Another lawn tractor post- horrible cut, JD S240 sport

I have a new John Deere S240 Sport I bought at the end of last season. It has the mulching kit where I can shut off the discharge chute. Ever since I got it, I have had a horrible uneven cut, especially in comparison to the Cub Cadet i1040 I replaced with the JD.

Primarily, on the 48 inch cut, about 3-4” in from the left side, the grass is just bent over. It seems to happen across the entire cut to varying degrees. It’s worse in turns. Downhill turns or cutting next to our concrete landscape curbing also has a very uneven cut, almost stair-step like.

Here is what I have done so far to try and fix this-
- ensure the deck is level, with a 1/4” drop at the front
- sharpened the three blades....three times this season already
- rotated the three blades to other positions
-ensure the mulching blades were not installed upside down by the dealer
- adjust the anti-scalp wheels, twice
- ensure the deck hangers were greased and not binding
- ensure tire pressure is up and equal across the sides.
- called the dealer who basically had no idea what I was talking about
- called a bigger regional dealer who just reconfirmed what I did above
- took it to my previous Cub Cadet dealer who specializes in lawn tractors to have them set it up, $140 later, no change.

I have to leave for work for a week coming up and my plan is to call the original dealer and let them know I am dropping it off and they have a week to fix this and it better be done and improved when I am back. It almost appears that the section that is bent over is the part the tires roll over and there just is not enough suction to bring the blades back up to be cut. I have reduced my speed of the mower and made sure blade speed is maximum. It doesn’t matter if I have the chute open for discharge or closed for mulching.

If not, is it too late to see if they will do a buy-back? Obviously I have no problem taking a little bit of a hit by using it now for about 20 hours or so, but I won’t stand for them saying 50% of what I paid. But if I lose $300-$400 and get something that actually cuts, I will reduce the anger I have after looking at my lawn every time I cut, which is worth something to me.

I did test this one along with a Husky that I had it narrowed down to, but I really didn’t see the issue then, plus my lawn has much more elevation changes from where I tested it at the dealer.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to have a very nice cut when you spend $3K on a mower.

Any tips/advice is appreciated.

 

Look at upgrading to a commercial mower if a commercial level cut is what your after.

I’m a grasshopper fan personally. I’m ok dropping 13-14K on a mower that will last 15+ years though. My current grasshopper is 16 years old and still runs fantastic. The deck will need to be replaced in the next couple of years but I’m ok with that because it’ll be time to upgrade again anyway.

 

I don’t think an even, nice cut should require a $13K commercial level mower.

 

For $13k, I’d pave the fucking lawn.

 

Isn't there a JD "expert" on here?

 

For 13k in paving, you’re not getting much.

I paved our driveway when I built our house...10 ft wide, 1/10th of a mile long...13k didn’t hardly touch the concrete bill.

 

Remove the mulching kit. Mulching kits compartmentalize the deck. With a 3-blade deck, you’ve essentially created three individual compartments, with compromised/no discharge. That kills suction, cut quality, discharge quality, etc. A mulching setup isn’t meant to side discharge or provide a quality cut. Air has to be able to have an efficient escape from the deck, to create suction.

Mulching blades don’t create lift; they weren’t meant to. Therefore, you have no suction. The blade you want is the highest lift blade available, right up under bagger blades. Sometimes a blade will be labeled “high-lift”, but, won’t be the highest offering, short of a bagger blade. Hope that makes sense. Also, do not run a Gator blade; they sacrifice lift.

Glad to see you’ve gone through the trouble to verify everything else, including deck pitch. Pitch is extremely important.

Simple recap: remove mulch kit and install the highest lift blade offered, short of a bagger blade.

Edit: I mow with the discharge chute up, so grass disperses as far and wide as possible. This, also, helps enhance suction.....and we all like suction.

 

I do like the fact that with the mulching, I don’t get the ‘hay field’ effect when longer grass is cut. I did think of trying standard blades, so I will do that and see. Getting three standard blades is a minimal expense versus losing money on the hassle and lost $$ changing out to a different mower. I really only got the ‘kit’ to be able to shut off the discharge when I am around flower beds to avoid spraying grass all over the beds and mulch. That little bit should be fine if I go with standard blades and close off the discharge for those small areas. Gracias.

 

Then just remove the mulch baffles, change blades, and leave the mulching discharge chute. I bungee up my small mower’s chute and drop it as needed, you should be able to do the same.

JD’s parts site is futile, but, it looks like they have a high-lift blade for your deck. Double-check me, before ordering/buying. Part #M135589.

I searched for an operator-controlled discharge chute for your deck, but, didn’t see one specific to your model. You may call these guys and ask.

https://trimmertrap.com/bb-riding-gallery.html

I like the Power Chute product, but, they don’t have anything to fit your mower.

 

I just kept the original blades and added the block off to our E120, cuts really well. Thought about the whole mulching kit but for 30$ for just the cover i thought i'd try it out first before spending 150$ on the kit or whatever it was. It appeared the original blades were mulching blades already?

 

Update. Got three standard blades, switched out the mulching blades, lowered the deck on the hanger splines to get the deck down lower for better suction and raised the cutting lever one notch to accommodate, and got a very nice cut today. Very even....but short. So next time, I’ll raise up the cutting lever one notch. Only problem is a bit of a hay field effect, even with taking off the discharge chute. But then again, my grass was long and I seemed to have cut shorter, so that can happen.

So, I am much closer to my expectations. Dropping the deck off is pretty quick and simple, so I may put the mulching blades back on for comparison. I did pick up one new mulching blade to replace what I think was a problematic one.

Thanks again to having this forum come through with assistance.

 

When you mow tall grass down short, you have a lot of debris with nowhere to go. You’re better to mow at the highest setting, wait a few days, and take a bit more off, until you get to the desired height. That’ll allow the mower to re-process the previous cut’s debris and reduce the amount of debris with the next cut. Also, mowing diagonal to the previous cut will help redistribute the debris.

Again, if you mow short, there’s nowhere for the debris to go. You’ll have windrowing and clippings everywhere. If you’re mowing northern grasses, stay 3-1/2” and above. Your deck, with high-lift blades, should have no issues pulling 3-3/4”.

I assume you removed the mulch baffles from the deck?