I've never had a MTD mower with that centre part Speedy, the yardman mowers are better than some other MTD mowers , the centre part .just fills the centre void under the base so there is better air flow from the bar blade.
If I get a MTD Yardman that works ok , it's worth keeping if the bar blade is good ,I still have a MTD Yardman side throw that works well but other MTD mowers are useless for cutting long grass.
You can fix the bad MTD mowers if you open up the discharge port but not much air flow from a worn out bar blade so if the blade needs changing probably cheaper to buy another mower ,,the Yardman is a better design than the cheaper MTD mowers.
Cheers
Max.
