[ezliving4ume]

I was wondering if anyone had a good tip on how to keep the grass from sticking to the underside of the deck. This year the grass in my part of the country never really dried out. The humidity was off the chart. I was having to scrap my deck every couple of mows. Then I talking with dad and he suggested I clean the deck throughly and spray a couple cans of WD-40 on it. Let dry for a couple of days then mow. And you know what it worked! How about the water nozzles they have now days?

 

[ben2go]

Best way I have found is just keep it sprayed out after every mow.It only adds 10 minutes to my routine.

 

[JMoe]

I try to go thru a patch of dry fallen leaves when I'm done mowing. That does an amazing cleaning job. Or else I'll reach under with long thin pc of scrap wood to scape. After every other mowing or so, I lift the front of my ZTR off the ground with a floor jack, which gives you TONS or room under there and do a thorough job. Everything gets blown off with a gas leaf blower after every use.

Joel

 

[BillB]

I have a pallet leaned up against an old dug well in my back yard. I drive the front end up the pallet and park, get the hose and spray the deck with a strong stream after each mowing.

Bill

 

[Don B.]

just be sure you DO IT.
I straddle my ditch where I can reach under it easily.

 

[LLigetfa]

Ja, dry leaves or wood chips cleans it out good.

 

[KHodges]

Ja, dry leaves or wood chips cleans it out good.

So do acorns, hickory nuts and chestnuts.


Scraping a deck clean is just a part of lawnmower ownership. There ain't nothing perfect as a deck cleaner or 'clogging preventer'.The best way to clean a deck is
1-remove it from the tractor
2-flip it upright or upside down
3-get a scraper of choice, and rock 'n roll
4- power wash when done scraping and then reinstall.
5- repeat the next time it needs it.

And don't get me started on those @#$(*^%$#@*&^%(***) washout ports.

 

[cosmo74]

they should make the bottom of the decks with tephlon like the cooking pan that would make it easy

 

[lobsterbox]

The Craftsman 44" 3 blade deck has lots of places where the grass can lodge. I just take it off every three or so mows and give it a thorough rinse with the pressure washer.

 

[rubadub]

I jack mine up with a floor jack under the rear end, take a putty knife and lay down on the concrete and scrape it off, its the best thing you can do for your body, stretch those arms and stomach muscles out.

Especially some of us older guys, I'm 68.

Rob

 

[slkpk]

So do acorns, hickory nuts and chestnuts.


Scraping a deck clean is just a part of lawnmower ownership. There ain't nothing perfect as a deck cleaner or 'clogging preventer'.The best way to clean a deck is
1-remove it from the tractor
2-flip it upright or upside down
3-get a scraper of choice, and rock 'n roll
4- power wash when done scraping and then reinstall.
5- repeat the next time it needs it.

And don't get me started on those @#$(*^%$#@*&^%(***) washout ports.

:ditto::ditto: slkpk

 

[ezliving4ume]

So no one has tried the wd-40? It worked very well.

 

[rubadub]

So no one has tried the wd-40? It worked very well.

I do a little car restoration as a hobby, and wd-40 and paint don't go together.

So I won't even bring it into my garage, but it sounds like it works really good for you.

Rob

 

[ezliving4ume]

I do a little car restoration as a hobby, and wd-40 and paint don't go together.

So I won't even bring it into my garage, but it sounds like it works really good for you.

Rob

The underside of my deck has no paint. The grass has war it off. Maybe epoxy paint would work to slick'en it up.

 

[plugnickle399]

Copied from an previous post:

The underside of my deck I keep coated with a "paint" I get from my John Deere Dealer. I can never think of what this stuff is called but the main ingredient is a super slick dry gray material I have used as a lubricant on my sons boy scout derby cars (may be illegal) Graphite! thats it!
Once you get a couple of coats of this on the bottom of your deck most things come off fairly easy but you must make sure you keep it applied as it wears off with use, in other words the more you mow the more often you need to clean and apply.
The top of my deck I removed the factory pulley and belt covers and made my own, theirs just trapped the trimmings which stayed damp and was trying to rust my deck before the first season was over! Now I just blow off after each mow, wash once a month and spray on some wax. 5 years later still looking pretty good.
I hope this helps!

 

[ezliving4ume]

Copied from an previous post:

The underside of my deck I keep coated with a "paint" I get from my John Deere Dealer. I can never think of what this stuff is called but the main ingredient is a super slick dry gray material I have used as a lubricant on my sons boy scout derby cars (may be illegal) Graphite! thats it!
Once you get a couple of coats of this on the bottom of your deck most things come off fairly easy but you must make sure you keep it applied as it wears off with use, in other words the more you mow the more often you need to clean and apply.
The top of my deck I removed the factory pulley and belt covers and made my own, theirs just trapped the trimmings which stayed damp and was trying to rust my deck before the first season was over! Now I just blow off after each mow, wash once a month and spray on some wax. 5 years later still looking pretty good.
I hope this helps!

Graphite paint, interesting, I'll have to check this out. The mowing season is pretty much done here but, All ready thing of next year and the modifications i want to do to the deck. A graphite paint may be in order

 

[JMoe]

So no one has tried the wd-40? It worked very well.

It's a great hand cleaner and general purpose adhesive/sticker remover. It also takes tar and sap off your car nicely w/out effecting the finish. At least it hasn't for the 25+ yrs I've been using it for those purposes. For the underside of a mowing deck? It would initially cause a gooey mess and then wear off within minutes I'd think. IMO your deck could be made by Rubbermaid and your still going to have to clean the underside. I'm surprised at the amount off folks who use hi pressure water to clean there decks. I dunno how many times I've seen and read of early spindle bearing and/or pulley bearing failures from hi press water getting in there.

Joel

 

[rubadub]

It's a great hand cleaner and general purpose adhesive/sticker remover. It also takes tar and sap off your car nicely w/out effecting the finish. At least it hasn't for the 25+ yrs I've been using it for those purposes. For the underside of a mowing deck? It would initially cause a gooey mess and then wear off within minutes I'd think. IMO your deck could be made by Rubbermaid and your still going to have to clean the underside. I'm surprised at the amount off folks who use hi pressure water to clean there decks. I dunno how many times I've seen and read of early spindle bearing and/or pulley bearing failures from hi press water getting in there.

Joel

X2 on the pressure washer.:fing32:

Rob

 

[RAND81]

Nothing wrong with the wash out ports, wont hurt a thing.

 

[cosmo74]

Nothing wrong with the wash out ports, wont hurt a thing.

execpt for the fact that they don't work so hot they will get the surface stuff off but not the caked on stuff