Mower Deck Washing System And Mulching Blades

[OldeEnglish]

Good Evening Everyone,

I'm looking for some information on a deck wasing system that is supposedly installed into the deck that hooks up to a garden hose and washes the mowing deck. Does anyone have one of these installed? If so I would love to see some pictures of the setup. I'm picturing a 3/4" hose X 1/2 or 3/4" NPT adapter, maybe installed above 2 or all 3 blades?

I would like to find and install one in my father's RCK60-27B mowing deck as a Christmas gift. He mentioned to me this summer that one exists and that he wished he had one. He keeps his equipment immaculate and I think it would save him a lot of physical effort.

He also mentioned about wanting to try a mulching blade kit. I don't know exactly what that consists of. I did read a few threads about a lot of people using the high lift Oregon Gator Blades and liking their performance compared to stock blades. I'm guessing kubota makes a kit consisting of blades and a cover for the discharge?

I would appreciate any guidance to point me in the right direction.

 

[Daren Todd]

This could be easily adapted

http://www.amazon.com/490-900-0025-...6967&sr=8-3&keywords=lawn+mower+deck+wash+kit

 

[OldeEnglish]

Darren, That's a good find! I never think of Amazon.... I'm curious if there is a defector of some sort on the outlet to create a wider spray pattern, I'm picturing something like a fire sprinkler head on a small scale....

That seems like a simple concept except I think it will need 3 installed. Now picture an older guy with a bad back trying to reach the middle of the deck while installed to hook up a hose to it. That could be a pain right in the donkey! I believe you would want all three blasting water in there at the same time.... I'll come up with something....

I would love to know if these adapters just blast a straight stream of water or have a deflector to spread out the spray.

 

[Daren Todd]

The set up on my cubcadet is just a straight stream. Blades move the water around. My neighbor swears by his, i used mine a couple times. We both seemed to have the same amount of build up at the end of the season.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Useless. unless you take the time to do it after every mowing. One fitting on my mower deck, and run it at mowing speed.then run it for a few minutes after to dry deck. I just clean it a couple times a year- when sharpening blades. Next year it gets a repaint. I blow deck with compressed air after every mow.

 

[OldeEnglish]

He cleans his deck with a hose and a scrub brush after every use and applies silicone to keep the grass from sticking. Seeing it's a straight stream of water I'll build my own setup. I have too many fittings kicking around to spend $20 a pop on something as simple as that. Thanks for your input on that guys, it's a big help.

Now with the mulching kit.... Can someone explain what it actually consists of. I believe my father said it comes with a different style blade or extra cutting blades? Anyone have one installed on a RCK60-27B or compatible deck and knows of the part number? I think he said his friend with a BX has a mulching setup and loves it. Personally don't know anything about them.

 

[redfernclan]

Before they came out with those, I kind of went the other way. I soldered up some scrap copper pipe and have two outlets kind of like sprinkler heads. I capped them with brass pipe caps that are machined with a nice 45 degree face on the outside edge. I drilled holes in the pipe caps making my own sprayer nozzles that have much more flow. Buried the whole thing in the ground at grade level next to a shut off on my shed that is waist high.
I pull up over the top, lean over and turn the water on, start the blades and let run till water flowing out from deck is clear. Shut off water, head back to the shop and run the blades to get water off the pulleys. Deck is now clean and I never shut the mower off or got out of the seat.
I'm just really lazy at heart. ;]

 

[OldeEnglish]

Before they came out with those, I kind of went the other way. I soldered up some scrap copper pipe and have two outlets kind of like sprinkler heads. I capped them with brass pipe caps that are machined with a nice 45 degree face on the outside edge. I drilled holes in the pipe caps making my own sprayer nozzles that have much more flow. Buried the whole thing in the ground at grade level next to a shut off on my shed that is waist high.
I pull up over the top, lean over and turn the water on, start the blades and let run till water flowing out from deck is clear. Shut off water, head back to the shop and run the blades to get water off the pulleys. Deck is now clean and I never shut the mower off or got out of the seat.
I'm just really lazy at heart. ;]

Now that is a really good idea and I wouldn't call that lazy! My thought on it is that the more water at different angles the better. I have a bunch of different angle nozzles that I could put to use. To achieve even flow to the sprayers they need to be piped in a circular series instead of one straight line with a dead end..... With that being said.... I could fab up a rectangle of pipe with sprayer nozzles and he could slide it right under the deck. I like your method of having it buried in the ground but I don't think that would be possible at his house. All of the hose bibs are on the house and he rolls out a hose and cleans it away from the house. You do have me thinking now!

 

[OldeEnglish]

Well I think I have figured out what my pops was talking about for a mulching kit. It is a set of baffles installed in the deck separating each blade. I'm guessing you also need to use a gator style blade with this system? Does anyone use something use something like this on their tractor? I've searched long and hard for a baffle kit to fit a model RCK60-27B deck and all I have found is one on eBay but some of numbers/letters match don't match.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KUBOTA-PERF...=BI_Heavy_Equipment_Parts&hash=item1e6679918d


I just picked up some new tires for my b7100 and I'm going to take them to a kubota dealer to get loaded with rim guard. I'll keep searching but If I can't find any answers I'll see what the dealer comes up with.

 

[Russell King]

Look at this tool for cleaning radiators. One of them is for water, one for air.

If you made something like that to put under the deck to spray around with, it could be similar to what you are talking about with the array of sprinkler heads.

You might need to make some type of mirror to look around with also.

 

[OldeEnglish]

Look at this tool for cleaning radiators. One of them is for water, one for air.

If you made something like that to put under the deck to spray around with, it could be similar to what you are talking about with the array of sprinkler heads.

You might need to make some type of mirror to look around with also.

You Make a good point, nothing will do better than spraying with water and scrubbing with a brush. I've come to the conclusion of using either a low profile lawn sprinkler or an electric pressure washer with a long wand and an offset sprayer end. It just doesn't make any sense to me to drill, mount, and pipe a series of sprayers into the mowing deck..... It would work but I think my pops wouldn't want that done to his baby . Even if I had to burry and pin down a lawn sprinkler I think it would work very well.

I am still searching for info on a baffle kit for his deck. I don't know if one is made or I can order one that would work and a few holes would have to be drilled to mount them. Does anyone use that sort of setup that could tell me if it works or it's worth it the hassle??? I'll make it to the dealer by the end of the week with my tires and I'll see if they can come up with anything.