Mower Deck Baffle
 

Hey there,

I have three 38 inch mower decks and they all need the baffle. Was going to go to the steel yard and buy some stock to make them, but I have no way of bending them to the proper dimensions. Does anyone know how I would go about doing this?

Mine are all completely gone, so I don't even know what radius to use while bending and I really don't want to guess.

I wonder if you could tack weld one end and bend it and tack as you go. The baffles are about 1" shy of the end of the blades. Get the area clean and take a marker and hold it about 1" from the end of the blades and turn each blade to make your outlines until the blades over lap. Then weld the baffles to the lines.

That's exactly how I did mine, just used some spare flat stock.
I could still see the remnants of the original baffle welds, started at one side, tacked and worked the flat stock to the other side.

The steel would be easy to bend.

Just pre-bend it to the approximate shape. Weld the end and bend to the required location as you continue "adjust bending" through the arc.

Do not try to have a continuous weld bead from one end to the other.

A continuous weld will cause a lot of thermal distortion.

Try to just add the number and length of the original welds.

:bigthink:

Just how important are these baffles the deck on my 805 doesn't have them and seems to cut fine, the one that goes under my 124 still has them. I was debating on putting them back in the 805 but it cuts so good I was wondering why I should bother.

With them it will improve the cut and discharge.

I may need to try something different because I have never welded anything and don't have a welder. Probably will have to find someone who can weld it for me.

Anyone know the thickness and height of stock to use?

I got some flat stock and am making a pattern to bend it. I found a large roller I can use to help bend it.

The flat stock I have is 2 inches wide. Is that going to be too tall for the deck? It's almost as tall as the deck is.

Mower baffles are the talk of the week.:BangPC:

Nik,

The baffles on my 48" deck measure about 2-3/8" tall

The tops are 1/4" below the blade tips

So if I look at the deck from the side, the baffle should extend below the blades like this?


baffle |----- blade

The ones on my 48" deck are more like

..........____blade
Baffle ]

Basically the blades should not be able to hit the baffles, they ride just above the tops of the baffles

Your 38" deck may be a different overall depth tho

Well, I found an old piece of baffle from one of my 38" decks. It's 1.25 inches wide. Can that material be found? All I could find was 2" and I don't think it would operate correctly with a baffle that tall.

If you got the right friend, you can get steel any size you want!!

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...020640x428.jpg

:biggrin2:

Just kidding!!,, you can buy steel 1.25" wide, that is standard stock.

You need to check with a steel supplier, not a hardware store.

What baffle?

My 42" ( the one i'm getting rid of when i strip it down) has got 16" of baffle left - 1 1/4" high.


http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...607_111000.jpg

Now my 48" deck's baffle is 2 1/4" high & aprox., 5/8" below the top part of the blade. I placed the 4x4 to hold it in place. Been wanting an excuse to go buy a 90amp. feed welder from Harbor Freight. $79.00 its on sale from $ 149.00. Not ever expecting to do any heavy welding so it will do when I get some new stock & tack it in.

Even the wife agrees with this, why should I take it over to a welding shop & pay them to do it?

It's not pretty but as solid as can be, except for the baffles.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...607_182056.jpg

Nik,