Very poor MMM performance

[08quadram]

Is it me or does the 60" MMM do a very crappy job of mowing. I have to say I love my bx but the mower sucks....... our doesn't would be a better description. I have sharp blades, a clean undercarriage but it will not cut the grass behind the front tires. I am unable to mow the yard in the same direction twice. The grass under the tires just keep getting longer. I have been thinking about gator blades, but would like more input before spending the money. I have searched and read. Any other ideas would be helpful. It is really a shame that the cheapest riding mower you can buy does a nice job of mowing.

I have been thinking of getting a rear 3 point, but that would make mowing around trees more difficult.

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[Diydave]

Gator blades won't make it any better. get the highest lift blades you can. All machines are compromises, I gave up on mmm's years ago, for my mowing business. Best mower I have for just mowing is a Dixie Chopper 28 EFI Kohler, with a 5' deck. Also use a Exmark turf tracer walk behind with a 23 Kohler, and a 5' deck, for hills too steep for the dixie...

 

[Kennyd4110]

Are you mowing at full throttle so the blades are spinning fast?

 

[Sid Post]

What kind of grass? How thick/heavy is it? How fast are you going? Is your soil soft?

The BX I use does a nice job. I'm guessing your tractor weight is rutting slightly.

 

[mendonsy]

A rear mount would be even worse. Instead of two tires rolling down the grass you will have four tires in front of the mower.

 

[85Hokie]

08,

tell us about what Ken and Sid mentioned, I have the same setup and it cut and pushes stuff out like a leaf blower! Cuts anything I place in front of it! I will say that if the yard is uneven, it will scalp - but that is the problem with any wide deck and uneven yards. I cut at least 80% wot - and sometimes higher, what height are you cutting at too? I would think that maybe at a real high height it might not pull the matted grass up from the front tires....I usually cut around the 3" mark. Got pictures?

 

[Daren Todd]

A rear mount would be even worse. Instead of two tires rolling down the grass you will have four tires in front of the mower.

Actually my finish mower behind the tractor does a fantastic job. It has some high lift straight blades and even sucks up the clippings from last weeks mowing and chops them again.

I'm thinking the op's issue is in his blades. My old cub cadet came with some mulching blades, and the design of the blade didn't give it any suction. When I invested in a bagger for it, the kit came with some high lift straight blades designed to lift and toss. That made a huge difference in the cut. Before changing the blades it would leave a high spot by one of the tires.

 

[D2Cat]

As everyone has mentioned, it's either blade tip speed too low, or blades not lifting grass.

Go out and cut a patch of grass with the engine running at full RPM. Check results. If cut is good cut back the RPM some, and keep checking. To effectively cut grass you need engine speed at about 90% of max.

If this doesn't show improvement you need to check blades. Need a higher lift to get the grass to stand up.

 

[gsganzer]

Mine cuts fine. I run full throttle. The only mowing quality issues I've encountered are due to a bent blade or deck leveling.

 

[Knott]

I run my BX at 2600 RPM & my 60" mmm cuts very well. I agree with the possibility of your RPM's are too low.

 

[TripleR]

We have two BXs and a JD1025r all with 60" decks and all mow quite well. We replaced a dedicated mower with them and have been very well satisfied.

 

[08quadram]

I have several different types of grass. Kentucky Blue Grass mixed with weeds it the most prevalent. Doesn't seem to matter what kind of grass (except the parts that have lots of weeds. they mow just fine). I have some grass in the back that is very very fine. It never mows well (except with my old belly mower on my Case VAC). I'm not leaving ruts, but the lawn isn't real smooth. I know that will have an impact on the finish, but has never before on any other mower I've owned not picked up the grass behind the front wheels.

I have tried mowing at different engine speeds. Generally I mow at 3,000 rpm. I'm guessing these are the standard OEM blades, and not high lift. I bought the tractor used at an auction. The deck has had some abuse, but it does mow level, just not in the wheel tracks. I haven't priced out high lift blades or the gators.

 

[SLIMSHADIE]

Mine cuts fine even better than my zero turn. First year I used the stock blades 2500rpm, 2nd year used gator blades 2500 rpm, probably cuts a little better than stock. This is the first year I haven't used it, do to my dedicated mowing zero turn. My zero turn does knock off a 1/2 hour even with the smaller 52" deck.

 

[Sid Post]

I would check the blades at this point. It sounds like your blades are worn out. $50 should put a new set on your mower.

Our old blades had rounded tips and cut poorly. The new 'square' blades made things look like a golf course green.

 

[skeets]

I am not going to say how I found this out,,,, but someone I knew one time put the NEWLY SHARPEND blades back on,,,,, ahhhh upside down, yes they do go on that way,, it more or less beat the grass to death, not cut it,,, just a thought
Turned them over and there was nothing safe, it would chop up just about anything I ran over even the OLs clippers

 

[Diydave]

I'll admit to putting a blade on upside-down a time or 2. Sometimes I change out 6 blades in a clip, get distracted by a call or something. Never have mowed with them upside-down, have generally caught it by the time I get to tightening the last blade...

 

[OldeEnglish]

We had the same issues with the b2910 with a 60" MMM. Recently we put a set of gator blades on it and the performance increased significantly. The tractor was down for a few weeks due to leaking hydraulic line when we installed them. Along with heavy rains and the summer sun, the grass got really long when we first got to try them. I was surprised to see how fine it cut the clippings up, the old flat blades would practically discharge hay. It was definitely worth the $50 or what ever they cost for them.

 

[08quadram]

The blades are I good shape and sharp. Did that this spring. I will double check, but I am 99.9% sure they are not I upside down. I could see that happening.

Any one know which set of gators would be the correct ones?

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[OldeEnglish]

I got mine off of eBay and just did a search under the MMM deck model. I'm sure doing the same with Google would bring you some results.

 

[Tooljunkie]

I have noticed my other orange mower cuts better at a lower setting,but the clippings get so heavy the yard looks worse than if i kept deck high and left strips here and there. I have had gator blades on other moowers, and it makes a significant difference. When i get new blades they will be gators.