The Perfect Mulching Lawn Mower Doesn't Exist

14 years ago

I mow my grass to about 3 1/2" high with a knife-sharp blade when the weather gets warm. This is the main reason that my grass looks excellent by anyone's standards. I use a Honda mulching mower that does as good a job as any mower I have ever used. But there is still room for improvement. The Honda has the same problem as all other mowers when it comes to tall grass like mine. The higher you set the mower, the less ability it has to lift the grass. The wheels push the grass down and the mower's vacuum can't lift it up. I mow at different directions each time, which helps, but when mowing at the 3 1/2" setting, there is always grass in the wheel tracks that doesn't get cut. There is a huge difference in the lifting ability when you raise the mower that last 1/2", but there is also a huge difference in how well the lawn does in the warm weather. Given the choice of this problem or mowing shorter to eliminate the problem, I will live with the uncut grass because the lawn still looks much better overall. It seems like the only solutions would be to design a mower that has more lifting ability or place the wheels behind the mower so they only push down the grass that has already been cut. A reel mower almost fits the description, but they are not good for tall grass. Unfortunately, I still think the perfect mulching mower for tall grass is yet to be invented.

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Comments (2)

1saxman
14 years ago
'The Perfect Mulching Lawn Mower Doesn't Exist'

Right. And it will never exist, because in mulching mode there is no 'vacuum' to pull the grass up - you only get that when the air generated by the blade has someplace to go, either out the discharge chute or through the bag. This is why the cut can be a little ragged when mulching, as the air tends to blow the grass down under the deck. The other problem of less vacuum with a raised deck also cannot be solved although there have been some improvements like the Hi-Vac Snapper deck. I changed out mowers a few years ago so I would have 4" capability, but I found that the grass 'laid over' at that height instead of being cut. So, I never go above 3.5" now except in special cases, and always bagging or discharging.
The bottom line is that the rotary mower is good at discharging or bagging because the blade works as a fan to draw air in around the edges of the deck and blow it out the discharge. Once you close off the discharge for 'mulching', you lose this 'vacuum' and 'pulling up' of the grass blades to be cut.
The Honda HRX system of blending bagging and mulching is a good compromise in theory because it should give some of the air an escape which promotes a cleaner cut, but then it defeats to some extent the purpose of mulching, which is to eliminate bagging/discharge and return the chopped clippings to the ground.
roadbike
14 years ago
"The perfect mulching lawnmower doesn't exist!"

I would think that should be self-evident and not worthy of even stating. I have yet to see perfection in any product!

When the mower is configured for mulching the only exit for air (and clippings) is closed off. Consequently the under-deck airflow is more turbulent and less directed upward and out. Open the grass chute and you have more or less constate upward pull on grass blades.

I've got my Toro Superrecycler at the highest setting when mulching. By overlapping cuts any grass missed on the first pass gets cut on the second. The mower delivers an evenly cut lawn with no windrows.
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