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

skeets said:

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

Click to expand...

Similar maintenance to mine. We have very sandy soil so I keep my deck coated with paint on bed liner. Yearly changing of the blades and touch up with liner. Works good for me.

CountryBumkin said:

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.

Click to expand...

I turn the water on then get on the tractor and run the mower full speed for about a minute. I also move the tractor back and forth a few inches. Need to make sure that sprayer extends out beyond deck some so there is no chance of mower sucking it up. Doesn't get everything but keeps it fairly clean. Run mower without water on to dry it out. Drill very small holes at first to check pattern. You want a forceful spray.

I measured how far the spindles were from one another and soldered up some old 3/4 copper tubing. Topped them off with sprinkler heads, not the kind that pop up!. fed it with a 3/4 PVC pipe and buried it all and fed it with a line from the shop. Ran the line down the side of the shop and put the valve on the wall so I just pull up and turn the water on. Never get off the mower. I also drilled a 1/32 hole in the copper that is under ground. Bedded in rock, it is not enough to loose pressure but when shut off, it drains the line so that it does not freeze. I use it for my JD and Kubota. Never had an issue with water in the bearings yet .

I have used a pressure washer to clean out the underside of the decks for years. The riding tractors I have an 9" pole set at about a 30° angle with a cable and hand winch. this lifts the front end up enough so I can get at the deck to clean it. I always run the deck for about minute after cleaning to dry it out some. then one stroke from a grease gun in each spindle and if any water did happen to get in the new grease will push it out. Have not replaced a bearing yet due to water damage. We all need to do what we feel comfortable with. Had a friend that bought a new riding mower, Green one. would clean the deck after every mowing. No water. Mid way into the 3rd season his deck bearings started to go. Was not a big box store unit either.