Ride on mower won't cut long/damp grass

[Stubby]

Tried that...

 

ok . Just been left too long for your mower then . Need a rough cut mower or a big chunky strimmer to get it back then use your ride on more often ...

[spandit]

ok . Just been left too long for your mower then . Need a rough cut mower or a big chunky strimmer to get it back then use your ride on more often ...

 

Yes, you're probably right. I might hire the Billy Goat brushcutter from our local place as have some brambles to deal with too...

[Stubby]

Yes, you're probably right. I might hire the Billy Goat brushcutter from our local place as have some brambles to deal with too...

 

Also check your belt tension . Could be time for a new one ?

[IVECOKID]

This thread has prompted me into swapping the front wheels over on my last remaining ride on mower ..a Westwood S800 and its mint and what a cracker of a machine so simple with a optional cord start and 1 belt for the cutter deck .absolutely bullet proof .

I weighed in 3 ride on mowers last month. Lawnflite , Yardman and ne old Countax ....sick to death of twin cutters and silly priced double running belts .

 

Ste

[GreenGui]

I'm not talking metre high pasture, the grass is, in places, about 8 inches long. I'm using a Snapper 33" 13hp rear engined ride on, with a newly sharpened blade, on the highest setting (actually one higher than that - you can latch it above the teeth) but every time I get grass wrapped around the ends of the blade and it just smokes the belt (which aren't cheap)

 

I'm wondering if fitting a shorter blade to give more tip clearance might be a solution or failing that, cutting the guard away to let the grass out (possibly not the safest solution).

 

Ideally, I'd keep the grass regularly mown but that hasn't happened and short of buying an Orec Rabbit (REALLY expensive), I'm getting fed up with stopping every few yards to remove the jammed grass from the blade ends

 

Before you right it off, try a bit of spray on 'belt dressing'. Sounds like a case of slipping belt / tension issue. If the belt dressing helps thats your clue.

[spandit]

I don't think belt tension or dressing would help much, but I'll give it a go. The difficult with this mower is that to tension the belt you have to move the two halves of the chassis apart, using plastic spacers (which I can't find anywhere). I need to make some for myself but think with the design of mower deck, it's never going to be that effective. With a gap cut in the rim of the deck it would let the grass out rather than it just being forced into the small gap between the blade tip and the rim

[TurtleWoods72]

Just buy the Billy Goat. Watch the videos on YouTube, they look unstoppable.

 

2" cutting capability, yes please!

[spandit]

From what I recall, to hire one for a weekend cost about £75. Considering they are £3,200 new, that's a fair amount of cutting before it works out cheaper to own/service my own unit. They are cool, though, a real beast of a machine. I can't work out why a Billy Goat with a 13hp engine will go through 2" trees whereas my ride-on with a 13hp engine will barely get through ankle length grass...

[TurtleWoods72]

From what I recall, to hire one for a weekend cost about £75. Considering they are £3,200 new, that's a fair amount of cutting before it works out cheaper to own/service my own unit. They are cool, though, a real beast of a machine. I can't work out why a Billy Goat with a 13hp engine will go through 2" trees whereas my ride-on with a 13hp engine will barely get through ankle length grass...

 

That one you linked us to was only £1350 inc vat....wasn't it?

[Richard 1234]

How big an area? Could you not pay a local farmer to come with a topper then keep it in check yourself afterwards?