Also you may want to add the effective height of cut markers when cutting with negative rake. If the mower deck is set to 3” and a 1/4” of negative rake is applied, the new effective height of cut is 2.75in being made by the rear blade tips as they are the lowest. The front should be raised a 1/4” to match the original 3” cut height that was desired.
Two things too consider when having both extremes of rake. With extreme negative rake, the HP required will increase and so will the amount of deck blowout. With extreme positive rake the middle blade being further forwards cuts at a lower effective height of cut which can leave an uneven valley shape appearance in the yard. This even occurs at 1/4 inch rake which is why I run closer to an 1/8 positive rake. Perhaps having 1/8 increments would be better on the positive side as well
Thank you for your reply! Negative and positive rake have their advantages and disadvantages in certain cutting conditions. What might be ideal for one location might be the opposite for another. That is why we sought to make adjusting the rake of your deck easier with the Adapt system. With Adapt, the height of cut is based on the front tip of your blade. Since Adapt only raises and lowers the back of the deck, you will only affect the height of cut with negative rake since you are dropping the back of the deck below the front. The first adjustment will be 1/4", which removes the factory 1/4" positive rake to a more "flat" setting. The next two negative rake settings are 1/8" increments. We agree that these adjustments can make a much larger impact than expected and that is why we went with these measurements. Thanks for the feedback!
If you're not gonna mow purely flat grass don't get a 72 inch it'll scalp the shit outta your yard. 60 inch is where it's at and 52 inch is also a great option.