Just had delivered a new-to-me mower - it's a 2015 Hustler Fastrak SDX with a 54" deck and about 575 hours on it. I took delivery in the evening/basically in the dark, but wanted to run it for a few minutes to make sure everything was in order. Does not seem to have any issues running around but my girlfriend noticed an odd issue when I engaged the mowing deck. With the chute tied up (as delivered), every so often it seems there is a spark that comes from underneath the deck out the chute area. This bothers me for obvious reasons. I ran it again in the dark last night just to see because I just can't understand it and I did happen to catch one out of the corner of my eye. It happened on the grass and on the pavement. It's not constant, and seems to be random and not at all predictable. It does seem to only happen when the mower is moving though, as I did run it with the deck engaged and sitting still for a little while and saw nothing. But then driving around it happened a few times over the course of maybe 20 minutes running around on the pavement (zero-turn driving practice). I hear no unusual sounds or anything when this happens or any other time.
Thoughts:
*There is nothing electric in that area and cannot be the cause.
*The sparking is not constant or predictable, so likely not caused by metal-to-metal contact such as a bent baffle contacting a blade. (Assumption?)
*I intend to look underneath ASAP but haven't had the chance other than peering in through the chute area and I don't see anything that looks out of place.
Theories:
*Maybe picking up small pebbles and sparking as it is hit by a blade?
*Maybe other mowers do this also and just don't notice it since I don't normally mow in the dark?
*Maybe other mowers do this also and just don't notice it because the chute is normally down?
*Maybe this mower is more likely to pick up pebbles as it is a commercial unit and generates more vacuum with the deck?
*Maybe something is worn, like a spindle, and is occasionally causing this through a bad bearing either overheating or allowing the blade to move slightly? (Seems unlikely)
I asked the dealer (via phone) and he had only heard of something similar to this before with a bent baffle - which doesn't seem likely to me as above, but still a possibility I suppose.
Or am I missing something and it's another issue entirely? This has me concerned because I obviously have some money tied up in this but also mowing over dry grass seems like a bad idea if something is causing sparks. Dry grass is not an issue at the moment, but still want to resolve this question/problem ASAP.
I was thinking about bringing my other mower out tonight just to see if I can see any sparks -- as another data point.
Ideas?
Thoughts:
*There is nothing electric in that area and cannot be the cause.
*The sparking is not constant or predictable, so likely not caused by metal-to-metal contact such as a bent baffle contacting a blade. (Assumption?)
*I intend to look underneath ASAP but haven't had the chance other than peering in through the chute area and I don't see anything that looks out of place.
Theories:
*Maybe picking up small pebbles and sparking as it is hit by a blade?
*Maybe other mowers do this also and just don't notice it since I don't normally mow in the dark?
*Maybe other mowers do this also and just don't notice it because the chute is normally down?
*Maybe this mower is more likely to pick up pebbles as it is a commercial unit and generates more vacuum with the deck?
*Maybe something is worn, like a spindle, and is occasionally causing this through a bad bearing either overheating or allowing the blade to move slightly? (Seems unlikely)
I asked the dealer (via phone) and he had only heard of something similar to this before with a bent baffle - which doesn't seem likely to me as above, but still a possibility I suppose.
Or am I missing something and it's another issue entirely? This has me concerned because I obviously have some money tied up in this but also mowing over dry grass seems like a bad idea if something is causing sparks. Dry grass is not an issue at the moment, but still want to resolve this question/problem ASAP.
I was thinking about bringing my other mower out tonight just to see if I can see any sparks -- as another data point.
Ideas?