Cleaning Mower Deck with water while blades spining - good or bad?

CountryBumkin · May 25, 2016

I've seen some mowers come with a built-in garden hose attachment so you can run water to the underside of the deck with blades spinning, for cleaning.

Here is a guy that has a drive over sprayer - where he runs the mower while spraying water. http://www.instructables.com/id/Mower-Deck-Spray-Washer/

Is spaying water under the deck with the blades spinning full speed the proper (or acceptable) way to clean the deck?

If yes, would it be worth the effort to install a garden hose attachment fitting (washout fitting)? Such as this http://www.searspartsdirect.com/par...id=SPDxGPROD&gclid=CNecmNTS9cwCFcdehgodqwILLA

windzer · May 25, 2016

We have an x720 Deere with that fitting and tried doing that and it didn't do squat. Plus it gets water in your spindle bearings I found that out after greasing it I saw it purge out water. Your probably better off just pulling the deck off and using a scraper and pressure washer to clean it. But to each his own that's my 2 cents.

CountryBumkin · May 25, 2016

windzer said:
We have an x720 Deere with that fitting and tried doing that and it didn't do squat. Plus it gets water in your spindle bearings I found that out after greasing it I saw it purge out water. Your probably better off just pulling the deck off and using a scraper and pressure washer to clean it. But to each his own that's my 2 cents.

Thanks for your reply.

I have the 60 inch "drive over" deck, but even then, it's still a pain in the rear to remove the deck and flip it over for cleaning.

I think it needs to be removed once a month to do a heavy cleaning and to check/sharpen the blades - but what about a light cleaning once a week?

Does anyone else have an opinion? Thanks.

hodge · May 25, 2016

While it is a pain to flip and clean/service a mower deck, that is better than getting water into the bearings. I wouldn't do it, if it were mine.

Jimc3165 · May 25, 2016

hodge said:
While it is a pain to flip and clean/service a mower deck, that is better than getting water into the bearings. I wouldn't do it, if it were mine.

I use the wash out port on my trim mower but I have been standing my 60 in deck up and scraping it every month or 2 and started using those sprays like MO Deck to help stop the grass from sticking so bad.

Tooljunkie · May 25, 2016

Not likely much water will make it into bearings, especially well greased ones.
Standing deck up and pressure washing is about the same result. Water could get in that way for sure. Scraping/wire brush is about the least messy considering getting a mouthful of green slime when water blows back in your face.
My small lawn tractor has a washout port, never use it. I scrape and blow debris with compressed air. Especially loose grass built up on top of deck.

I clean and paint deck occasionally, less stuff sticks.
Had considered trying Never Wet but never found the time yet.

CountryBumkin · May 26, 2016

Okay then. I'll stick to the tried-and-true method of removing the deck.

D2Cat · May 26, 2016

85Hokie, wasn't there a rhyme in one of those classes, "Do as you otta... keeps bearings outta watta"?

Some guys pressure wash their balers when hay season is over. Make them feel good when it's all clean and the hay crumbs are gone.

I would never pressure wash it unless you were getting ready to do some repairs and wanted it clean before removing parts.

dmbe · May 26, 2016

I made this a while back to clean my deck after mowing. Just attach hose to it.
Has about 5 small holes on each leg. Make sure it extends out past deck on both sides.

RonBoyBX25D · May 26, 2016

dmbe said:
I made this a while back to clean my deck after mowing. Just attach hose to it.
Has about 5 small holes on each leg. Make sure it extends out past deck on both sides.

Great idea, might build on this weekend as it looks rainy here.

CountryBumkin · May 26, 2016

dmbe said:
I made this a while back to clean my deck after mowing. Just attach hose to it.
Has about 5 small holes on each leg. Make sure it extends out past deck on both sides.

Nice fab, but are you just spraying water under the deck with everything stopped, or are you spraying with the blades spinning?

Just spraying water doesn't seem to do much cleaning (unless you have a real strong jet stream) at least in my experience. I think this is why some people say they have the blades spinning - to create that turbulence.

I think I will just remove the deck to clean every two weeks during cutting season.

Daren Todd · May 26, 2016

I had the deck washing feature on my last mower. Hooked a garden hose to it and then kicked the blades on.

The issue I ran into was it seamed to force water in the spindles. When I quit washing the deck, the bearings lasted longer

Didn't seam to matter whether the spindles had zirc fittings or were sealed.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

William1 · May 26, 2016

I used to wash out the deck nice and clean. Until it rusted through.
Now, if I mow and the grass is wet, I raise the mower up, and use a plastic scraper to get the clumps off and leave the rest to act as a 'barrier'.

toxcrusadr · May 26, 2016

I have a two year old JD riding mower that has a fitting. I notice if the buildup is heavy and wet the water doesn't do much. I usually end up hand spraying under there with the regular jet sprayer on the garden hose. Now I'm a bit concerned.

Also figured out that if the grass is dry there is nothing much stuck under the deck and spraying the clippings on top of the deck with water just makes them stick all over the place. So I've started using compressed air to get that stuff off the top of the deck if it's already dry.

rentthis · May 26, 2016

The Kubota dealer here had problems with sandy conditions wearing out the decks. They started having under them sprayed with spray on bed liner. They last much
longer. It probably helps with moisture as well.

Tooljunkie · May 26, 2016

rentthis said:
The Kubota dealer here had problems with sandy conditions wearing out the decks. They started having under them sprayed with spray on bed liner. They last much
longer. It probably helps with moisture as well.

Some bed liners are silicone base, maybe that would prevent stuff sticking. Seems like a good idea.

Greenhead · May 26, 2016

Well here is the deal. I started using this stuff on the snowplows and tractor buckets last year. Nothing sticks, it's great. I cleaned the mower deck and thought this would work. Well I sharpened the blades this spring and there was barely a handful of grass stuck under there, compared to a 5 gallon bucket full last year... It works! http://www.fluid-film.com/

RonBoyBX25D · May 26, 2016

Greenhead said:
Well here is the deal. I started using this stuff on the snowplows and tractor buckets last year. Nothing sticks, it's great. I cleaned the mower deck and thought this would work. Well I sharpened the blades this spring and there was barely a handful of grass stuck under there, compared to a 5 gallon bucket full last year... It works! http://www.fluid-film.com/

Perfect timing! I just picked up a can at the dealer and hadn't thought about the underside of the mower deck. Will spray it up in the morning before the first cut of the year. Will be a good test as I waited way to long to go from winter to summer mode.

eipo · May 27, 2016

CountryBumkin said:
Okay then. I'll stick to the tried-and-true method of removing the deck.

I use a set of car ramps to clean/remove blades. Deck only comes off when it would physically get in the way of other tasks.

skeets · May 27, 2016

I clean and paint the underside in the fall grease everything, and dont worry about it till next fall

Cleaning Mower Deck with water while blades spining - good or bad?

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