Mowing New mulch kit works great, but ...

[MoreCowbell]

I just installed the Kubota mulch kit for my 60" regular cut MMM which is under my BX2350. I already had Gators so I just bought the kit. After mowing there are almost no visible clippings left which I guess is what mulching is all about. This is what I was hoping for.

I do have two gripes. I had to do a little grinding on the ends of a couple of the baffles to get it to fit the way it should against the inside of the MMM. Also, the paint chips and peels off pretty easily - not at all like the paint job on the FEL for example that is very durable. Just normal handling as I was fitting it to the deck resulted in several chips that I needed to prime (I'd rather not have bare metal in such a rust friendly environment).

I'm happy with the way the kit works, but I'm a little disappointed with Kubota's workmanship given how expensive it was ($335 before tax/shipping for both the mulch kit and left baffle from Messicks).

Regarding Messicks, they were priced competitively, shipped quickly and emailed the tracking numbers as soon as the parts were shipped, so thumbs up to them.:thumbsup:

 

[devildog1]

Yes I agree, Messicks is a quality business, I to have ordered from them and they ship and send tracking orders super fast. Good old fashion way of doing business, hats off to Messicks.
DevilDog

 

[sw03]

good for you bud! I still cannot pony up the green backs to get one!

 

[billyii]

Questions for MoreCowbell or anyone who can help me.

I bought a used BX2350 last summer with the MMM 60" deck, model no. RCK60B-23BX and installed the Kubota mulching kit with Kubota mulching blades.

I have a lot of oak leaves and lots and lots of pine straw in my yard which I had always mulched with my old Honda 3813 equipped with Gator blades and a homemade mulching kit. The Honda did a great job mulching the grass, leaves and pine straw. However, the BX2350 does not do well with the leaves and is not good at all at picking up and mulching the pine straw. The Kubota is very good at mulching and cutting the grass. Picking up the leaves and straw seems to be the problem.

I think I need to install Gator blades on my Kubota so I called a couple of places to purchase the blades. The first place himmed and hawed on which blades I needed to buy and the second place said Gator blades should not and could not be used with the Kubota mulching kit so I ended up not getting Gator blades.

From MoreCowbell's post it appears that Gator blades do work with the Kubota mulching kit.

I would certainly appreciate it if someone could give me the numbers of the Gator blades that will fit my deck. Also any comments on using Gator blades for mulching pine straw and leaves with the kit would be welcome.

Does anyone know a good place to order Gator blades on the internet?

Thanks very much!


Billy

 

[thavil]

Questions for MoreCowbell or anyone who can help me.

I bought a used BX2350 last summer with the MMM 60" deck, model no. RCK60B-23BX and installed the Kubota mulching kit with Kubota mulching blades.

I have a lot of oak leaves and lots and lots of pine straw in my yard which I had always mulched with my old Honda 3813 equipped with Gator blades and a homemade mulching kit. The Honda did a great job mulching the grass, leaves and pine straw. However, the BX2350 does not do well with the leaves and is not good at all at picking up and mulching the pine straw. The Kubota is very good at mulching and cutting the grass. Picking up the leaves and straw seems to be the problem.

I think I need to install Gator blades on my Kubota so I called a couple of places to purchase the blades. The first place himmed and hawed on which blades I needed to buy and the second place said Gator blades should not and could not be used with the Kubota mulching kit so I ended up not getting Gator blades.

From MoreCowbell's post it appears that Gator blades do work with the Kubota mulching kit.

I would certainly appreciate it if someone could give me the numbers of the Gator blades that will fit my deck. Also any comments on using Gator blades for mulching pine straw and leaves with the kit would be welcome.

Does anyone know a good place to order Gator blades on the internet?

Thanks very much!


Billy

See if the attached document helps in your search. I "borrowed" it a few years back from a fellow TBN'er.

 

[KennyR]

The Gator 96-612 was the direct replacement for my BX 2360 60" MMM Kubota blades. I found 3 on eBay (new) for $11 each, swapped them out in 30 minutes and they worked great to significantly reduce the size of clippings even without the mulch kit.

 

[MoreCowbell]

Billyii,
If you can find the 96-612 blades (I think 396-612 is the same thing also) like KennyR describes, that would be the best way to go since they'll fit your deck right out of the box.

I ended up going with the 96-787 model since I could not find 96-612 at my Agri-Supply or anywhere else at the time. 96-787 works fine, but there is the added work of cutting down a Cat 0 to Cat 1 bushing to get it to fit the shaft (described in Thavil's attachment). The bushing is stock # 11959 at Agri-Supply and is under $1 and one would be more than enough to do all three blades.

 

[dodge man]

I agree, mine didn't fit perfect either, and I think one of my blades hit the mulch kit and I had to do some grinding. I also don't think it does a great job of picking up leaves, but sometimes mine seemed mashed down and a little wet, so I'm not sure I expect it to pick up those leaves.

When I need blades, I'll try the gators, thanks for the tip on which ones to buy.

 

[billyii]

A very special thanks to Thavil, Kenny, MoreCowbell and Dodge Man.

It appears the blades I need are the 96-612 ( or the 396-612-new number?). I am now in the process of finding the blades on the internet. Only one blade on Ebay, none on Amazon (out of stock) and I am not sure that the blades at AgriSupply are actually Gators. They have the Gator number but do not say Gator and AgriSupply may not even have any in stock as you have to call for availability.

I have sent an email to Oregon, the manufacturer but they have not replied yet.

Do any of you know a trusted on-line dealer to order from?

Again, many thanks for all your help. It was certainly appreciated.

Billy

 

[MoreCowbell]

It appears the blades I need are the 96-612 ( or the 396-612-new number?). I am now in the process of finding the blades on the internet. Only one blade on Ebay, none on Amazon (out of stock) and I am not sure that the blades at AgriSupply are actually Gators. They have the Gator number but do not say Gator and AgriSupply may not even have any in stock as you have to call for availability.

Hey Billy. You are having the same problem I did. It seems like it would be easier to spot Big Foot than to find a set of 96-612 Gator blades. I think the 96-787 blades I bought at AgriSupply were the real thing (at least they had Oregon stickers on them).

By the way, I believe the 396-612 is the "G6" version of the 96-612. Its a heavier duty version. I opted for the regular ones as I'd rather have the blade bend instead of breaking something on the deck if I hit a rock - and I'm too much of a cheapskate to buy the more expensive ones.