Bush Hog FINISHING MOWER uneven mowing

[allenport]

I am a new member and a woman. Please bear that in mind if my questions sound uneducated. I started using our 7 foot finishing mower in 2020 when my husband died. I have a part time helper, but he isn't really knowledgeable on farm machinery eithe r. Each year I have the tractor serviced by Kubota and they were the ones that hooked up the mower for me.

What is happening is that the place where the wheels contact the ground is cutting extremely low, almost making like a rut. You can see the wide patch between them that is higher. I do know the wheels press down the grass, but that isn't what is causing this. I also notice the rear discharge is coming more on left and right rather than evenly across the deck. That could be due to the cutting lower on the outside.

We have played around with the adjusting the spacers and that hasn't solved the problem. Before I call in the expensive Kubota service person, I'd like to see if any of you experienced people have any idea what is causing this?

I do mow a lot of uneven terrain, so I expect that to look uneven. But even on a flat path, I can see the vast difference.

Most recently in checking the spacers, I noticed that the front wheels weren't the same as the back. According to the manual, they should all be the same. We now have them the same and that seems to have made the problem worse.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I can get photos if that helps.

 

[riptides]

First, welcome to TBN.

Photos are always good.

In your particular case, the type (model number, name brand) of finishing mower can help us out. I am sure someone will jump right in after that and tell you all about adjusting. That would be either the tractor attach points or the mower deck itself.

Again, welcome.

 

[chim]

Welcome aboard! Pictures are always helpful.

 

[K5lwq]

Welcome. Pictures for sure and pictures of the uneven cut would help too.

 

[RjCorazza]

Yes, pictures. Also raise the deck up and get some shots of the blades. 3 point finish mowers are easy to adjust assuming there is no geometry type damage to the wheels, yokes, or brackets. I suspect a blade may be out of whack.

 

[Jerry/MT]

I am a new member and a woman. Please bear that in mind if my questions sound uneducated. I started using our 7 foot finishing mower in 2020 when my husband died. I have a part time helper, but he isn't really knowledgeable on farm machinery eithe r. Each year I have the tractor serviced by Kubota and they were the ones that hooked up the mower for me.

What is happening is that the place where the wheels contact the ground is cutting extremely low, almost making like a rut. You can see the wide patch between them that is higher. I do know the wheels press down the grass, but that isn't what is causing this. I also notice the rear discharge is coming more on left and right rather than evenly across the deck. That could be due to the cutting lower on the outside.

We have played around with the adjusting the spacers and that hasn't solved the problem. Before I call in the expensive Kubota service person, I'd like to see if any of you experienced people have any idea what is causing this?

I do mow a lot of uneven terrain, so I expect that to look uneven. But even on a flat path, I can see the vast difference.

Most recently in checking the spacers, I noticed that the front wheels weren't the same as the back. According to the manual, they should all be the same. We now have them the same and that seems to have made the problem worse.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I can get photos if that helps.

Without pictures and the model mower, it's hard to specifically diagnose your problem but I'm sure it is just getting the mower and the 3 point hitch adjusted properly.
If you have a flat spot of concrete, the general rule is to level the mower fore and aft and side to side. You can use a small spirit level to do this. Alternately you can measure the height of the mower at all four corners with a tape measure. I'm assuming nothing is bent on the mower frame. If you have or can get the mower's operator's manual, that would be your best bet to find out how to do this.

 

[old and tired]

Photos would help... I'm guessing that one of the blades hit something and is bent. Which could push more air to the other side while it's cutting lower...

Lift the mower up with the 3 point hitch and get a photo of the blades underneath....

 

[groundcover]

Pic is worth a thousand posts!
Also a location in your profile, someone nearby would probably swing by and give you a hand.

 

[Have tractor did travel]

Allenport - first - raise the deck and be sure the deck is clean underneath. Caked on grass (usually from mowing when dew still on the ground) can cause uneven cutting. A 2" stiff putty knife is good for removing caked grass.
I'm going to disagree with JerryM/T and the owner's manual - you do not want the deck even. You want the deck lower in the front and higher in the rear. In that manner, the blades cut the grass just one time. Minimum 1/4" difference.
Be sure your blades are sharp. If you're not sure they are sharp enough, look at the grass blade stem. If the ends are shredded and the next day they've turned tan, the blades are not sharp enough
If you have cool weather grass and are going for a good looking lawn, cut grass to 4". Do not cut more than 1/3 of the blade length at one time. That means you cut the grass at 6", and likely means you cut every 4 days during growing season. Over time, the healthy grass will push the weeds out of your lawn.
Post again after you've checked the underside of the deck for clogs of grass.

 

[Smokeydog]

Pictures and little more info helpful.

Agree proper adjustment of the deck is important. I keep the the front about 1/2” lower than the back.

On the Woods rd7200 had the left blade spindle pulley shear the two 1/4” clamp bolts that let the blade not spin under load.

We mow rough ground too. Had trouble with two brands of finish mowers bending the caster gauge wheels spindles. Causing the wheels to drag. Sharp turning 4wd tractor back and forth is hard on spindles. Finally figured out a fix with trailer spindles.

Good luck.