[stidrvr]

I recently picked up a 48c and complete bragger with powerflo. I mowed with it for the first time today. I noticed that there was grass left behind on the side that drives the blower about blade center. I also noticed the blow out by the blower but this is actually leaving grass on the lawn, like it's not making it to the blower. While cutting the grass I knew the underside was pretty dirty, and thought that a complete pressure washing would solve the issue, but when I flipped the deck, there wasn't as much as I thought there was. I haven't tried since then, I know the deck has to be leveled and I was cutting at about 2.5". Any thoughts?

 

[Leinie]

I've heard of people with that issue, but I have the same setup at 2.5 inches and it sucks it up clean as a whistle.

Is your powerflow belt good ? and tight ? It's all mounted correctly ? Are the deck blades good ?

Just a hint for you- there is a pin on the powerflow that plugs into a hole in the deck-- put some grease on it if you leave the powerflow on for extended periods.

I just took my pf off for the first time and had a **** of a time getting that thing loose.

 

[KHodges]

Did you get the "blow out" plates for the deck? These are a set of flat plates that bolt to the bottom edge of the deck along the lip. The inside of the plates fit close to the blade tips, and help increase the vacuum, as well as prevent clippings from getting blown out from under the deck edge. the plates are deck-specific. The ones on my deck fit along the left forward half, and the right rearward half.

Adjusting the deck so the front is a tad low will also help, and high-lift blades are a must for proper Powerflow operation.

 

[stidrvr]

I've heard of people with that issue, but I have the same setup at 2.5 inches and it sucks it up clean as a whistle.

Is your powerflow belt good ? and tight ? It's all mounted correctly ? Are the deck blades good ?

Just a hint for you- there is a pin on the powerflow that plugs into a hole in the deck-- put some grease on it if you leave the powerflow on for extended periods.

I just took my pf off for the first time and had a **** of a time getting that thing loose.

The belt seems to be good, I'm not sure if it is tight, but with the bags off, there is plenty of air flow to the hopper. The blades also seem to be ok, they could use a sharpening though. Thanks for the tip on the pin, it is a little difficult getting it on and off.

Did you get the "blow out" plates for the deck? These are a set of flat plates that bolt to the bottom edge of the deck along the lip. The inside of the plates fit close to the blade tips, and help increase the vacuum, as well as prevent clippings from getting blown out from under the deck edge. the plates are deck-specific. The ones on my deck fit along the left forward half, and the right rearward half.

Adjusting the deck so the front is a tad low will also help, and high-lift blades are a must for proper Powerflow operation.

I didnt get the plates, although I plan on purchasing them enventually. Although I can somewhat handle the blowout, what concerns me more is the clippings that are left behind. Its like a small little windrow of clippings that are located about the center line of the powerflo drive pulley.

 

[Jimbochap]

Whats the model # on your power flow?

 

[stidrvr]

Whats the model # on your power flow?

48 PWR FLO QT
M00PFCK011921

I noticed in another thread when I was researching the problem, another person was concerned about the bottom portion of the blower, the part that is inside the deck, being to low and digging into the ground. I noticed mine does hang lower also, but everything seems to be mounted correctly.

 

[stidrvr]

Hey everyone,

I figured I'd update this thread since I hate it when I search a forum and find a thread that has my exact problem, but a solution is never posted. Anyway, I called my dealer to ask them if they've ever had this problem reported. They, like others, recommended the baffles for the deck. I had no problem buying them, I just wanted to make sure this was the correct solution. They transferred me to the service department, luckily my dealer has a John Deere master, you know the guy that knows almost everything about John Deere tractors. He also recommended the rear plate and the inside plate that mounts on the inside of the deck and directs the clipping towards the Power Flow. (See pics)

I had one last cut to do, along with picking out the rest of the leaves that the wind hasn't blown away. I've been putting this off because I wanted to make sure this solved the problem before the end of the season. Im happy to report that this did in-fact solve the problem, Im no longer leaving a trail of un-picked up clippings. There is still blow out, but its minimal, I'll deal with that later, this was my main concern.

These are the parts that I ordered along with the support rod for the baffle inside the deck. I used stainless hardware since I have access to it.

 

[Father Deerest]

Great to hear you resolved the problem and Thank you for the final follow up solution.

 

[buffy12590]

How about posting the part numbers for the items, there is a baffle kit, a leaf kit and a mulch kit for the 48c deck. Which is the one you installed?

 

[stidrvr]

How about posting the part numbers for the items, there is a baffle kit, a leaf kit and a mulch kit for the 48c deck. Which is the one you installed?

That's a good point. These are the part numbers for the parts:

M143154 - Support Rod
M143248 - Front Deflector
M135563BLE - Rear Blowout Plate

This is a better picture of the parts that were used.

These are the parts that were suppose to come with the powerflow kit...as far as I know. I didn't get them since I bought the entire setup used. I was hesitant on picking up the complete blowout kit because of the cost. The leaf kit requires you to remove the the pieces when your returning to normal grass cutting operations, plus I really don't have a whole lot of leaves in my yard. I may look into buying or making a front blowout piece for the front lip though.


Sent from the MTF Free App

 

[stidrvr]

So here we are, the following year. I thought that I have solved the problem but after dethatching the lawn this spring, I see Im still leaving clippings behind. I thought, maybe it was just the extra stuff from dethatching.

Since I didn't see any high-lift blades listed on JD parts for my LX277 with a 48C deck, I did a little more digging. I managed to find a set and picked them up from the dealer. I noticed that they were a tad shorter then the blades that were on there, maybe 1/4-3/8" not all that worried though. The ramp on the trailing edge was much greater. I installed the blades and I think it actually made the problem worse!

I'm all out of options here. The only thing I haven't done is replaced the belts. I pulled the blower off and checked the belt. The "V" has glazing, but with the tube that goes to the hopper removed there is quite a bit of airflow. The bottle neck seems to be the blower though. Could the belt really be causing the problems? I'm just have hard time believing that. Especially since the belt is in contact with so much of the pulley.

 

[stidrvr]

Talked with the dealer and at first he mentioned that my impeller was maybe worn. He said the older curved version failed prematurely. I couldn't remeber which version I had, if it was the older curved blade one or the straight one (I have the straight one). While I was there I picked up a new belt for the Powerflow blower. Of course when I returned home and put it on the continue mowing, it was still leaving clippings.

I called the dealer the other day and talked with the same guy. We both agreed that it wasn't the PTO belt, or the mower deck belt since when I engage the PTO, it practically kills the tractor. I began to think that it might be the RPM of the motor not spinning fast enough. I picked up a photo tach from Harbor Freight and tested today. It's at at 3250 RPM about 200 slower then spec is. I really can't see it being that, I was really hoping for it to be about 1000 rpm slower but no dice.

I really need help on this guys. I'm open to any suggestions.

 

[TJR345]

You said in an earlier post that when the bags are off you get good air flow.The bags must be clean and don't put plastic bags in them.Most people don't wash there bags and get clogged with dust and grass.Try power washing them or a straight stream pressure end on a hose and let dry,you should be able to see light through them and that's how the air gets out.Without this flow of air it will cause clippings to be left behind.

 

[stidrvr]

You said in an earlier post that when the bags are off you get good air flow.The bags must be clean and don't put plastic bags in them.Most people don't wash there bags and get clogged with dust and grass.Try power washing them or a straight stream pressure end on a hose and let dry,you should be able to see light through them and that's how the air gets out.Without this flow of air it will cause clippings to be left behind.

What I meant was, I'm getting good airflow from the blower. I know what you're saying though. I too thought the same thing and contemplated getting the loose weave bags. To test if this was the problem I ran without the tube up to the hopper and held the door open on the blower, and still left a trail of clippings. So it's not an air flow blockage issue, like what would be caused by dirty or clogged bags.

Edit*** although, I haven't washed my bags inna while so I'll give that a try tomorrow.

 

[stidrvr]

Well here we are, another year later, and the same problem. I was actually going to go to the dealer today to pick up the other belts (PTO and Deck). When I re-read my pother posts though, I forgot that that wouldn't fix the issue because of the previous comment about it almost killing the tractor upon PTO engagment.

When I cut the grass the last time, it was a little drier and more fine (in clipping size), the gap at the back side where the blower and the deck meet I noticed quite a bit a clippings shooting out of there.

It truly does seem like the blower is the bottleneck, like its preventing the total amount of airflow created by the blades, to get past the blower housing. I am once again at a loss. The only thing I can think of is either the double stack pulley that drives the power flow is the wrong one/size, or the pulley on the power flow is the wrong one...the only contradiction to that is that the correct belt for that combination fits, and fits well too.

 

[Kansas John Deere]

Not sure on the 48c powerflo but on my 50 inch powerflo it says in the manual to use the standard low lift blades. So that is what I have on it and works as it should.......

 

[jim335]

It sounds like you might have the belt from the power flow to the mower twisted the wrong way, so the impeller is running backwards. Just a thought.

 

[stidrvr]

Not sure on the 48c powerflo but on my 50 inch powerflo it says in the manual to use the standard low lift blades. So that is what I have on it and works as it should.......

There are only one set of blades listed for the 48c, besides the mulch blades. Im using the standard ones. I tried the high lift ones, not sure what they were from but they weren't the same "style" besides the high lift part obviously. Either way, Im using the standard ones now reagardless.

It sounds like you might have the belt from the power flow to the mower twisted the wrong way, so the impeller is running backwards. Just a thought.

Believe me, Ive checked, rechecked, checked again, and checked that once more to be sure it was right.

 

[stidrvr]

SOLVED!

I went to the dealer one last time to see if there was anything else I could try or see if they had anymore ideas. One of the guys there, had been working there for a long time. He told me to go over to the service center and talk to one of the tech. He said that he could look up on "DeTech" (I believe thats how its spelled) to see if there were any similar problems. Detect is John Deere's online database for dealers with known and unusually problems. It kinda sounds like a forum for John Deere service centers.

Anyway, he didn't find anything, we talked quite a bit and he was just a baffled as I was. He encouraged me to bring it in cause he was curious himself plus it would only cost $24. He ran the serial from the deck and come to find out that it was off a GX345 even though the guy I bought it from had it one an LX277 AWS. This also meant that the 48QT power flow that I was using was the wrong one, which also came with the mower deck. Even though the 48QT is specifically for the 48C deck, apparently this deck is a little newer and requires the newer and larger power flow blower also called the High Performance Power Flow. The dealer had one is stock and is $544 and I'll also need the chute as well for $133.

Heres a comparison of the two Power Flows:

After fighting with getting it installed, turns out the kit they sold me BM22144 is actually for the X300 series tractors, so it wasn't a direct fit but it was pretty close. They knocked $100 off the kit to begin with so I was fine with the issues, either way, Im happy to report that it picked up all the clippings, so my Power Flow is now working correctly.

I still don't know why the smaller Quick-Tatch Power Flow doesn't work quite right. Ive seen many LX's and 345's with the same set up. Either way, Im a happy camper now!

 

[98Murray]

Glad to hear you got the issue resolved! Wow, I never would have thought about it being the wrong deck. That took some real detective work, good thing you have a good dealer!