'em in the freezer.

 

[Highbeam]

Everyone else touched on all the normal issues but one is missing. The deck is vented. It sucks air in at the base of the blade mandrels. Make sure you keep those areas clean so the deck can breathe properly.

I have noticed that those vents like to clog up and are just too small to poke your finger through so you need a tool or a leaf blower. It's good to clean the junk off the top of the deck anyway. I was also amazed at how much difference an underdeck cleaning makes as well. Seems all that caked on junk slows things down quite a bit.

 

[begreen]

Make sure that A) a blade is not bent and B) the deck is level, C) that the mandrel base has not cracked so that the blade is spinning at an angle. If the cut is scalping on one side the likely problem is C) especially if a blade hit a big rock recently.


Based on the above suggestions, if it is not the blade, it could also be that the mandrel bearing is seizing and that side is spinning slower.

 

[flyingcow]

Oh what the heck...I'll throw in my 2 cents. Spin the blades by hand, look at the pulley on top of each blade. And look at each blade too. If there is a slight wobble on the pulley, replace the spindle.

And as somone already pointed out, if you check to see if the deck is level, check the tire pressure first.