Rear discharge mower unit and lawn tractor

A lawn tractor comprising a rear discharge mower unit suspended between front wheels and rear wheels, said rear discharge mower unit including:

• a mower housing, and a first side blade, a center blade and a second side blade arranged sideways in and rotatably supported by said mower housing, said first side blade, said center blade and said second side blade being positioned to cut grass on the ground;
• a power transmission mechanism for rotating said center blade and said second side blade in one direction and said first side blade in the other direction;
• a grass clippings outlet formed in a boundary region between said first side blade and said center blade, said grass clippings outlet having a discharge opening directed to a position between said rear wheels;
• a center baffle extending around a rotational axis of said center blade and defining a center flow path for feeding grass clippings to said grass clippings outlet;
• a first side baffle extending around a rotational axis of said first side blade and defining a first side flow path for feeding grass clippings to said grass clippings outlet;
• and
• a second side baffle extending around a rotational axis of said second side blade and defining a second side flow path in communication with said center flow path in a forward position of said mower housing for feeding grass clippings to said center flow path.

A lawn tractor having a grass catcher disposed rearwardly of rear wheels, comprising a rear discharge mower unit suspended between front wheels and the rear wheels, said rear discharge mower unit including:

• a mower housing;
• a first side blade, a center blade and a second side blade arranged sideways in and rotatably supported by said mower housing, said first side blade, said center blade and said second side blade being positioned to cut grass on the ground;
• a power transmission mechanism for rotating said center blade and said second side blade in one direction and said first side blade in the other direction;
• a grass clippings outlet formed in a boundary region between said first side blade and said center blade;
• a center baffle extending around a rotational axis of said center blade and defining a center flow path for feeding grass clippings to said grass clippings outlet;
• a first side baffle extending around a rotational axis of said first side blade and defining a first side flow path for feeding grass clippings to said grass clippings outlet;
• a second side baffle extending around a rotational axis of said second side blade and defining a second side flow path in communication with said center flow path in a forward position of said mower housing for feeding grass clippings to said center flow path;
• and
• a grass clippings transport duct having one end connected to said grass clippings outlet, extending between said rear wheels, and having the other end connected to a grass catcher.