# Bought TORO Recycler Kit, now leaving strips of grass...



## diy_darryl (May 15, 2018)

Hello, my 42 inch Toro Timecutter was cutting great. I just bought a brand new recycler kit and mowed for the first time. I am leaving strips of uncut grass even when overlapping sufficiently. Never had this problem with the side discharge even when the blades were dull.

Not happy obviously, is this a common problem and how do I troubleshoot? Fescue, cutting at 3.5"


----------



## kaptain_zero (Jun 2, 2018)

Compare the new blades to the old blades, are they the same length and if so, are the new blades mounted the correct way?

I don't have a 42 inch Timecutter, but I honestly can't see a reason for a strip of uncut grass unless you have the wrong blade length for your deck or that one of the blades might be upside down. Another possiblity might be the kickers are mounted incorrectly, but if you followed the directions included in the package, they should not be causing any problems either.

My first guess is you accidently got one of the blades upside down. That would give you an umowed strip (about 1 to 2 inches wide) and eventually one side of the cut grass will show more brown as the blades won't be cut off cleanly. My only other suspicion would be that one blade is either not torqued down properly (I don't think the Toro allows slipping that way) or that a belt is slipping, the latter might happen simply because of the new blades where it might have worked ok before with the side discharge, but mulching adds additional effort to the blades, which a marginally tensioned belt can no longer deal with.

All my guesses and assumptions are based on pictures found on the internet with that kit installed, not direct first hand knowledge, but I used to be an agricultural mechanic a long time ago, so I'm coming at this from a mechanics point of view.


----------



## GoPre (Oct 28, 2017)

Carl Spackler said:


> Well.... ya see. if it was my mower, I'd probably be down on my hands trying to figure it out, instead of relying on people from the webs to answer my questions, but that's just me.


Easy bud, a lot of people here like to help.

I think the above suggestions are legit.


----------



## diy_darryl (May 15, 2018)

Well, to the ONE GUY above........ how about you move along? I asked a legitimate question and there seems to be others willing to help.

If I knew the problem I would be fixing it as I do everything else around here, major construction projects to vehicles to appliances etc.

I put a new toro kit on with their blades, A NEW belt, my spindles are tight with zero play. The only thing unclear in the instructions was the direction of the long slope on the kickers, the picture wasn't obvious but they seemed to fit only one way.

The strip that isn't being cut is where the tire flattens the grass, it seems I don't have enough lift to stand the grass up but as stated it cut great with the standard setup.

I am NEW HERE....I thought you were ALLOWED to ask QUESTIONS?????


----------



## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

Carl Spackler said:


> Well.... ya see. if it was my mower, I'd probably be down on my hands trying to figure it out. . . .


I think the assumption is that he's already tried that and is now asking for help. Let's all keep a positive and helpful attitude here at TLF - that's what it's here for.


----------



## social port (Jun 19, 2017)

@diy_darryl you absolutely are.
If my mower was doing this, TLF would be my first stop. I like learning from people who have expertise.
I really like those Toros and sometimes wish I had one myself.
I imagine that there are plenty of people to advise, in addition to what others have already posted. @MasterMech always impresses me with his knowledge. I am going to ask @Ware to move your thread to the equipment sub forum. I think it will probably get more views there from others who are in a good position to contribute :thumbup:


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@diy_darryl ask all you want. We are here to help as we can. The equipment forum might get more traction. Also a picture of the cut might help id the problem.

@Carl Spackler lets make sure our comments helps and support others. We have a strong community that pays forwards the help we get from other members and their experiences.


----------



## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

Good call, @social port, I'll most the post to the Equipment forum.

Edited to add: Carl requested his account be deleted, so that is why his posts no longer appear.

Cheers.


----------



## kaptain_zero (Jun 2, 2018)

diy_darryl said:


> Well, to the ONE GUY above........ how about you move along? I asked a legitimate question and there seems to be others willing to help.
> 
> If I knew the problem I would be fixing it as I do everything else around here, major construction projects to vehicles to appliances etc.
> 
> ...


I'll chime in again whilst hoping I am NOT the "ONE GUY" referred to above. :mrgreen:

The kicker installation is an unknown as I can't visually inspect it, but with the additional information provided, it does not sound like the problem so I will do my best to help out or at least explain what is happening.

1. I was not aware you had changed the belt and I assume it's properly tensioned so we can eliminate that as the cause.

2. Your indication that it was your tire track that was problematic gave us another clue.

Just to clarify something, a side discharge on ANY lawnmower setup will ALWAYS have a better vaccuum than a mulching one. Why? Because in a side discharge setup, the air being moved has an outlet. In a mulch setup, there is no outlet for the air, so there is not going to be the same amount of airflow (what many call suction). To clarify further, it is the AIRFLOW that pulls the grass up and straight. If there is nowhere for the air to go, you won't have nearly as much AIRFLOW.

A simple experiment that shows this effect. Place some dirt on the palm of your hand and then hold the nozzle of your home vaccuum on top of the dirt, but pressing against your palm so that no air can enter the nozzle/hose and then turn on the vaccuum, then off again, holding the nozzle against the skin of your palm until the motor has stopped. When you remove the nozzle, you will see the dirt undisturbed in the palm of your hand. Do the same thing again, but this time holding the nozzle just above the skin so that air can enter, and you will find that the dirt on your palm will be carried into the vaccuum by the air rushing by.

So solving your problem may be difficult, even if things are working correctly, but you are not happy with the results. Things you could try:

1: Mow a little shorter, this will reduce the tendancy of the grass to lay flat after the tire rolls over it.

2: Only mow when the grass is perfectly dry. Dew and moisture from rain/watering on the grass blades will make them tend to stick to each other and lay flat.

3. If all else fails, your only option might be to go back to side discharge......

I am having similar problems with my Toro Super Recycler when mowing tall... my grass also lays over and stays flat when going over the wheel tracks while mulching. I am concidering dropping the mowing height, but I really don't want to.

Regards

Christian


----------



## diy_darryl (May 15, 2018)

Let me just say the ONE GUY that I referred to is no longer on this post. His loss for leaving TLF over something so trivial. 
You guys did hit on one thing. It was my first time mulching after the 'mod'. We had a week straight of massive rains and the yard got away from me a bit so it was taller than usual by a good bit. We also have hit a cool spell in the 60's at night after near 100 degree weather for weeks so lots of dew overnight. I mowed in the evening but the grass was still a bit wet near the ground. 
That might be the whole issue although the side discharge has handled that same situation. Maybe I was expecting too much. 
Will have to wait until I can mow again and it's good and dry and not too long.


----------



## kaptain_zero (Jun 2, 2018)

How difficult is it to remove the baffle on the side discharge chute? If you have to mow overgrown grass or wet grass with your mulching setup, converting it to side discharge temporarely (by just removing that baffle, not the whole mulching kit) might be the way to go?!?! Once the lawn has dried out, you can go back to mulching.

It's what I do with my Toro Super Recycler, but of course for me it's simply a matter of lifting the spring loaded baffle and inserting the side discharge chute.


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

^ +1 I have seen lawn care companies first mow with the side discharge open and then do a mulching mow in another direction. It makes it look really nice.


----------



## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

A few photographs of the underside of your mowing deck with the mulch kit installed may help clear things up.


----------



## diy_darryl (May 15, 2018)

I'll get a pic of the underside next time I get a chance to remove the deck. It only takes a few minutes but super busy on projects at the moment. I do believe everything is installed properly.

I only have to remove 2 bolts to get the plug off or I can buy one that flips up if this gets to be a regular problem.

Thanks again.


----------



## kaptain_zero (Jun 2, 2018)

diy_darryl said:


> I only have to remove 2 bolts to get the plug off or I can buy one that flips up if this gets to be a regular problem.
> 
> Thanks again.


That is the best solution to those times when the lawn gets away from you, or it just won't stop raining. A flip up baffle with a slip on chute so you can quickly convert to side discharge will avoid the uneven mow problem when sopping wet or overgrown, and make it dead easy to go back to mulching when things dry out. If removing the two bolts you have now isn't a terrible chore, you can do that and save some money.

I'm dead lazy, so I'd probably change to the spring loaded one. :mrgreen:


----------



## kaptain_zero (Jun 2, 2018)

diy_darryl said:


> Let me just say the ONE GUY that I referred to is no longer on this post. His loss for leaving TLF over something so trivial.
> You guys did hit on one thing. It was my first time mulching after the 'mod'. We had a week straight of massive rains and the yard got away from me a bit so it was taller than usual by a good bit. We also have hit a cool spell in the 60's at night after near 100 degree weather for weeks so lots of dew overnight. I mowed in the evening but the grass was still a bit wet near the ground.
> That might be the whole issue although the side discharge has handled that same situation. Maybe I was expecting too much.
> Will have to wait until I can mow again and it's good and dry and not too long.


Have you had a chance to mow dry yet?


----------



## diy_darryl (May 15, 2018)

Nope, it was wet yet again, can't get a break. Mowed again a bit wet with similar results.


----------



## kaptain_zero (Jun 2, 2018)

That sucks.... though with this heat, rain isn't such a bad thing.

I took another look at how the 42" deck looks underneath with the kit and unlike some of the 3 bladed machines, both blades on the 42" are in the same "chamber" so if you can open the chute, everything should get ejected out instead of clogging up and making a mess. Some of the 3 bladed units I've looked at, isolate each blade from the others and opening the chute on that type of setup would only clear the grass from the closest blade, leaving the other two to clog up.

I'm going to guess that lawn care services that use those 3 blade decks for mulching, probably keep a side discharge unit at the ready for wet days.

Hope you are having a fine Independence Day and that things will dry up enough to confirm that the recycler kit is working OK.


----------



## diy_darryl (May 15, 2018)

Mowed dry today and it's working pretty well. Thanks for all the input!


----------



## kaptain_zero (Jun 2, 2018)

:thumbup:


----------

