If the deck really is clean underneath, then I'd suspect a slipping belt. Has it performed this way since new?

More info over on the mowers forum:

Here is a link that might be useful: poor cutting performance

Sharpen the blades.

I have a Husqvarna GTH2754.
I did not really like the look of the cut the first time that I used it. Removed the blades and sharpened them and have since had people tell me that it cuts better than their Dixie Choppers.

Blades that are sold now days are so dull due to having to meet the Washington DC chapter of the California Communist Party rules and regulations that they are about useless for cutting grass.

Sharp blades are the key ,after a few mowing they will get pretty dull,and sand blasted up hwre I live...once the blades are dull they rip the grass instead of cutting it...
I would suggest having two sets of baldes maybe even three (high lift) using side discharge)and rotate them out after every ten hours of cutting of so ...it may seem like a lot of work ,but the pay-off will be in the cut ...Good luck ,Jim

The tractor has done this since new. The belts are very tight and of course since the tractor was new the deck was as clean as new . The advice in the link about poor design of the discharge system makes sense and maybe when the factory answers they will say that.....yeah right...I won't hold my breath .The advice about sharpening the blades may be the best advice. I have not sharpened any of the 3 sets of new blades . My neighbor with the old AC sharpens his with a 41/2" grinder. I think I'll pay him a visit tomorrow and I'll let you know what happens . Thanks to everyone for taking the time to answer.

Okay everyone I got word back today from the Husqvarna factory rep. through my lawn equipment store. It looks like hippy wins the Kewpie Doll . Sharpening the blades will be a possible help but the main problem is a mandated slowing of the blade speed on newer tractors by WASHINGTON REGULATIONS .

A possible cure could be smaller blade pulleys but changes like that would be illegal for a shop. A larger engine pulley would work also but that pulley is built into an electric clutch so thats out .I have 3 sets of blades and like jimc vt I will keep them rotated .

Has this been a problem for other brands or do you think its poor design of the Husky deck as well as the slower blade speed? Its hard to imagine a deck being that poorly designed and not correcting it on an expensive tractor like the Husky. CAD /CAM production makes changes like this a couple of keystrokes away. Comments anyone?????

If the poor cut issue were solely caused by mandated maximum blade tip speed specs, then EVERY mower out there that's built with the same spec would have the same poor cutting performance. I hate to say it, but the Husqvarna Rep is giving you an answer to cover his behind. Figuring out how fast your blades are traveling is pretty easy if you have a way of determining what rpm your engine is running at while mowing. Then take that feet per minute figure, and run your neighbors old AC at an engine rpm that would make his machine's blade tip speed equal to yours.

I'm extremely skeptical of the Rep's response because before I bought the Gravely I'm mowing with now, I compared the performance of my AYP deck to other machines of the same year as mine, (Dad's Walmart YardMan tractor being one of them), and especially in tougher conditions the AYP deck was inferior. Neighbors on either side of me with tractors a couple of years newer than mine, (a Toro and a Cub Cadet in the same price range as mine), also cut better and cut longer without needing to be cleaned. I've sharpened the blades too, (several times), but they even get dull quicker than other decks I've compared the AYP one to because the clippings are bounced around inside ensuring that each blade of grass gets chopped up several times.

My tractor engine doesn't get bogged down either, and it's rated at 2-3 hp higher than the other tractors I've compared the cut to. The Gravely is pushing a deck that's 4" wider and it has 2 hp less than my tractor does, and it'll cut better traveling at the same ground speed with the engine puttering at about 2/3 throttle while the tractor's engine is singing at full throttle.

I don't have an axe to grind, I've been completely objective and I still *like* my tractor. But it would be extremely entertaining to have a Rep over at MY property seeing how the machine mows MY grass.....and then showing him/her how a different machine performs under the same conditions. If he/she said it was dull blades, I'd let 'em dull up the Gravely blades with a hammer. If he/she said it was blade tip speed, I'd make 'em crunch the numbers and they'd find out that that it isn't it either. I guarantee they'd leave convinced that a deeper deck that is flat underneath simply cuts better AND uses less hp to do it.

;-)

Well, IMO you can't compare a mower that cost about twice as much, if as I would also expect better preformance, longivity, cut, and ground speed or why would I waste my money. keep the under side of the deck clean, use high lift blades, the higher the better, and shapen them as suggested from above. if that don't satisfy you buy a more expensive LT.

I think the blades could be the problem too. I have the same model but different year. I bought a 2006 model this year and it cuts just great. I bought it from a dealer, there were .5 hours on it.

I also have this model and I HATE the poor quality of cut. I bought the machine new and it has never, and I mean, NEVER, cut well. I get half a swathe and have to overlap by over the half the deck and still have grass standing up. Sometimes I can go over a patch 10 times and still not have it all cut down. I get better cutting from a $100 pusher lawn mower. I don't have golf-course flat land either but it isn't unreasonably hilly either. I go through a set of blades a year and new and sharpened blades do not make any difference whatsoever.

We have a 15 acre hobby farm and I like to mow the acreage fairly high at about 6 inches. It would be nice to just get around the mowed field once, instead of having to go over the spot 10 times to get it mowed properly. My husband thinks the machine is just useless.

The machine has been back and forth to the dealer with little results and I will never buy another Husqvarna again. I'm really disappointed. When we bought the Husqvarna, we thought we were buying a quality machine.

Also, any time something needs repairing, it takes a month to get parts ordered from Husqvarna so the machine sits useless in a shop for a month. Really, unreasonable service. A dealer should be required to have all the parts available. I waited 1 month for new blades and a belt. Just ridiculous.

"I waited 1 month for new blades and a belt. Just ridiculous."

--- Knowing that the Husq dealer has slow shipping, you should just purchase your parts on the net. Many of us on this forum get our stuff from internet suppliers who have Husq and AYP parts, especially simple things like blades, belts and mandrels.

I've had great luck with the 48" deck on my craftsman (same machine I think). I wonder if the 48" can be mounted on your mower?

I have a YTH24V42LS. I hate this mower. I am going to go to the lake and bring back my GT225 . This mower leaves uncut grass, always is stopping up. It also has done this since the day I got it. It has three blades under. I spend more time cleaning and maintaining it than I do cutting grass. It only has 108 hours on it. The dealer tried to tell me I put the blades on upside down. That's when it got ugly. I have tried all different kinds of blades and no matter what the cut sucks. This mower will end up at the lake house. It will cut the rocky hillside just fine.

John if it don,t cut bring it back !

I have a 2 year old Husqy 46 inch zero turn. I love the tractor. Hate the way it cuts. I tried everything from deck adjustment. Sharping blades. Have gator blades on it. If you adjust the deck as told and put a mulch kit on it cuts the grass but it doesn’t mulch it up. Leaves a trail of cut grass. I adjusted the back of the deck up about a inch and it seem to help with the mulch part but the cut was much worse. The accumulation of cut grass was less. I had a craftsman tractor before this. Did not have this probem with the mulch kit on. Not even close. I actually was cutting my grass with my craftsman when this was delivere. I jumped off my craftsman onto the zero turn and notice how poorly it cut the first path. They had the deck pitched so far forward that is seemed to mulch better but the cut quality was horrible. I got to go over my grass 2 or 3 times. 3000 bucks wasted. I’m going to try a few more deck adjustment. Then I think I’m going to take the mulch kit off and blow it out the side. Maybe it will work better. My thoughts got to be bad deck design. Very bad deck design. Not blade speed.

Blade speed , rate of mower travel and deck positioning all affect cut quality . Blade sharpness and design also is very inportant . Husky base mowers have had a poor cut quality issue for yrs . The deck design may well be a contributing factor .

Posted a little earlier about my husq 46 inch zero turn. I came home to cut the grass and before I started I raised the back of the deck up another 1/4 inch. Grass was a little wet and high and at least it’s mulching now. So anyone with a problem with the deck not mulching correctly try raising up the rear of the deck. Figuring mine is a inch to a inch and a quarter higher in the back. Sure I know the blades are cutting like a v but to a untrained eye you can’t notice it. I can barely notice it. Just some stringers of uncut grass but I could only see it when the sun was hitting it a certain way. Probably best to sharpen the blade more being your only cutting with the tip of the blade. Hope this helps someone. Anyone’s else figure a better solution I’m all ears. Would like it to cut nice and mulch. Oh and it’s not our imaginations this deck sucks. Been cutting grass a long time and I never gave it a thought till I bought this thing.

Is there any difference when you use the Husqvarna mulch blades as opposed to the Gators? Me, I would remove the front deck baffles to see if that allows you to manage the airflow better. Also, don't limit yourself to an exaggerated negative deck pitch. Try a slight lift in front as well - even to the positive side. If the grass is fine, slow the engine speed down a tad.

Yes I actually did take the baffles off. Like I said I tried everything. The machine come with the Husq mulch blades. The gators work better. Have them on now. When the machine was delivered the deck pitch was so extreme. It mulched but didn’t cut nice. ( I’m figuring the delivered machine with the steep pitch was deliberate. Maybe the factory told them that helps??????? )They put the mulch kit on. Can’t see a reputable service center not checking Blade height and all. Anyways. It’s when I adjusted the pitch to recommend setting that the cut was nice but it would leave a strip of cut grass but not mulched down the middle of the path. Even when it was short or dry or thin. Funny thing is last night the grass was high and wet and it seems to mulch better when it’s wet with that extreme pitch. It did leave some clumps but it’s what you would expect to see with it that high. But the clumps where mulched up. Only had to go over a couple little spots twice instead of the whole yard. As far as adjusting the front up. Just for the hell of it I took a path going backward Last night. Left more clumps of grass. Once went backwards with a level deck and it leaves a thin strip of grass to the right of the mower like my old Honda self propelled mower does. So for now that’s my fix. I’ll sharpen those blade up again. That will help with the cut. I’ll pay attention to anything posted. Maybe someone figured out a better fix for this. Thanks with your feed back.

One idea I have is to try an OEP 95-370 blade. It is a straight blade w/ a long cutting edge and a more mild lift than the high lift version. It should lessen the amount of turbulence under the deck which may help you dial it in for your lawn. If you had a set of bagger blades, you could clip some of the lift and re balance.

If you really want to have fun, look at the underside of a Toro recycler deck with the triangular kicker plates (easy would be a 38" XL series w/ cheap plastic kickers) Wheels turning yet??

Properly sharpened blades should slice a sheet of paper like a razor. No mention of the condition of the grass either wet or damp or dry? It makes a difference,

.

77200 Hell your quite the social butterfly ! I agree 100% , sharp blades may dull quicker however provide the best quality of cut rather then tearing the grass in either mulch / direct discharge or bagging modes . Also grass dampness and length contribute very much to this equation . However I believe the actual causation in this scenario is the Husky deck design . P.S. Since your becoming a forum regular , leave us your pen name ,

I have a gth2548, the thing is a beast. But I can not get the damn deck to go higher than about 2.5 inches. I've adjusted the lift rods but they are mostly for leveling. When I want to raise the deck for high grass or to travel , the deck barely comes off the ground. I don't know how they could sell a junk deck system like that.

Check your pitch Scott and re level. You can lose close to an inch if the pitch forward is too exaggerated.

I have a 42 inch wide deck since 2014 Love the tractor but hate the deck. Went to the dealer and they said it was my mind but then finally looked into it and found that it is a bad deck design and no matter what you try and do some will plug up and leaves a strip of unmowed grass from the center blade. I went with high lift blades which helped a bit and removed the front shroud. I still have to clean it out after each mowing wet or dry grass. I keep the blades super sharp. I had a old 15 year old Murray with a stamped deck. Cheap built tractor but it would mow anything with out plugging up. I can’t believe husky will not help us out with this problem. 3500 is a lot for a mower that doesn’t perform well.

I have this same problem on a new garden tractor with the semifab deck. I bet blade speed is the big problem. I though I wasn't getting enough air flow in deck and cut some ports in it, but that didn't help. The government done made the flow of my shower suck now they playing with my mower. WTH! Lol