Riding mowers and dust.. ideas on reducing?

[skeer]

So yeah.. mowing and dust. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. Or alcohol and stupid decisions….

Most people just deal with it, I used to be one of those but I’m sick and tired of masking up and eating it so I thought I’d ask here to see if anyones got ideas. Maybe experimented with deck modifications to lower the blowing affect blades have?

I’ve got a CC 3184 with a 46” three bladed deck with side exhaust. It does have blow out baffles along the entire front. OEM did not so when I upgraded to this deck last year I welded some on there. Maybe their not deep enough?
Most of the dust does seem to blow out from the front edge of the deck.

Tossing around things in my head I’ve thought about adding a rubber edge hanging down along the front. But there’s no good way to attach it.

What do y’all think?

 

[Sumboodie]

Quit mowing dirt and mow the grass?

 

[purplezr2]

Grow better grass.


Spraying and fertilizing my lawn helped a lot.

 

[skeer]

Quit mowing dirt and mow the grass?

I'd love to.. the wife wontt allow that.

 

[skeer]

We have such ****** soil here that it literally wouldn't be cost-effective to support healthier grass. On averages there's only around 1-2 inches of actual topsoil before the sand starts.

 

[Chevy72pu]

Run your irrigation system 24 hours before mowing.

 

[Toomanytools?]

Well one thing you can try is to water the lawn, let it dry a bit then mow. The dirt will be heavy with water and stay in place a bit more. The downside is if grass is too wet it clogs the deck. So there is a fine line just right and too wet.

 

[Blk88GT]

Use a bagger?

 

[gizardlizard]

Sack up there Sally and just mow. As others suggested, watering before will probably help some.

 

[PWC Repair]

Rig up a bagger system with water containers instead of bags, to catch the dust like on a good sandblast cabinet. OR,....mow real early when the dew is still present.

 

[supratreo]

i'm also gonna go with water. run your sprinklers in the AM and mow in the afternoon.

 

[sjvicker]

How many acres are you mowing? Maybe find a mower with a cab.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Use a bagger?

He said she's busy.





I keed I keed.

 

[My Old Tools]

My ZTR throws a lot less dirt since I converted it to a mulcher.

 

[3rdgendslmech]

are you using high lift blades for bagging? When I'm not bagging leaves or heavy grass i switch to mulching blades. They don't create as much air flow.

 

[marak]

Rural airports in Alaska apply a dust palliative for controlling dust on runways, taxiways, and airport access roads. Consider looking into a DIY version of a liquid calcium chloride solution if you have large patches without grass. Tractor Supply carries it here.

 

[goldtang]

Replace dust with concrete have green added when it is been pored

 

[SmartShoe]

For another light-hearted and cheeky response, replace all grass with AstroTurf. No more dust or grass problems.

 

[LifeLongWNYer]

I have a yard with sandy soil and a lot of shade. Grass is thin, but weeds thrive, so I have to mow to keep the lawn looking half-way decent. I try to mow early in the morning, when the dew is still on the ground, and the dust is much better.

I used to have the neighbors complain about the dust cloud blowing into their open windows.


JBP

.

 

[Renegade1LI]

Look into planting clover, grows in a wide range of soils, rarely would need to be cut & doesn't require much water.
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/clover-lawn/

 

[marak]

Look into planting clover, grows in a wide range of soils, rarely would need to be cut & doesn't require much water.
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/clover-lawn/

Fantastic solution!

And, bees love clover.

 

[skeer]

So all of ya'll got jokes eh?

 

[skeer]

The total area that I mow regularly encompasses probably 6-8 acres.
Actual legit grass is spotty at best, mostly contained near the house in 1-2 acres.
Irrigation? What kind of fancy *** people are you?
Lots of moss here, very.. very shady in the summer.
No bagger.
No high lift blades.
No cab.
Early morning? Perhaps but Im sleeping then.

Seriously though.. My blow out baffle is 3.5-4" deep into/under the front edge of the deck. Wish I could convert this damn deck into a rear discharge... maybe that'd do something.

 

[sjvicker]

They aren't cheap but maybe you can find a PAPR Respirator that would work for you?

 

[KEH]

Needed to mow lawn. Last night we had a light shower. About 11 M I mowed part of the lawn with dew still on the grass. No dust. After dinner I finished mowing, no dust. Also no rain. Finished about 4 PM after running out of gas and refilling.

Re post above on clover. Lot of white clover in parts of the lawn. Grandchildren here for Mother's Day. The grandchildren found five 4 leaf clovers. Never had that happen before.

KEH

 

[Metallitubby]

,....mow real early when the dew is still present.

This is the most logical answer.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

The total area that I mow regularly encompasses probably 6-8 acres.
Actual legit grass is spotty at best, mostly contained near the house in 1-2 acres.
Irrigation? What kind of fancy *** people are you?
Lots of moss here, very.. very shady in the summer.
No bagger.
No high lift blades.
No cab.
Early morning? Perhaps but Im sleeping then.

Seriously though.. My blow out baffle is 3.5-4" deep into/under the front edge of the deck. Wish I could convert this damn deck into a rear discharge... maybe that'd do something.

My mowing of similar terrain is dusty like yours. The dust gets everywhere, in my eyes, nose, shirt collar, layer on my jeans and fish shirt.
I noticed that the exhaust blowing out the front muffler seems to kick the dust out then up and over the front of the hood. The side discharge isn't much of an issue unless its discharging into the wind.

 

[Renegade1LI]

This is the most logical answer.

Not all areas get morning dew, here in LI from may to sept we get very little. Upstate I need waterproof boots in the am. but most of LI is irrigated.

 

[Chevy72pu]

So all of ya'll got jokes eh?

Sorry, didn't mean mine as a joke but I see how it happened. I run my irrigation system for one hour every other night. So in my mind I was saying to water during tonight and mow tomorrow afternoon. But since you mow 6-8 acres I'm guessing you don't irrigate all of it.

 

[skeer]

Sorry, didn't mean mine as a joke but I see how it happened. I run my irrigation system for one hour every other night. So in my mind I was saying to water during tonight and mow tomorrow afternoon. But since you mow 6-8 acres I'm guessing you don't irrigate all of it.

Being in GA I wouldn't expect anyones yard to need extra water? I think I was trying to be funny earlier, anyone who says they 'irrigate' their yard is high-falootin'.

But nah, we only water the garden, strategic plants and brushes. And my baby trees that are relocated from the woods. Trying to build up a nice, thicc wall between ourselves and the road. Having to irrigate a lawn I think is an incredible waste, but I understand how subdivisions work so.

 

[Moss]

That is a lot of "grass" to mow for sure. It seems like that would be pretty time consuming with a little lawn tractor. I have some places I only mow a couple times a year to keep them from getting too wild. I use a rotary mower for those places and the dust and grass is no fun. If you really want to mow all that I think you would need a cab machine.

Edit, I see your comment about rear discharge. I have a 6' rear discharge finish mower and it is still dusty in areas that aren't actually decent lawn.

 

[bbbarracuda]

The dust gets everywhere, in my eyes, nose, shirt collar, layer on my jeans and fish shirt.

I gotta ask, fish shirt?

 

[CTyankee]

That's a lot of lawn. Are you utilizing all of it? Maybe just let it grow higher than normal and invest in a sickle blade or maybe a gang reel setup if you want to maintain it short all the time. You've still got a couple of weeks not to worry about it..

https://apnews.com/article/gardening-no-mow-may-lawns-6aa1669b9e9bb5b5d8ea671c44d186f2

FWIW, I deal with the same issue on a much smaller scale. The cause of my dust is the lawn is so infiltrated with ants and their mounds. They actually bring up so much soil digging their nests it turn parts of the into patches of dirt. Usually always some morning dew though , so i mow in the morning.

 

[skeer]

That is a lot of "grass" to mow for sure. It seems like that would be pretty time consuming with a little lawn tractor. I have some places I only mow a couple times a year to keep them from getting too wild. I use a rotary mower for those places and the dust and grass is no fun. If you really want to mow all that I think you would need a cab machine.

Edit, I see your comment about rear discharge. I have a 6' rear discharge finish mower and it is still dusty in areas that aren't actually decent lawn.

You’d think it’d take a while right? I’ve got a 48” cut and I can do pretty much all in about 3-ish hours. Prolly because of all the trees. And I do let all the stuff not directly around the house get about an inch taller.
I did have a thought a while back of beholding some sort of articulated setup with about 6 or 8 of those standard bush reel mowers. Lol

 

[Firebrick43]

We have such ****** soil here that it literally wouldn't be cost-effective to support healthier grass. On averages there's only around 1-2 inches of actual topsoil before the sand starts.

Fertilizer over several years, plus plug aerating will create top soil. Otherwise switch to a sickle bar mower, there is nothing that will eleminate dust from dry dirt on a rotary mower.

 

[Moss]

You’d think it’d take a while right? I’ve got a 48” cut and I can do pretty much all in about 3-ish hours. Prolly because of all the trees. And I do let all the stuff not directly around the house get about an inch taller.
I did have a thought a while back of beholding some sort of articulated setup with about 6 or 8 of those standard bush reel mowers. Lol

Not to be argumentative but I cut about 2.5-3 acres on a 48" rider in the spring when I can't get the bigger mower out there. It takes about 3 hours so I can't see how you could cut 6-8 acres in that time. Either I cut very slow or the math is off haha.

 

[Firebrick43]

Not to be argumentative but I cut about 2.5-3 acres on a 48" rider in the spring when I can't get the bigger mower out there. It takes about 3 hours so I can't see how you could cut 6-8 acres in that time. Either I cut very slow or the math is off haha.

I agree. I clip 8 acres of pastures a few times a year with an 8' bushhog and 53 hp tractor mostly in 5 gear at 5.6mph and it takes 3 ish hours to do.

I don't know how one could accomplish that with a rider at half the width and cant mow at that speed?

 

[PelicanPines]

I cut an acre in an hour... 48" Cub Cadet... LOTS of dust as I don't really have a lawn. It's sand... my blades evaporate in 18 months.

I wear a respirator and desert style hat with a back cape.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

I gotta ask, fish shirt?

lol not quite, but I like it.


More like these, probably more of a swim shirt I guess. Very light weight and if I need to cool down, I just spray off with the water hose. I call them fish shirts as I originally bought them to wear out to the beach to go fishing. Now I wear them everywhere.

 

[rcsracing]

Recent Messick's youtube video talked about mower blades. For mulching and bagging, blades typically have higher lift, which can bring up sand/dry dirt. Maybe look at changing the blades to a less-lift type?

edit: Mower blade differences. Which ones work best? - YouTubeYouTubehttps://www.youtube.com › watch