Cut Height and Greasing on a BX.

[TheMurf]

What cut height do you guys prefer to cut at on a BX machine ? I was cutting at 3 1/4 inch, but the way our lawn has been growing I could cut it every 3 days or so. I been cleaning and greasing the deck every ten hours, do any of you push past the ten hour interval? How often do you clean and grease the deck on your machine?

 

[Trimley]

When it's wet and the grass can pack in, I hose the underside. In the case of my greasing schedule, I do it once a season..because I'm only mowing about 8x.

 

[TheMurf]

Thanks Trimley, Every time I cut I make sure it's dry grass,which helps. I clean the underside of the deck and sharpen the blades and grease every time I pull them deck ,which has been every 10 hours. Pulling the deck every ten hours seems obsessive or is it just me ?

 

[imnukensc]

Cut height depends on what kind of grass you're cutting and how often you want to cut. My cut height is 2", but I'm cutting centipede. I usually mow about every 2 weeks depending on rain. Takes me about an 1 1/2 to 2 hours to mow. I grease 3 or 4 times a season.

Pulling the deck and changing the blades every 10 hours seems way over obsessive to me. I change blades once per year and don't even pull the deck to do that. I use ramps.

 

[Sidekick]

Before I got the zero turn I used the BX for all the mowing. About 7 of my 10 acres and put about 100 hours a season on it. Started with Kubota blades and once a month they needed sharpening. Switched to the Oregon G6 fusion carbide sprayed blades and ran the whole season with a new set in spring along with a much better cut on my weeds. No more sharpening and just bought a new set each spring. I scraped the deck and greased the spindles before each mowing that was every 4 days in the spring to up to 3 weeks in the late summer during a dry year. Finally smartened up and got the zero turn that mows in half the time with a better cut and better seat that my back likes.

 

[TheMurf]

Cut height depends on what kind of grass you're cutting and how often you want to cut. My cut height is 2", but I'm cutting centipede. I usually mow about every 2 weeks depending on rain. Takes me about an 1 1/2 to 2 hours to mow. I grease 3 or 4 times a season.

Pulling the deck and changing the blades every 10 hours seems way over obsessive to me. I change blades once per year and don't even pull the deck to do that. I use ramps.

Murf reply = I'm sharpening the blades every ten hours,cleaning the deck and greasing at that interval. Your cutting schedule is like mine. I'm out more often because I had the cut height at 3 1/4. Today I lowered it to
2 3/4. Last year I pulled the deck four times during the cutting season, I'm wondering if it's really needed every ten hours ?

 

[Russell King]

@TheMurf

Not that anyone really cares that much about the way you sometimes reply but it make it hard to see what you are saying if it is inside the person’s post that you quote

You should see some text when you select the reply button. If you type inside the [QUOxx] at the beginning and end of the reply, what ever you type is then inside the reply and doesn’t appear in your post to be easily read.

Hope that makes some sense and doesn’t sound like a complaint.

 

[TheMurf]

@TheMurf

Not that anyone really cares that much about the way you sometimes reply but it make it hard to see what you are saying if it is inside the person’s post that you quote

You should see some text when you select the reply button. If you type inside the [QUOxx] at the beginning and end of the reply, what ever you type is then inside the reply and doesn’t appear in your post to be easily read.

Hope that makes some sense and doesn’t sound like a complaint.
[No problem Russell King. I try to reply to everyone who responds to my posts,and not just sometimes. Thanks for the advice on replying, it's appreciated.]

 

[D2Cat]

Thanks Trimley, Every time I cut I make sure it's dry grass,which helps. I clean the underside of the deck and sharpen the blades and grease every time I pull them deck ,which has been every 10 hours. Pulling the deck every ten hours seems obsessive or is it just me ?

YES!

 

[TheMurf]

YES!
[Actually that is what Kubota recommends in the shop manual.IMHO, I think it's over kill.]

 

[DustyRusty]

When you sharpen your blades do you also balance them? I have been looking at some magnetic balancers on Amazon, and they all look alike. It appears that 2 of them are made in Italy, and the difference in price from one to the other is almost double. $59.99 vs. $109.00. The others range from $34.99, $42.99, etc. and there is no way to determine the differences or quality.

 

[Trimley]

A blade balancer can be made. Probably for the price of a couple bearings, a bolt with a nut and a couple washers, that can be clamped into a vise.

 

[GeoHorn]

Most if not all blade balancers are not much better than a nail driven into a stud on the wall so you can hang the blade by it’s center and see if the blade will balance.

Why? because the ones being offered are not “dynamic” …they are static balancers.

I know some of us are old enough to remember seeing our Daddy’s and Grandfathers have their tires balanced and the tire shop used a “bubble balancer” …and that was that. Then the public highways increased speed limits to 70 and the manual-steering cars we had would shimmy the steering wheel at 70.
One day, some enterprising fellow invented a balancer that would spin the wheel ON THE CAR… and to place the weights on the wheel…usually only on the outside.

Then one day they had balancers in the tire shop that spun them OFF the vehicle….and finally we began to see tires being properly balanced.

Until you can balance a mower blade While It Is Spinning…..at the Correct RPM….. there’s not much advantage to spending any more money than a “NAIL on the WALL”.

(I may write a Broadway Play and claim the Movie-Rights to it….. kinda like “Fiddler on the Roof”.)

 

[TheMurf]

Most if not all blade balancers are not much better than a nail driven into a stud on the wall so you can hang the blade by it’s center and see if the blade will balance.

Why? because the ones being offered are not “dynamic” …they are static balancers.

I know some of us are old enough to remember seeing our Daddy’s and Grandfathers have their tires balanced and the tire shop used a “bubble balancer” …and that was that. Then the public highways increased speed limits to 70 and the manual-steering cars we had would shimmy the steering wheel at 70.
One day, some enterprising fellow invented a balancer that would spin the wheel ON THE CAR… and to place the weights on the wheel…usually only on the outside.

Then one day they had balancers in the tire shop that spun them OFF the vehicle….and finally we began to see tires being properly balanced.

Until you can balance a mower blade While It Is Spinning…..at the Correct RPM….. there’s not much advantage to spending any more money than a “NAIL on the WALL”.

(I may write a Broadway Play and claim the Movie-Rights to it….. kinda like “Fiddler on the Roof”.)

Most if not all blade balancers are not much better than a nail driven into a stud on the wall so you can hang the blade by it’s center and see if the blade will balance.

Why? because the ones being offered are not “dynamic” …they are static balancers.

I know some of us are old enough to remember seeing our Daddy’s and Grandfathers have their tires balanced and the tire shop used a “bubble balancer” …and that was that. Then the public highways increased speed limits to 70 and the manual-steering cars we had would shimmy the steering wheel at 70.
One day, some enterprising fellow invented a balancer that would spin the wheel ON THE CAR… and to place the weights on the wheel…usually only on the outside.

Then one day they had balancers in the tire shop that spun them OFF the vehicle….and finally we began to see tires being properly balanced.

Until you can balance a mower blade While It Is Spinning…..at the Correct RPM….. there’s not much advantage to spending any more money than a “NAIL on the WALL”.

(I may write a Broadway Play and claim the Movie-Rights to it….. kinda like “Fiddler on the Roof”.)


[When I sharpen the blades I do not remove them from the spindles.I use a hand file,sharpen the edges which never seam to too dull.. I don't think it affects their balance.]

 

[imnukensc]

@TheMurf I see nothing in my mower manual about pulling the deck every 10 hours. Can you take a picture of that in your manual and post it here? Not that I would do it even if it did say that. It's frickin' ridiculous.

 

[TheMurf]

@TheMurf I see nothing in my mower manual about pulling the deck every 10 hours. Can you take a picture of that in your manual and post it here? Not that I would do it even if it did say that. It's frickin' ridiculous.
[ I have this which I copied. Maybe it's me but I remember seeing service of the deck every ten hours, meaning cleaning, sharping the blades, and greasing. Obsessive I believe is correct..I thought I saw it in the shop manual,when I get a spare minute I will take a look.

https://www.kubotausa.com/service-support/maintenance-schedules/check-points-maintenance-schedule

 

[johnjk]

My lawn is only a lawn because it’s where the short weeds live. In the spring, it’s more of an airboat operation than mowing. No need to wash wet grass when the deck may be partially submerged. I do grease every other mow in these wet conditions. I don’t want the water having easy access to those bearings. I grease after I wash the top of the deck and that hopefully is pushing out moisture. I’ve had my B1700 with the mmm for five years and the only bearing failure was the second mow after I brought it home. Once it drys out, I grease every 4 mows or 8 hrs. Blades? I just put a new set on this year and sharpen them once a year. I like to punish the vegetation more than clean cut it. The blades from last year got touched up on the grinder and will go back on next spring. Not too concerned with balancing them. I’ll hit enough rocks to even things out eventually and with the thickness of the Kubota blades, it hasn’t been an issue. When they get too worn, I give them to a buddy and he makes knives out of them.

 

[RCW]

I’ve had a BX for 11 years now.

I grease the mower every 10 hours or so. I do spray the underside of the pan with a garden hose if I have to mow when it’s wet.

I haven’t pulled the mower mid-season in 11 years.

Don’t intend to start.

 

[TheMurf]

I’ve had a BX for 11 years now.

I grease the mower every 10 hours or so. I do spray the underside of the pan with a garden hose if I have to mow when it’s wet.

I haven’t pulled the mower mid-season in 11 years.

Don’t intend to start.
[For the life of me, I can't find the 10 hr interval. I swear I read it in one of the manuals. Maybe I loosing my mind ? ]

 

[Kurtee]

I grease at the end of the season. I run Exmark tho and JD. I use the magna-matic balancer which beats a nail and also has probe to check if the blade is bent. With the speed that the blades are spinning I figure a balance can help save spindle bearing. I do scrape the decks every mowing and blow the machine off with a leaf blower. I prefer to keep the deck bearings out of the water. A link which shows the balancer. With a little shopping you may find a better price.


The Original MAG-1000 Blade Balancer invented and manufactured by Magna-Matic (magna-matic-direct.com)