Best Chute Blockers for Zero Turn Mowers. Mower discharge chute blocker

16.06.2023 Golticage best, blockers, chute, mowers, turn

Best Chute Blockers for Zero Turn Mowers

Do you have a zero-turn or riding mower? If so, you know how important it is to keep the grass chute clear of debris and clippings. Otherwise, your lawn will get trampled by clumps of leaves, sticks, and other debris that can’t be blown away from the front of the mower.

Chute blockers are an inexpensive way to make sure your lawn stays nice and neat all season long. In this post, we’ll explore what they are, why they’re necessary for keeping your yard looking great throughout the year, and some of our favorite models on the market.

Should I use a Chute Blocker?

There is nothing more enjoyable for some people than a crisp summer day spent out in the yard. And if you’re in charge of keeping up your lawn or/and have a gardener on standby for weeding or edging, then you might think that having to mow the lawn is just plain serene. But wait!

Your life could be far better with one tiny purchase—the chute blocker. You see many times when people are at the height of their gardening endeavors, and they find themselves straining at an awkward angle to reach those little blades of grass from under their desk or kitchen door. Using this nifty attachment can change all that by giving them mounting support above and around waist level, so no uncomfortable positions need to be endured any longer!

Chute Blocker vs. Mulch Kit

The Mower Chute Blocker is a simple device that attaches to the deck of your mower to prevent grass clippings from being blown out onto sidewalks, patios, and other hard surfaces. The Mulch Kit turns your lawnmower into a mulching machine, working as an alternative or in addition to a traditional bag catcher on many lawnmowers.

The Benefits of mower chute blocker

A mower chute blocker helps you clear grass clippings and leaves from a lawn without the hassle of constantly stopping to clean out your mower. This product will save you lots of time, money, and energy! The mower chute blocker attaches directly to the frame or discharge opening on your lawnmower so that when it opens up, all the leaves and debris fall inside rather than fly around in front of the machine. Mow continuously with little interruption throughout your yard while never having to push clumps every few yards yourself!

The only other way this summer side job can be done is by using a rake which takes extra time and gets tiring real quick. Cleaning up after mowing should not ever be as hard.

Advanced Chute System: Mower Discharge Shield

The Advanced Chute System provides a safe and effective way to become the lawn care whiz you know you deserve and that your neighbors envy. You’re tired of fighting with clumps of grass coming up in chunks outback or chomping down on big lumps of clippings every time you mow.

Not to mention the safety hazard when it blows back at your ankles, all while trying to balance yourself on your zero-turns. Using our specially designed gooseneck buckets for the collection, this problem will be solved!

The Advanced Chute System has turned even the most complicated looking ZTR into a mulching machine like no other- now YOU have power over yards around thanks to quick and easy installation – start turning heads today!

Compatibility with the most popular models (look at the compatibility list)
Easy install

On some lawnmowers you should drill additional holes

Qwikchute Chute Blocker Deflector Scag

This deflector tool for your lawn mower deck, sometimes called a scag, can divert the grass clippings in three directions. With only minimal effort and a few seconds, the mower operator can choose how to direct them: mulch, full discharge, or partial discharge. Sure, you could try doing this with an old toothbrush, but that might not be good for your battery life on a cordless model or your grip on a gas-powered machine. Wouldn’t want you slicing any of those grisly fingers off now, would we?

Oh, and as they say, never put out too much information. Let’s just leave it at ‘Qwikchute installs in 30 minutes.’

The mechanical chute blocker is a simple but effective solution for managing grass clippings. It fits onto the mower in just minutes, and it offers full or partial mulching, as well as an option of discharge without any hassle whatsoever!

Various number of models for most popular ZTR and riding mowers
Installs in 30 minutes

Overpriced than other models

Stens Trimmer Trap Bb-1-wb-3 Blade Blocker-Walk Behind

The Trap Bb-1-wb-3 Blade Blocker is an essential safety device for neighborhoods, parks, and other properties where people live. It installs in seconds on most types of walk-behind mowers to shield passersby, nearby pedestrians, traffic coming from either direction and children during the cut when there is a high chance of flying debris!

Plus, it can help reduce lawn damage caused by insects or wind storms because you won’t be raked over all the same grass with every step the blades take.

Fold up your Mower Chute Blocker before you’re done cutting and lower it into place while feeding more grass inside or catching what’s left on your roller skirt afterward. You’ll be mowing without worry again so soon that you might.

Buyer’s Guide: Choosing the best chute Blocker

The mower chute blocker is a brilliant solution for anyone who spends time in large open lawns. The mower chute blocker will create an all-around barrier that stops the flyaways from happening and avoids potential safety problems – whether they’re irritating annoyances or hazardous projectiles.

There is really no escape from the annoyance of having to clean up debris you did not create after using your mower. The best part about this product? It’s easy, affordable, and can be used with any lawnmower without obstructing movement!

The main aspect of choosing a chute blocker is the size of the riding lawnmower deck. Each manufacturer gives information about the compatibility – make the right measurement of the deck, and that’s it!

How to install a mower chute-blocker?

Each of the chute blockers we reviewed has its own installation procedure. Installation of a chute blocking device is simple but not difficult. It may involve drilling holes in the mower’s steel body and using nuts and bolts.

It’s so simple, and you can do it yourself in about 10-30 minutes! The chute blocker installs on the mower with four screws and one wrench. You drill a hole in your yard to accommodate the anchor that is included with your purchase. After installation, turning off your lawn mower will make it, so grass clippings shoot back towards the ground where they are supposed to be instead of into an open-air duct.

The installation process for each chute blocker will differ depending on the type. For instance, GrassFlap is foot-operated. The flap’s cables are attached to the footboard. The control for the two other types of chute blockers we have reviewed is located in a handle. The instructions pages for each product are included in the owner’s manual.

Manufacturers have made videos showing how to install them. It takes approximately 30 minutes to install and is simple enough for anyone to do it themselves.

You can take your concern about installation to your local dealer.

The installation process can be summarized in a few steps

Attach the shield plate to the base plate using nylon washers, bolts, or nuts.
The slide handle must be installed in the correct direction.

FAQ

Is mower chute blocker easy to use?

You bet your bottom dollar it is! Twist a self-locking clamp, push the flexible rubber guard over and guide it securely between two blades. And you’re done with this time-consuming lawn chore!

In conclusion

Chute blockers are a handy accessory, and they are relatively new on the market. They can be used to improve the efficiency of lawn mowing. It is extremely time-saving to be able to switch between side-discharge and mulching/blocking of the chute.

If I were to start a new lawn business tomorrow, I would make sure my mowers had a chute blocker. These are an invaluable asset for any business that regularly cuts many types of lawns.

The Best Self-Propelled Lawn Mowers in 2023 for Making Your Yard Work Easier

These lawn mowers drive themselves, taking the load off you in the process.

By Roy Berendsohn Published: Mar 21, 2023

One of the perks of the warm-weather season is getting to spend time outside. If you own your own home and have a yard, it’s very likely that in order to enjoy your outdoor space, you need to mow the lawn. The larger the yard, the more work it will be to maintain. If you have a lot of grass to cut, you’d be wise to consider a self-propelled lawn mower especially now that there are a ton of sales just in time for Memorial Day.

The primary difference between a standard push mower and a self-propelled mower is that the former moves when you push it, and the latter essentially moves itself with only your guidance. Once the engine is running, all you have to do is squeeze a handle or push a lever and the mower will start moving forward with you as you walk.

Turning the mower around is your job, but once you have your heading, just keep the drive handle squeezed and escort the mower down the path, no pushing necessary.

From Popular Mechanics

Self-propelled law mowers take power off the engine and route it via a belt to a pulley on the transmission and axle. When you move the drive control lever on the mower handle, you tension the belt, causing the pulley to turn, and this drives the transmission, moving the mower forward.

Move the drive control lever back and the tension is released, the pulley stops turning, and the mower stops moving forward. The belt-driven transmission is a time-tested design to power the mower and take the load off you in the process.

What to Consider

A mower is like many consumer products in that the more features a manufacturer adds, the more expensive it becomes. But a longer or more eye-catching list of features isn’t necessarily better. Sometimes less is more. Here are the most important to keep in mind.

Front-wheel drive mowers tend to be less expensive than rear-wheel drive units. They can be easier to turn because you don’t have to disengage the drive wheels to do so. Simply push down on the handlebar to raise the front wheels off the ground. However, their traction isn’t as strong on hills or when the bag is full, as there isn’t as much weight over the drive wheels.

Rear-wheel drive mowers do cost more and aren’t as easy to turn, as you do need to disengage the drive—but this isn’t too much of a hassle. Rear-wheel drive mowers shine on hills and inclines, and when the grass bag is full. In either scenario, weight is shifted rearward and over the drive wheels, which enables superior traction, thus making the self-propel more effective.

An engine as small as 125 cc can power a mower, but most are somewhere in the 140 cc to 190 cc range. A large engine helps when powering through tall, lush grass or in extreme conditions, such as with a side discharge chute in place and mowing tall weeds in a border area. Also, the extra torque provided by a larger engine can improve bagging when the going gets tough (tall, leaf-covered grass in the fall). But if you mow sensibly and pay attention to deck height—and especially if you don’t let your lawn get out of control—an engine between 140 and 160 cc has more than enough power to get the job done.

A mower can have all four wheels the same diameter (7 to 8 inches), or it may have rear wheels that range from 9.5 inches to 12 inches in diameter. Larger rear wheels help the mower roll more easily over bumpy ground.

With some mowers you can start the engine with the twist of a key or the press of a button. It’s a great option, but a luxury. Keep the mower engine tuned and use fresh fuel with stabilizer added to it, and you’ll never have trouble starting.

Any number of mechanisms can control a mower’s ground speed—a squeeze handle, a drive bar that you press forward, even a dial. There’s no single right answer here. Look at the design and think about how you like to work. For example, if more than one person will be using the mower (and not all of them are right-handed), a drive control like that on a Toro Personal Pace mower might be the answer. Just push down on the bar to make it go faster. Let up on the bar to slow down.

A mower that can bag, mulch, and side discharge is known as a three-function mower, the most versatile kind. Two-function mowers bag and mulch or mulch and side discharge.

Mowers will typically have one, two, or four levers to control the deck height. Single-lever adjustment is the easiest to use, but it requires more linkage, which adds weight and complexity. If, for some reason, you find yourself varying deck height frequently, it’s a good option. Otherwise, two or four levers work just fine.

Only Honda makes a gas-engine mower with a high-impact plastic deck (there are battery mowers that have plastic decks). Otherwise, mowers generally have a steel deck, and a few manufacturers—Toro, for one—offer a corrosion-resistant aluminum deck. An aluminum deck won’t rot the way a steel deck will, but you still need to keep it clean.

This is a hose fitting mounted on top of the mower’s deck. When you’re done mowing, hook up a hose and run the mower to power wash the underside of the deck. We’ve had mixed results with these, but they’re better than just letting a mass of dried grass clippings accumulate.

expensive mowers come with a more durable bag with more dust-blocking capability. If you bag a lot, especially leaves or other lawn debris in the fall, then you need a mower with a higher quality dust-blocking bag. Having said that, if you rarely bag, the standard one that comes with a mower will last you the life of the mower.

Also called wide-area mowers, machines in this subgroup help homeowners better reconcile their need for more power and speed with the fact that they may not have enough storage for a tractor or zero-turn mower. A typical residential walk mower has a single-blade deck that cuts a swath from 20 to 22 inches wide. Wide-cut mowers (built for homeowner use) have either a single blade or, more typically, a pair of blades, cutting from 26 to 30 inches with each pass. Some of these are rated for light commercial use and have larger decks, in the 32-inch range, and engines that start at 223 cc and go up to about 337 cc.

Wide-cut mowers typically employ gear or hydrostatic drive transmissions, and they have top speeds of about 4 to 6 miles per hour. At their fastest, they move so quickly you have to trot to keep up with them. Needless to say, they’re overkill for small yards; only opt for one of these if you’ve got a significant plot of land that you need to keep tidy, but not one so large that you’d be better off going with a full-on riding mower.

How We Tested and Selected

We compiled this list based on Popular Mechanics mower testing and our knowledge of the lawn mower market at large. For our testing, we put mowers through the paces using our standard Popular Mechanics methodology: We cut turf grasses such as fescues and blue grass and rougher non-turf grasses like Timothy, clover, orchard grass, and wild oats, all in both normal and shin-deep heights. We mow uphill, downhill, and across the faces of hills. The maximum slope we cut is about 30 degrees.

That may not sound like much, but it’s about all you can do to stand on it, let alone push a mower up it or across it. We mow damp and wet grass to test general cutting performance and whether clippings accumulate on the tires. And we cut dry and dusty surfaces to see how well the bag filters under less-than-optimal conditions.

Honda HRN 216VKA

Key Specs

Honda mowers enjoy a sterling reputation. Having tested their walk and self-propelled mowers for the last 30 years, we feel confident that Honda’s entry level mower is a great choice for homeowners looking for power and durability. The HRN features a GCV 170 gas engine that’s built to withstand long hours of operation.

If you do your own maintenance (and most owners who buy this class of product do), you’ll appreciate the easily accessible spark plug and the fuel shutoff valve that enables better winter storage. Close the fuel shutoff and run the mower until it sputters to a halt. This will clear the carburetor of any gasoline, which will prevent the ethanol in it from disintegrating and causing running issues later on. Open the shutoff valve in the spring, add some fresh gasoline, and the mower should start easily.

All this maintenance stuff is great, but we can also tell you that our past test findings on other Hondas prove that their cut quality is outstanding for cleanliness. Sharp blades deliver a velvet-like finish. And their bagging ability is also quite good, in the same league with other well-bagging mowers from Toro.

In all, if you take mowing seriously, you should enjoy this Honda. If you have a little wiggle room in your budget, consider the Honda HRX, which features a mower powerful engine and a composite deck that won’t rust and is renowned for its durability.

One note is that Honda has announced that it will cease selling lawn mowers in the United States after this year—so if you’re considering buying one, best do it sooner rather than later.

Toro Recycler 60-Volt Max Lithium-Ion

Key Specs

Toro mowers have garnered more recommendations from us than any other brand for two reasons: build quality and cut quality. These were amply demonstrated in our testing as the Recycler turned in the best ratio of cut area per amp-hour of battery in the self-propelled category, while at the same time not skimping on cutting, mulching, or bagging quality.

We attribute this outstanding mower performance to three features, all upgrades to the previous version of this machine. First, the air vent at the front of the mower deck seems to improve mulching and bagging performance. Toro calls it Vortex technology, a design that increases air flow under the deck. This helps to stand the grass for a cleaner cut, which improves mulching performance, and also allows better airflow into the bag when collecting the clippings.

Next, the company’s redesigned “Atomic” blade configuration appears to assist the air flow and clipping movement. Finally, the three-phase, 60-volt motor is exceptionally efficient, resulting in a large cut area for a single battery.

Toro has maintained features that make this mower work: rear wheel drive, a one-piece deck that’s all steel (no plastic nose), 11-inch wheels to help it roll over roots and crevices, and the same fold-forward handle that was an industry breakthrough when it was introduced some years ago.

Ryobi 40-Volt Brushless Self-Propelled Mower

Key Specs

This is one of Ryobi’s top-of-the-line mowers, and it’s American-made construction is something we wish we saw more of. It delivers a tremendous cut area with its two 6-Ah batteries providing a total of 12-Ah of capacity, and its X-shaped blade leaves a pristine surface in its wake.

Ryobi estimates the design should provide 70 minutes of run time; we didn’t time our cut, but it strikes as plausible. Its rear-wheel drive and reasonably aggressive tire tread pattern provide good hill climbing and sidehill cutting performance, and its bagging on all surfaces (level, sidehill, and uphill) is also commendable.

Other ease-of-use features include an easily installed or removed bag that mounts and dismounts straight up and down through the handle; deck adjustment is quick and easy thanks to a single-level deck height adjustment. The straight edge deck is polypropylene; it will never rust and needs very little care other than basic cleaning.

Toro TimeMaster 30 in. Briggs Stratton Personal Pace

The Toro Timemaster 30-in. mower has been around for several years and has earned a reputation as a sturdy workhorse for homeowners who want to cut down on their mowing time. It’s also used by some professionals as well. A few years ago the Timemaster got a slightly more powerful Briggs and Stratton gas engine, so it should have no issues powering through most demanding mowing jobs.

The Timemaster is rear-wheel drive and features Toro’s Personal Pace drive system that’s used on many of its self-propelled mowers. This allows the mower to move at your speed by simply pushing down or releasing the handle, which is spring-tensioned.

With a 30-in. deck, Toro claims the Timemaster will help you reduce your mowing time by about 40% compared to using a standard-sized mower. You can mulch, back, or side discharge with the Timemaster, and the handlebar can be locked in a fully vertical position to reduce space consumption in storage.

If you have half an acre to a full acre of lawn to mow and prefer the experience of a walk-behind mower versus a tractor or zero-turn, the Timemaster is worth a look.

Craftsman M220

Key Specs

Craftsman mowers have been doing very well in our tests, so we can recommend this one because it’s so much like the many other of the brand’s models that we’ve tested. If you’re looking for a good blend of maneuverability and power, you’ll get it with this mower. Its front drive helps move it along and makes it easy to turn.

It’s important to note that front-drive mowers do lose some traction when running uphill, particularly with a full grass bag. But if your slope is less than 20 degrees, and you’re not bagging uphill, you’ll be fine. The side discharge will also help you handle tall grass. Adjust the two deck levers to bring the mower up to full height and have at the rough stuff.

The fact that this mower bags, mulches, and side discharges is a plus, enabling you to handle a wide range of mowing conditions, from early spring and late into the fall. Three-function mowers like this are our preference for that versatility.

Toro Super Recycler Self-Propelled Lawn Mower

Key Specs

This is a beauty of a mower, with a cast-aluminum deck and a smooth-running Briggs Stratton 163-cc engine. We tested the Honda engine-equipped version, and it was effective at both bagging and mulching, even in moist grass.

Equipped with rear-wheel drive and the Personal Pace system (the farther you push the drive bar, the faster the mower goes), it’s an effective hill climber and moderately effective on sidehill cutting. It has relatively small 7.5-inch tires on all four corners, which causes this Toro to bump up and down a bit on washboard surfaces. But the good news is that it’s equipped with a far higher quality tire than we’re used to seeing these days. We didn’t notice them pick up any grass on moist surfaces.

Other features we like include its forward-fold handle that has a built-in shock absorber that Toro calls a Flex Handle Suspension, and a high-quality grass bag that loads through the handle, from the top.

QA

Are there special maintenance considerations with self-propelled mowers?

Yes. Both front- and rear-wheel drive mowers typically feature a drive belt, which can crack or wear out over time. Fortunately these belts are not difficult or particularly expensive to replace.

Secondly, you may have to replace the drive wheels occasionally. These wheels are driven with gears. there are typically teeth on the inside diameter of the drive wheel that line up with a gear on the axle. These teeth can wear out, especially if they are made of plastic. Higher-end mowers may feature drive wheels with a metal gear that meets the metal axle gear, which improves longevity of these components.

My lawnmower says I don’t ever have to change the oil, but just add oil when needed. Is this OK?

It’s not a good idea to never change the oil in your lawn mower. In a lawn mower, same as a car, oil degrades over time and is less effective at reducing heat and friction in metal components. Changing the oil in your lawn mower is easy to do and will significantly increase its service life. For most homeowners, changing the oil at the beginning or end of each mowing season should be sufficient, though there is certainly no harm in doing it more often.

Roy Berendsohn has worked for more than 25 years at Popular Mechanics, where he has written on carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, electrical, woodworking, blacksmithing, welding, lawn care, chainsaw use, and outdoor power equipment. When he’s not working on his own house, he volunteers with Sovereign Grace Church doing home repair for families in rural, suburban and urban locations throughout central and southern New Jersey.

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