OH BOY! The GREAT Mower deck debate and MOWING SPEED debate!
Yes, in my humble opinion the 19T 2nd is a little too fast to mow with in many conditions. When I had the 10 HP K241 in my 72 I mowed some places in 2nd, and it did O-K, but it mowed better in 1st, more even consistent cut. Back years ago when I was running the K161 or 181 powered 70 I mowed a lot in the 16T 2nd gear, 3.2 MPH. Even now with my 982 & 50C deck I only mow around 3 MPH. I've added a roller under the housing to support the rear of the deck and it does a good job of "Striping" the lawn when I mow, plus it's impossible to scalp the yard. I've had the spherical gauge wheel kit in the shop for five+ years and haven't felt the need to weld it on yet.
I've made some modifications to my 38" deck so it mows better, distributes clippings better, also leveled out the blades to within less than 1/16th of an inch, installed a heavy-duty baffle 2" tall within 1/8th inch of the blade tips, and radiused the left side of the mower so there's about 1/8th inch clearance between the blade tip and inside of the rounded mower housing, also enlarged the discharge chute. It mows as good as a 44 or 50 inch deck.
I have no experience with a 48" deck. Too many places in my yard where anything much wider than my 38" deck won't fit which adds trimming time with the weed-eater with no added seat time. Plus I have some small sink holes from trees & bushes that I've cut down and hitting a six inch deep hole at 3-4 MPH would break a 3/4" dia frt spindle, heck, probably a 1" spindle too. I used to over-lap from pass-to-pass but now I don't. At the slower speeds, 1st in the 72, 2.3 MPH the mower picks up the grass that's been pushed down by the frt wheels better so I can mow a wider swath. If the grass is damp the grass doesn't stand back up near as well as it does when dry. Before I start the CC I walk through the yard, especially the shady spots and if the toes of my boots get damp I don't mow. If I have to mow wet grass, then I'll over-lap and mow slower so the grass gets cut more even.
I also alternate mowing patterns every time I mow. I mow one way the first time, then 90 degrees to that pattern the second time, then 45 degrees one way the next, then 90 degrees to the last way the nest time. I think that makes a LOT of difference in getting a nice even cut on the yard throughout the summer. If you mow the same pattern every time you set up compaction zones in the yard. I find it even helps to switch up mower deck widths a couple times a season, it gets your tractor wheels running in different tracks as well.
Ohhhh and FWIW, I told a guy to put Hy-Tran in his jd #318 tranny this morning.
