F series underbelly grass deflector

[M and C]

Have recently acquired a F3680 rear discharge this summer. Very pleased with machine but not a fan of how much grass gets caught under machine. Clean it out after every mowing with air nozzle but would like to put some kind of shield underneath to stop some of the grass accumulation. I realize I won't be able to stop it all but would like to slow it down. Was wondering if anyone had attempted this? Thank you Mike

 

[arto98607]

My F3060 has OEM 1/4" rubber deflector in-between the front wheels.
It does not stop all clippings, but it helps a lot.

I use BR400 blower to clean out clippings etc. after each mowing - works better than air-hose in my case.

I will take a photo for you little later.

Edit:
Here's couple of photos.

Is that what you were asking about, or were you thinking something similar to what my other rear discharge mower has:

It has a 1/4" "flap" or skirt almost the full width of the deck and it keeps clippings from being blown straight out.




I have considered installing similar skirt for my F3060 72" RD deck and will probably do so this spring.

It should be pretty easy to install one with help of about 6.5' flat-bar & through bolts.

 

[M and C]

Thank you for your response. Looking more for one that might sit parallel to bottom of machine so as not to impede the grass flow. Does the one you have on the back of the deck seem to windrow the grass any?

 

[arto98607]

Thank you for your response. Looking more for one that might sit parallel to bottom of machine so as not to impede the grass flow. Does the one you have on the back of the deck seem to windrow the grass any?

Glad if I can help!

• I have been looking at the spare parts drawings for my F3060 as well as my RC72R-F30 deck, but have not been able to find the rubber flap or the steel bracket which bolts into the front axle. It's definitely a Kubota made part.
  
  The rubber flap would be easy to make but the steel bracket has a pretty close & precise fit in to the axle housing.
  
  I would suggest talking to a dealer to see if it's available for your mower.
  
  
• The skirt in the back edge of a deck is on my 61" Grasshopper mulching mower and it works great without leaving any windrows. Being a mulch mower deck by design it holds clippings & leaves back, chews them up and more or less discharges them down in to the grass. There is hardly anything visible normally when cutting weekly. The mulching requires obviously extra energy and in tall wet grass the mowing speed needs to be adjusted down accordingly. It has a small .7L 3-cyl Kubota D722 Diesel engine with only about 17 - 18 hp gross output vs. 1.3L 4-cyl 35 hp in F3060.

 

[M and C]

May have to explore the skirt at the back of deck a little farther. If it windrows the grass too much might invest in mulch blades and even if no blade change, I won't have a lot invested.

 

[arto98607]

The only reason I want to install a skirt at the back of my F3060 Rd deck is to see if it will chew up maple and birch leaves better.

I already have switched to Gator blades but in my opinion it did not make noticeable difference compared to the original Kubota 70050-94622 blades.
The leaves are blown out freely from the back - but on the other hand they get chewed up very nicely whenever driving over them in reverse direction!

I think looking at the baffles in the photo of my deck will help to see why that happens.
It is sort of wide open in the rear by design and a rubber skirt should slow down the air flow. At least it's worth a try.


It was designed to cut grass and blow it towards the rear, not to mulch maple leaves!

PS. This photo was taken during new deck "undercoating" and the missing anti-scalp rollers were installed after the photo.

Cheers,

 

[M and C]

Thank you for your input

 

[Doug Vee]

Arto,

I have noticed that the blades under my RC72R deck run at almost the same height as the bottom edge of the deck rim. Except at the rear of the deck for the discharge. I don't think I have ever had a mower where the blades run at or very near, the same height as the bottom of the deck rim.

Do your blades run at the same relative elevation as the deck rim?

Doug

 

[arto98607]

Arto,

I have noticed that the blades under my RC72R deck run at almost the same height as the bottom edge of the deck rim. Except at the rear of the deck for the discharge. I don't think I have ever had a mower where the blades run at or very near, the same height as the bottom of the deck rim.

Do your blades run at the same relative elevation as the deck rim?

Doug

Doug,
I just went to measure and in my mower the deck rim bottom is about 1/2" lower than the cutting edges of the blades.

 

[Doug Vee]

Arto,

Thanks for checking. I had a good look under my deck today while reinstalling one of the spindles I was working on. My blades are indeed oriented about the same elevation as yours, relative to the deck rim. My eyeball of it from a few weeks ago was not very accurate.

Thanks again for checking.

Doug