I've got a similar mower. (42" Craftsman LT 1000) And have the same issues. I bought new mulching blades (IIRC they were called Gator blades) and that helped out a lot, but it will still clump with the heavy spring grass. I think the main problem is the mower deck isn't designed for mulching, it is set up for side discharge and the "mulching plate" is simply a block off for the discharge. The bottom of a deck with a "proper" mulching kit will have baffles to keep the clippings recycling rather than being passed to the other blades for discharge. I find that the time savings of the lawn tractor outweighs the mediocre cut quality. I also have a Lawn Boy (last of the two strokes) walk behind that does an excellent job but it takes well over an hour and a half for me to cut the lawn. I'd give the Gator blades a try, they were about 40 bucks a pair.

Im working on a 2014 Toro XT6715-2070 149cc engine where its having issues on warm up. After starting it will run well for about 30 to 40 seconds or so then start to stumble for about 10 seconds, then runs OK for about 20 seconds, then goes back an forth doing this for about two and a half minutes then just starts to run well from then on. After its ran for about 6 minutes it still does not fully open the choke butterfly. The carb is a new OEM carb and I pulled the fuel filter to eliminate any possible issues with fuel restriction. The air filter is also new. Iv had this on other identical mowers and have not yet found a solution. The choke is one of these that mount directly the muffler and is the size of about a fifty cent piece that mounts flat on the muffler. It does not appear to be adjustable in any way. if I hold the choke rod open fully I do not experience this issue. Im sure Ill see this again so if anyone has any information for me that would be most helpful.

I have the John Deere X320, bought in 2006. It has a 48" 3 blade deck, which I put the mulching kit on, including mulching blades. I live on a hillside, and have some steep hills. I've never had any problems at all, including when I pull around my 48" core aerator and trailor full of who knows what. I did put two of the suitcase weights on the back to help with traction on the hills. I also have many blue spruces to mow around, so I slapped a grill gaurd on the front, which actually does help, even though I wanted it for the cool look. The cut is good, but I follow a pattern, so it looks better. I keep the mowing height at 2.75", which is healthier for the lawn, but is also the lowest I can go before I get too close to scalping on the hill crests. The deck is easy enough to take off and put on, but leveling the deck is a pain, although not hard to do. As for leaving grass clumps with the mulch deck, well, it ONLY happens when I have let the lawn grow too long, and it is wet. In that case, I just drive over it a 2nd time and it goes away. All in all, I am VERY happy with my X320, and really enjoy mowing with it. Oh, and about the 4-wheel steer, I was told by the guy at the dealership to avoid it if you have steep hills, as you risk a rollover if you have to turn on a hill, which I do. Joe

I've never run the Piranha with the deflector removed. Not sure how that would work out. I currently have the mulch deflector installed (M120965) which, unlike a "mulch plug" does actually allow a slight discharge of clippings. There is also a rear discharge insert (M120966) available which you'd swap out with the mulching discharge chute, if you want to use it as a conventional mower. I'd guess it increases the airflow volume by about 3x, and I'm sure it would still mulch quite a bit, with six blades spinning over a 44" swath. If you read the US patent description, the original intent was that a homeowner could easily convert this deck into a neglected-grass mower for certain situations like returning from vacation. Go to the JD parts catalog (link below), click on equipment search, type "deck" then scroll down to "mower decks for LX, GT, etc... Click on Sectional Index, then "44 inch mulching mower." When you open up the "mower deck, chute and gage wheels" view you'll see what I'm talking about. The Piranha will cut high grass. You just might have to go over it twice to mulch it completely. But it's not like your mower will become ineffective if your grass reaches 3". I previously owned a Cub Cadet with a mulch plug in the convertable deck. If the grass was too high it would basically clog up and leave about a third of the pass uncut. The Piranha doesn't do that, as far as I've seen. It just leaves clumps of clippings atop the otherwise evenly cut grass--if I let it get too long. Second pass elminates it completely. As long as I cut once a week, that doesn't happen. I sit and think of all the time I wasted bagging and dumping grass clippings (and unclogging the chute). Now here I am, with the same end result (minus the 4x8' compost bin), and the organic matter is instantaneously recycled into the soil. What a great purchase; probably would have been worth paying retail if I hadn't come across such a good deal. Nah, I'm too cheap to drop $900 on a mower deck. That extra $600 on top of what I spent buys a lot of Yuengling Lager and strip steak 5-packs from Sam's Club. I'd probably have to switch to Milwakee's Best and eye round steaks this summer if I'd paid full retail. Here is a link that might be useful: jd parts catalog