Anyone know of something to apply to the underside of a mower deck on a lawn tractor to prevent grass buildup
or at least to make it stick less firmly and make cleanup easier? Thanks Bud

On Fri, 6 Jun 2003 21:17:31 -0500, "Bud Paulson" wrote:

Anyone know of something to apply to the underside of a mower deck on a lawn tractor to prevent grass buildup
or at least to make it stick less firmly and make cleanup easier? Thanks Bud


We bought an electric, rechargeable mower and it's deck is made of plastic.
Other than washing the deck bottom after each use, there's not much I know of.
Mowing when the grass is dry is another good way to avoid that buildup of wet
grass.

"Bud Paulson" wrote in message ...
Anyone know of something to apply to the underside of a mower deck on a lawn tractor to prevent grass buildup
or at least to make it stick less firmly and make cleanup easier? Thanks Bud

Try sharpening the blades so you are cutting instead of making mush.

animaux wrote:
Bud Paulson wrote:

Anyone know of something to apply to the underside of a mower deck on
a lawn tractor to prevent grass buildup
or at least to make it stick less firmly and make cleanup easier?
Thanks Bud


We bought an electric, rechargeable mower and it's deck is made of
plastic.
Other than washing the deck bottom after each use, there's not much I
know of.
Mowing when the grass is dry is another good way to avoid that buildup
of wet
grass.


New plastic, coated metal decks and even uncoated metal decks will all
be great when they're new, but eventually they'll become scratched, and
more prone to sticking. The dryer the grass, the less sticking, but of
course that isn't always possible. The wetter the grass is, the sharper
your blade needs to be to slice the grass, instead of stripping and
pulverizing it.

You also want to make sure you do a good job of cleaning the deck each
time you use the mower. Grass left stuck to the deck will dry out, and
become semi-permanently adhered to the deck, giving an even better
surface for more grass to build-up upon.

As far as applying anything to the deck, obviously anything wet (or
oily) is simply going to cause more grass to stick. Anything dry isn't
going to stick to the deck. You could find a shop that can apply Teflon
(or similar) coatings, but generally for after-market applications the
deck would need to be removed, and it would be coated on both sides. And
that's likely to be more expensive than buying a new mower. Even buying
a replacement deck is likely to be more expensive than a new mower,
especially if you don't do the work yourself.

So short of buying a new mower, the three things that will help the most
a
1. Cutting the grass when it's dry. (That includes avoiding the
morning dew as much as avoiding rainy days),
2. Keeping the blades sharp, and
3. Always doing a good job of cleaning up.

Interestingly enough, those three actions have other positive results
associated with them as well, so they're good ideas even if you do
decide to buy new mowers as often as some people buy plants.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.

Bud Paulson wrote:

Anyone know of something to apply to the underside of a mower deck on a lawn tractor to prevent grass buildup
or at least to make it stick less firmly and make cleanup easier? Thanks Bud

Sharp blade as already mentioned and washing under the mower. Some will not agree due to safety reasons but I
rinse mine from the side with the mower running. You can spray right into the grass exit shute or let water run
under the edge of the mower and it'll knock out the grass quickly.



--
John S. DeBoo

John S. DeBoo wrote:

Sharp blade as already mentioned and washing under the mower. Some
will not agree due to safety reasons but I
rinse mine from the side with the mower running. You can spray right
into the grass exit shute or let water run
under the edge of the mower and it'll knock out the grass quickly.

A strong, directed stream of water with the blades stopped is going to
work faster than the scattered spray that's produced when the blades are
running. Cleaning with the blades off allows you to get into the nooks
and crannies that would only be moistened by a spray distributed by the
spinning blades.

But if you're not convinced, and still want to clean the mower when it's
running, there are hose attachments that can be attached to the mower
deck while the mower is not running. Then start the mower, and turn on
the water.

If you still think raising the mower while it's running is a good idea,
you'd better get your points in now while you still have enough fingers
to type, and eyes that can still see the screen. Not only do I "not
agree due to safety reasons", I think it's downright reckless and
stupid.

BTW... For safety reasons, even if the mower is off, don't blindly reach
into the blades. Work around them as best you can. If you must move
them, you want to make sure that the mower isn't just off, but with an
electric mower you want to make sure it's unplugged, and with a gas
mower you want to remove the spark plug. Even then, your initial contact
with the blade should not be with your hand. You want to test to make
sure the blade doesn't have a lot of torque behind it, and moves
relatively freely.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.

Warren wrote:

John S. DeBoo wrote:

Sharp blade as already mentioned and washing under the mower. Some
will not agree due to safety reasons but I
rinse mine from the side with the mower running. You can spray right
into the grass exit shute or let water run
under the edge of the mower and it'll knock out the grass quickly.

If you still think raising the mower while it's running is a good idea,
you'd better get your points in now while you still have enough fingers
to type, and eyes that can still see the screen. Not only do I "not
agree due to safety reasons", I think it's downright reckless and
stupid.

Thank you for your flame of sorts and insightful response:

1- I do not raise the mower to rinse, its sitting on the ground running with
the water running from a nozzle into the exit chute;

2- my face, hands, fingers & feet etc are not anywhere close to the exit
chute;

3- who said anything about touching the blade etc? Whats that got to do
with rinsing? I'm not about to remove it just to clean under theresigh.

4- your response should have been directed towards the gentleman who was
asking about cleaning under a mower instead of calling me 'stupid and
reckless' for doing it the way I do. Note I did mention some wouldn't agree
for safety reasons, thus one has an option and a choice. Thank
you..............

--
John S. DeBoo

"John S. DeBoo" wrote in message
...
Bud Paulson wrote:

Anyone know of something to apply to the underside of a mower deck on a
lawn tractor to prevent grass buildup
or at least to make it stick less firmly and make cleanup easier?
Thanks Bud

Sharp blade as already mentioned and washing under the mower. Some will
not agree due to safety reasons but I
rinse mine from the side with the mower running.

That's how the Toro manual instructs for the cleaning of grass from under
the mower.

You can spray right into the grass exit shute or let water run
under the edge of the mower and it'll knock out the grass quickly.

--
John S. DeBoo


Shepherd

Thanks John - I'd never thought of directing a stream of water into the whirling blades or running water on
the ground below the deck. Obviously one would want to keep a safe distance from the chute and make sure no
one else is around. I'll give it a try. Bud

Tractor Supply sells what your looking for.
"Bud Paulson" wrote in message
...
Anyone know of something to apply to the underside of a mower deck on a
lawn tractor to prevent grass buildup
or at least to make it stick less firmly and make cleanup easier? Thanks
Bud

"John S. DeBoo" wrote in message
...
Warren wrote:

John S. DeBoo wrote:

Sharp blade as already mentioned and washing under the mower. Some
will not agree due to safety reasons but I
rinse mine from the side with the mower running. You can spray right
into the grass exit shute or let water run
under the edge of the mower and it'll knock out the grass quickly.

If you still think raising the mower while it's running is a good idea,
you'd better get your points in now while you still have enough fingers
to type, and eyes that can still see the screen. Not only do I "not
agree due to safety reasons", I think it's downright reckless and
stupid.

Thank you for your flame of sorts and insightful response:

1- I do not raise the mower to rinse, its sitting on the ground running
with
the water running from a nozzle into the exit chute;

2- my face, hands, fingers & feet etc are not anywhere close to the exit
chute;

3- who said anything about touching the blade etc? Whats that got to do
with rinsing? I'm not about to remove it just to clean under theresigh.

4- your response should have been directed towards the gentleman who was
asking about cleaning under a mower instead of calling me 'stupid and
reckless' for doing it the way I do. Note I did mention some wouldn't
agree
for safety reasons, thus one has an option and a choice. Thank
you..............

--
John S. DeBoo



And... *IF* there's an accident cleaning that way, I just mark one down for
darwin cleaning the gene pool a bit.

I can only assume that if a person has attained a reasonable age without
dying yet, that they can spray some water at a running mower without
touching the moving bits.

Bud Paulson wrote:

Thanks John - I'd never thought of directing a stream of water into the whirling blades or running water on
the ground below the deck. Obviously one would want to keep a safe distance from the chute and make sure no
one else is around. I'll give it a try. Bud

If you're uncomfortable with running it in the chute try directing the water from a nozzle at the opening
anywhere around the edge of the mower (btwn mower and ground). With a small nozzle it puts out lots of pressure
and the water gets under the mower. FWIW, if you're doing this on a concrete driveway, wet the driveway first
where the water will drain off or it may slightly stain your concrete greenG.


--
John S. DeBoo