John Deere Mulch Control Kit for 48 Accel Mower Decks

MulchControl advantages and benefits

Replaced by BUC10705

The MulchControl attachment for the 48A Mower Deck makes mulching more practical for many mowing situations because it not only does an excellent job of mulching but it also allows the mower to be easily converted for times when it is more desirable to side discharge or collect the lawn material. Advantages of mulching grass clippings include:

·         A beautiful looking lawn

·         Grass clippings not blown onto the operator, driveways, or flower beds

·         Less fertilizer use

·         Elimination of the effort needed to dispose of clippings

How MulchControl works

MulchControl is an innovative, simple design that is easy to use and maintain:

·         The MulchControl attachment includes baffles to control the flow of material under the deck.

o    The MulchControl baffle, or divider, between the left and middle spindles is about half way down. The height is designed to balance the mulching and side-discharge modes.

o    When the MulchControl baffle is open, the divider between the left and middle spindles passes a portion of the material to the discharge opening, along with the material from the middle and right spindle areas.

o    When the MulchControl baffle is closed, this material stays within the deck and gets chopped into mulch and deposited in the turf.

·         The MulchControl handle is located on top of the mower deck and used to open and close the discharge baffle.

o    The operator is required to get off of the machine in order to engage or disengage mulch mode.

·         Changing from mulching to side discharge or vice versa takes only a few seconds.

MulchControl is well-suited to the following mowing situations:

·         Usually mulch, but side discharge when grass gets too long

·         Usually side-discharge, but would like to be able to close the chute to control clippings

·         Always mulch a main lawn, but often side discharge secondary lawns

·         Bag clippings, but want to go farther before emptying bags

MulchControl puts the operator in control of the clippings. Now the operator can have all the benefits of mulching with the ability to easily change to side discharge or bagging when needed.

MulchControl limitations

While in the side-discharge mode, MulchControl will still mulch about one third of the material. Therefore, the side-discharge mode is essentially a partial-mulch mode. This can be an advantage when side discharging or bagging, as it helps to reduce the amount of material being discharged. Other times this could work as a disadvantage:

·         When cutting strong southern grasses, such as Zoysia and Bermuda

·         When cutting in wet, high-growth conditions, such as those found in the Pacific Northwest United States

·         When optimum bagging and lawn clean-up is desired