The concept of MULCHING

Mulching is a philosophy in itself. Many resellers meet the demand of end users by only highlighting the positive effects and providing them - without adequate instruction - with a mulching mower. If both the advantages and disadvantages are not explained, major problems can arise due to improper use and the associated negative performance experience.

Some positive benefits mulching:

• Non-stop mowing without having to empty the grass catching bag every time.
• No possible disposal costs.
• Natural fertilization by "returning" natural humus to the lawn.
• Moisture is better retained by the soil.
• Weed growth is slowed down.

End users want to mow the lawn as fast as possible. Although time is saved for instance compared to a mower with a grass catcher system, the effective driving or mowing speed when mulching decreases, especially when compared to side or rear discharging options, in other words, the driving speed should always be adjusted to the circumstances when mulching.

A golden rule is that no more than 1/3 can and may be mowed per mowing cut, but then it is important to know: 1/3 of what? In order to guarantee a flawless quality of cut this 1/3 may not exceed 2.5cm (as a visual aid, raise 3 fingers, of which 1 is retracted for clarification).

This means that a lawn must be kept under control when mulching. In a season with extreme growth, the lawn should be mowed 5 times every 2 weeks. Under normal circumstances, a rule of thumb can be set in North-Western Europe: at least once every 5 days. Preferably mow back tall grass with side or rear discharge option and then apply the 1/3 rule.

Young grass (freshly sown) and spring grass are difficult to mulch. Certain ornamental grasses (narrow and/or round culms) are also less suitable for mulching. Broad grass with a coarser structure is actually ideal.

Most lawn lovers want to keep the grass very short; this has the disadvantage that the mulched grass cannot disappear between the grass plants, but stays on top of them, which can also lead to complaints that the mulcher is not working properly. So preferably don't mow too short, but keep an ideal cutting height for mulching between 5 and 10 cm (at least don't mow below 2" = 5 cm cutting height). Mowing too short also has a major impact on the health of the grass plant because it is not mowed into the leaves, but into the stem of the root and the plant has every effort to recover from this first. This increases the risk of disease. At the same time, the excessively mulched grass will cause a suffocating layer of felt. 

However, many people hate to walk in on grass clippings in the house or maybe there is a swimming pool in the garden. It takes an average of 2 hours before you will not have this effect (sticky clippings) anymore. The level of how well the grass is mulched by the mowing deck, the weather conditions and the type of grass will influence this.

With mulching, about 30% of the nutrients the lawn needs are returned to the soil. However, many people fertilize too much and wrongly, resulting in a "greasy" turf. Nitrogen causes the grass to grow too quickly, which makes it limp and has an unstable grain structure that makes it difficult to mulch again. This can also occur in extremely wet periods. 

In the course of the day, the sugar content in the grass plant increases. This is actually the worst time to mulch in the evening, as the increased sugar content has the detrimental effect of causing it to stick. If it has been over fertilized and it has rained a lot, a mushy, sticky mass is created.

The secret of a good mulching deck is complex. The most important thing is that just as much grass is "fed in" as is "discharged", otherwise the mulching deck fills up, starts to clog and eventually blocks the machine. A second important fact is that each blade has exactly the same amount of grass to process at an optimal selected blade speed. The grass is cut off and then has to remain at the top of the mower deck for a certain amount of time, which means that it is cut several more times. Mulching blades therefore always have several cutting edges of different angles/heights. The ends of a mulching knife are always flat. With bad mulchers, one often sees that the low, downwards cutting edges have become blunt, although the higher, upwards cutting edges are still sharp, so they are rarely used.

Mulching requires a critical blade circumferential speed. As a rule, always mow at full throttle at the highest possible speed on the mower deck. Depending on how good the mulching deck is, the best result is generally at 2600 - 3000 revolutions per minute. If the distribution of the grass to be mulched is not balanced, a disproportionate load will be placed on the blades. Most mowers transport the grass from the left to the right, which means that the rightmost blade has the most workload. As a result, the blade speed of the rightmost blade is often too low, leaving a line of grass between the 2nd and 3rd blade. Higher blade speeds can be achieved by increasing the engine speed (within acceptable height and in accordance with the regulations) or using a smaller diameter blade pulley. 

A good mulch deck should be able to "let in" enough air from the front. This is why the front side of the baffle is less deep inside the mulching deck than at the rear. At the front, the blade protrudes about 2.5cm below the underside of the baffle, although at the rear it is the same as the blade.

A good mulch deck cleans itself and looks relatively clean underneath after mowing. In difficult conditions (verge, meadow, wild grass and heavy soil), it is important to always clean the mulching deck properly so that no accumulations occur under the mower deck. Worse varieties have always seen accumulations "at 7 o'clock" from the rear of the mower deck. At a certain point, these accumulations fall down in the form of plugs, creating plagues on the lawn. This is not desirable from an aesthetic point of view (poor quality of cut), but grass yellow spots in the lawn are also formed under these plagues due to decay, mould, etc. and it also starts to smell less good.  

So mulching has - like everything else - not only advantages, but also disadvantages. If these limiting factors are taken into account in advance and the terrain to be mown is kept under control, then mulching is an outcome that has many advantages. 

Especially with Ferris' iCD mowing decks with their factory mounted half-height mulching insert and standard mulching blades, mulch for 50% and throw out 50% of the grass at the rear. Thanks to this combination, a maximum cutting speed can be maintained under normal (under control) conditions, making work much more efficient. These mulching decks also have 2 trim sides. If several processing options are required, the Triple mower deck is the solution; this patented mower deck from Ferris combines all processing options in 1, namely side discharge, rear discharge, semi-mulching and full mulching. No stress of choice, you have it all!

see: https://www.ferrismowers.eu/

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