[BowlBuilder]

Should the baffle in the deck for use with a hydravac be removed when cutting grass without the hydravac attached? I only use my hydravac in the fall for leaf removal and have not seen this question posed elsewhere, so I thought I would get the advice of those more knowledgeable than myself. Thanks in advance.

 

[Hydriv]

Yes it should be removed.

The HydraBagger/Vacs need the baffle to direct all the clippings, leaves etc to the boot bolted onto the deck. With all the suction created by the vac, that area is kept clear of build-up. If you leave the baffle in place, the deck may plug up under certain cutting conditions such as long, damp grass.

 

[ing3018]

I've never removed the hydravac baffle on my deck. I have not experienced the deck plugging when cutting the lawn or even when cutting the long stuff in the field. Perhaps if you're running a 60" deck, you would have problems with plugging.

 

[xfolkboat]

I remove mine, it makes a big difference when the grass is heavy or damp.

 

[Bob MacGregor]

I have never removed mine on either my 448 or 4018. I have noticed that the grass clippings will shoot farther out from the machine. When I encounter wet or tall grass I narrow the cut to half or less of the deck width.
It isn't difficult to remove but can be a pain to reinstall with grass buildup in the area that will need to be removed. I had thought about adding a hinge to the inner end of the baffle and drill another hole in the deck for a bolt to hold it in the max open position when desired.
I have not found a deck that stays as clean as these do. It is strange that it appears that the more difficult it is to remove a deck the greater is their tendancy to accumulate crud. I also have a Scag Tiger Cub ZTR and it is the worst crud accumulator that I have ever seen. It doesn't take much grass buildup to affect its ability to discharge grass. Fortunately I have a pit in my garage so I can get under it easily to clean it, but this gets old quickly!!
Mad Mackie in CT

 

[Roy]

Take a look at my web site wwwmegmo.com. You can see how clean a deck can stay. I have not cleaned in the last 18 yrs. and no lumps or clumps comming from the deck.

 

[mikebramel]

http://www.meg-mo.com/