I ran Yarbo for around 40 hours to mow a 3.2 acres garden.
But I wonder if this is normal. The discs seem a little melted and the plastic sticks to the blades. It prevents them from turning and also the edges are covered so they are dull.
I read a lot about the disc issues, but I wonder if this is normal behavior. At this rate I need to change the blades very often and even the new ones that I have installed do not swivel well since the disc is deformed (melted) from before.
Further Yarbo is doing a great job but this seems odd to me.
That looks like normal grass goo. You could use a mild detergent and a water hose to clean up under the deck with a soft bristle brush. You can remove the discs and blades and soak them in so dawn and or alcohol to help dissolve it. Are you mowing frequently and do you mow when there is dew or moisture on the grass? This can cause this that happen more. It is also very normal for grass to get stuck underneath the blades and make them stick in place, but they almost always stick outward in a permanent fashion. I’ve been able to spin mine by hand to free the debris and get them spinning again.
Thanks Bryan,
But it is not grass goo, I think. If you look at the blades closely it is a black type of plastic (like from the discs). And it really sticks to the blades.
I mow frequently.
Also the discs look a little deformed (like melted).
Or can all of this be caused by grass goo?
I understand the grass stuck underneath the blades, that is normal.
Photos don’t always do things justice. But from the looks of it to me a good scrubbing with a soft bristle brush, a mild detergent, and hose might clean it up or show the melting better, if that’s what it is.
Out of curiosity, what is your cut height at?
Hi Bryan,
I cut at 3.0. I will try to take better pics if it happens again.
The goo on the discs is black, can that be from the grass?
Again, really happy with the performance, just wondering
Thanks
This is what mine looked like.
This was cutting dry grass from November to April.
This was cutting wet grass overnight a few days later.
This was after washing with just a hose.
This was many hours of cutting later. Probably 15 hours.
You can see the blackish goo on the blades. Pretty sure that’s because I was cutting later in the evening in high humidity. Plus the grass is growing more now. That goo will come off pretty easily, at least for me.
Thanks for the images Bryan.
I replaced the blades and will check in a few days how they look. I have a big yard so Yarbo is working a lot
I let you know.
But the info you provided helps a lot.
No problem. Let us know how it goes!
Can it be the difference between running blade guards and no guards?
Tim
Blade guards will cause more build up and the build up in certain grass types and situations. So it can cause more issues. Yeah, it possibly could.
I covered the whole deck and both sides of the disks with SLIPplate which is a graphite. Not much sticks to it. Once a week I remove the disks and clean them in an ultrasonic cleaner which clean the last bit of the disks and blades.
Could your Yarbo have somehow overheated the disks? I am thinking maybe picking up some stems or sticks and the friction overheated. Just saying.
It’s a good thought and he said he was mowing at 3 inches so I doubt it unless it was sitting on a rock or a big stump or something and spinning on it. I’ve definitely seen some people who cut much lower and their discs definitely look like it was heat and friction wear from cutting too low and hitting/grinding on debris.
I have the same problem, it is hard and I have to use a screwdriver to chip off the black residue in order to unstick the blades. This is the second time I had to do it and all of the blades on one disk were stuck like this and all but two on the other disk were folded back with two stuck out. I took this picture after I removed the screw but before prying off the blade. This happened after cutting for about 5 hours with one charge session during the 5 hrs, at 2.5 inches in height.
Does that come off at all if you take a garden hose and some soap to it?
Haven’t tried that yet, but it is very hard with almost like a plastic shell or coating that makes me initially think it would take a long time to clean off like that. It chips off in big hard chunks when I use a screwdriver which seems a lot quicker.
It literally feels like plastic.
Do you have a lot of pine needles, cones, or anything that could gel up like that?
We do live by some trees, but I walk out there daily, and several times a day when it’s going to mow by the trees. I even have it stay a little ways away from the trees about 10 feet. We don’t have any pine trees. The first time I noticed this happen, it was mowing my Bermuda grass and had less of the build up, but I don’t remember how long it was mowing for that time. This time it was mowing a field of short weeds that are about 2-3 inches tall, but mostly things like dandelions, wild onions, and contractor grass that was put down to prevent erosion before we bought our house.
Ok, those are very juicy so it could possibly explain the build up.