12 Reasons for Uneven Cut in a Bobcat Zero Turn

Low tire pressure, a frayed deck belt, a dull or bent blade, out of balance blades, faulty spindle or pulley bearings, or a cracked deck shell are all potential causes of an uneven cut on a Bobcat zero-turn mower.

An uneven or poor cut might also result from using your Bobcat mower with a slow engine speed or a fast ground speed.

Prevent harm to yourself and others by following all safety procedures. The ignition key and spark plug wires must be disconnected. Wear protective gear and wait for all moving parts to halt before proceeding.

Before diagnosing, repairing, or operating, be sure you’ve read and understood all of the safety recommendations in the equipment’s operator’s manual.If you are unsure of how to proceed, lack the necessary expertise, or are unable to execute the repair properly, you should seek the advice of a professional.

12 Reasons Bobcat Zero Turn Mower Cuts Uneven

Low Tire Pressure on Bobcat Mower

It’s easy to blame the mower deck when you have issues getting a clean cut. Check your tire pressures on your Bobcat mower deck before making any changes.

Inadequate tire pressure can cause the mower deck to tilt, resulting in a skewed cut. Don’t forget to check the tire pressure before adjusting the deck’s level.

Methods for Evaluating and Adjusting Tire Pressure:

• Tire pressure checks are most accurate when performed on cold tires.
• Take off the cap on the valve stem.
• Tire pressure can be checked by placing a pressure gauge on the valve stem.
• Find out what PSI your Bobcat tires should be at.
• Compress air and add it in order to reach the required PSI.
• Reattach the top to the stalk.

Bobcat Lawn Mower Blade that is Dull or Broken

When the blade on a Bobcat mower gets too worn, it leaves uncut swaths of grass in the yard. This is because the metal of the blade is being worn down by dirt and particles that have been drawn into the mower deck.

Wear can’t be avoided in any manner. This occurs frequently.

Ensure the mower blade is free of:

Blade sails are worn

• One of the blade’s upper surfaces serves as a sail. The component that spins with the blade underneath the deck and generates wind.
• Suction created by airflow and space under the deck keeps grass standing tall for a precise trim.
• When the sail becomes thinner than the blade’s center, it’s time to get a new one.

Blades with frayed tips

• Grass could be left in narrow strips between the blades.
• Change out a dull blade or one with rounded tips.

Blade Dullness

• Not a precise grass cutter.
• Could wind up doing nothing more than shredding the grass to shreds. A day or two after being mowed, the grass’s tips may begin to brown.
• If the blade is otherwise functional, sharpen it.
• If your blade is dull, has gouges in the edge, or has otherwise lost its sharpness, you ought to substitute it.

The Blade on Bobcat Mower Is Damaged

A poor, uneven cut might result from a blade that is even slightly curved. If you run into something hard with your Bobcat mower, the blade may get bent.

There will be a noticeable shock and the sound of metal grinding when the impact is really severe. There was obviously a mishap, so you should inspect your deck for a bent blade and other damage.

Sometimes the impact is minor, and you wouldn’t dream of checking for a bent Bobcat blade if you didn’t have to. Checking for blade damage is just as crucial as checking the blade’s wear when you’re having trouble cutting.

A crooked mower blade can be identified in a couple of different ways. The mower blade must be removed from one approach, but not the other.

Before removing a blade to inspect for bends, be sure the spindle housing is not damaged. The next section contains the necessary instructions.

Taking Out the Blade to See If It’s Bent

• Mow on a level surface and park your mower there.
• Take out the key and disconnect the wires from the sparkplugs. Stop any motion before proceeding.
• Get underneath the mower deck without risking injury.
• Get rid of the old mower blade and set it on top of the replacement.
• If the old mower blade has gaps, you should get a new one.

The Bobcat Blade May Be Damaged With the Knife Still in Place

• Mow on a level surface and park your mower there.
• Take out the key and disconnect the wires from the sparkplugs. Stop any motion before proceeding.
• Take a reading from the floor to the end of one blade and write down that number.
• Make a note of the distance from the floor to the blade’s tip after rotating it through 180 degrees.
• If there is a discrepancy of more than 1/8″ between the two, you should get a new mower blade.

Mower blades should never be straightened

To save money, you might consider trying to straighten your Bobcat blade yourself. When you straighten a blade, you weaken the metal and reduce its overall strength. You should expect your blade’s metal to crack and break at this vulnerable spot.

Extreme caution is required when the blades are spinning at high speeds. When a Bobcat blade is being straightened, it might cause harm to nearby humans, animals, and property.

The Blades on My Bobcat Mower Are Uneven and Poorly Installed

Uneven mowing might result from poorly balanced or mounted blades on your Bobcat mower. Installing your blade with the proper hardware requires careful attention to the directions provided in your user manual.

Your mower blade needs to be adjusted before you can put it in. This means that the blade’s balance must be maintained regardless of which end is held in the hand.

Uneven wear from regular use can cause a blade to become imbalanced. When honing the blade, it might potentially become imbalanced. This occurs when one side has more significant metal removal than the other.

Fixing unbalanced lawnmower blades:

Check the blade’s balance with a blade balancer.

• Install the blade on the weight scale.
• Lighten up the blade by removing some material from its heaviest side.

Check the blade’s balance with a nail in the wall. The nail head needs to protrude from the wall by about an inch or so.

• Insert the blade’s midpoint into the nail’s head.
• The blade can be made level by filing away metal from the side that is drooping.

The Bobcat’s Spindle is Broken or the Bearing Is Faulty

If something is wrong with your spindle housing, the blade will make an extra movement, causing the wheel to wobble. When traveling at high speeds, this might generate a severe vibration that ruins the cut.

How to Inspect the Spindle Housing for Defects

• Put on some thick gloves to safeguard your hands from the blades.
• Rock the blade up and down by grabbing both ends. You’re looking for any slack or room to maneuver.
• When your blade is traveling up and down, you may hear a knocking sound.
• If you notice one of these, it’s time to take apart the spindle and inspect the bearing and spindle for damage.

Grass Clippings Clog the Deck of the Bobcat Lawn Mower

It’s impossible to avoid. Grass clippings, dirt, and other particles eventually clog the deck of every mower. Because of this, less room is required under the deck to get the same level of airflow and suction.

When there isn’t enough suction to raise the grass, you’ll get a poor cut.

In addition to causing your engine to work harder or even shut down, a buildup of dirt and grass clippings is hazardous for it.

Regularly scraping your mower deck will keep this from happening. Mower decks tend to become clogged more quickly with wet grass than with dry grass.

Mower’s tire tracks are easily visible in the damp grass. Grass should not be mowed if it is moist. If you must mow, make careful to scrape the deck afterwards.

Spraying the area with silicone or Teflon may help reduce the quantity of material that gets trapped under the deck.

The product can help reduce the quantity of grass clippings and dirt that stick to the underside of a Bobcat deck, but it cannot eliminate the problem entirely.

The Deck of Bobcat Mower Is Uneven

If one side of your mower deck is higher than the other, the cut will be lopsided. If the deck is not level on both sides, take measurements using the guidelines provided in your Bobcat operator’s manual and make the appropriate adjustments.

To set the right rake, consult the handbook and make the appropriate changes. The rake describes the angle at which the deck slopes from front to back.

Your Bobcat deck model will determine how you make adjustments and how you measure things. Because of this, please refer to the manual for guidance.

Broken Deck Belt for a Bobcat Mower

Your belt will slip off the pulleys if it is too stretched or worn. This can reduce the speed at which the blade spins, leading to an uneven cut.

Look for indicators of wear on your Bobcat belt. This includes things like cracking, shredding, and a glossy glazed look.

Another indication of a worn belt is when it no longer fits snugly within the pulleys’ grooves. If you notice any of these issues with your Bobcat belt, it’s time to get a new one.

Pulley or Bearing Failure

Pulleys are the next thing you should inspect. A safe and effective pulley will be flush and perpendicular to your Bobcat deck.

When a pulley’s bearing wears out, it can cause the pulley to wiggle, which can make the deck move from side to side.

How to tell whether a pulley is broken:

• Turn your hand pulley slowly. Check the bearing for noise and resistance using your fingers and ears.
• You can move it by grabbing both ends of the pulleys and rocking it back and forth. The deck is the ideal location for a pulley.
• If you encounter resistance, hear bearing noise, or feel excessive play in the pulley, it may be time to replace the bearing or pulley assembly.

The pulley assembly itself may need to be replaced, or perhaps only the bearings. It varies by make and model.

Keeping the Bobcat Mower’s Engine RPM Low

The sharpness of the cut varies with the velocity of the blade’s tip. If you want to get your blades spinning quickly on your Bobcat lawn mower, you’ll need to crank up the engine to its highest setting.

When utilizing the mower’s cutting deck, you should always have it running at maximum speed.

Bring your mower into a Bobcat dealer or a small engine repair shop if you find that full throttle doesn’t provide the same level of power it used to.

Rapidly Operating Your Bobcat Lawnmower

When operating a Bobcat mower, it’s important to think about the weather and other factors. Cutting dense, tall, or wet grass with your Bobcat will put a greater strain on your engine.

If you want a nicer cut in these weather circumstances, you should reduce your speed while running the mower.

If you move too quickly across your lawn, the mower may push over the grass instead of giving it enough time to stand up tall under the deck for a clean cut.

Bobcat Mower Overlapping Wrongly

When time is of the essence, as it often is, I recommend making your roads as wide as possible to maximize efficiency.

When I attempt this, I inevitably discover patches of unmowed grass where I failed to properly overlap my cuts.

Getting a feel for how much overlap is necessary for a good cut can take a few passes with a new mower.

The Deck Shell of Bobcat Mower Is Broken

Accidental contact with a post, tree, or building can cause serious damage to the deck shell.

A terrible shave can be the result of a damaged or modified Bobcat deck shell. Your deck shell has to be fixed or replaced if it’s beyond repair.

If fixing your mower deck will need you to replace the deck shell, you should probably just acquire a new one.

In certain cases, the cost of replacing just the deck shell is comparable to that of rebuilding the entire deck.

This is especially true once you factor in the time and effort required to transfer deck parts from one deck to another deck shell. The age of your mower and the cost of the repair should be taken into account for an educated selection.

Uneven Lawn

If you have molehills or other uneven places in your yard, your mower may scalp those locations. Lawns that have been leveled are easier to mow. While this may be true, not everyone has access to a perfectly level lawn.

A lawn roller can be used to smooth out uneven spots and flatten your grass. A weighted roller is what we call a lawn roller.

A Bobcat mower with a broad format deck may scalp the yard if you use it to mow regions with steep slopes and ditches. These expansive decks are rigid and won’t conform to the irregularities of the yard.

You will only create an uneven shave. In these spots, a small push mower or another compact mower would do the job well.