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Bubbada man

520 H 48" skip lines UGH...HELP!!!

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Bubbada man

Hello,

I have a 520H  with a 48" deck that has been leaving skip lines in the grass when I mow. I had this deck off last week and had some cancer plated. I got her back today, cleaned, painted, lubed, I replaced two anti scrape wheels, also replaced the two rear deck steel wheels with factory wheels, I put brand new factory blades on this animal...STILL SKIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seems like the skip line is a little wider on the left side, between the outer left and center blade. I don't know what else to do with it, She's just about to find a new home. 449 hrs, rebuilt carb, chrome wheel centers, chains, plow... I attached a pic of the same tractor I have....this is NOT my tractor, BUT looks just like it...

 

suggestions???

 

Thanks!!!  

Wheel Horse 520 H 1993 NOT mine BUT looks just like mine.jpg

Edited by Bubbada man

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daveoman1966

I am in Blooming Valley....not very far from you and I use a 48" deck on my C-160 that doesn't leave 'strips' as you suggest....and it has old blades on it.  

Possibilities: 1) Engine shoud be at atlest 3/4 throttle.  2) PTO to deck belt MUST be on INNER V of PTO pulley for highest spindle/blade rpm. 3) Belt tension engine-to-deck not right (should deflect 3/4" or so mid-way to mule drive) 4) Mower deck SPRING TENSION is compromised...allowing intermittent belt slip at outer spindle 5) Deck not hung and locked in place at middle Tach-o-Matic hitch, allowing the deck to shift fwd/bkw causing intermittent loss of PTO belt tension. 6)Deck not leveled correctly...should tilt forward slightly. 7) Baffles gone from underside of deck...losing 'wind tunnel' effect. 8) scratchin' my head....

Dave....

  

FORK.jpg

LEVEL (2)a.jpg

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SylvanLakeWH

Are you sure the blade size is correct? I would double check...

 

Gonna sound silly, but I recently had to return to the auto parts store because the wiper blades I bought for my car were two different sizes - one was on the wrong rack behind the correct one and as usual I was in a hurry so I just grabbed the first two - only checking the "top" one for size...:hide: ...Point is, start simple...mistakes happen.

 

Turn it over and triple check...

 

:twocents-02cents:

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EricF

Other ideas...

 

Check that all three blades are level with each other in all directions. (Have to remove the deck and flip it over, lay a straightedge or level across the blade ends in several positions to check.) A spindle might be bent out of position.

 

I've heard reports that "gator" style blades may skip or cut unevenly compared to the standard blades with solid upswept "wings" at the back of the tips -- the Wheel Horse decks have a different profile than modern mulching decks -- different air flow.

 

Double check that one of the blades wasn't accidentally installed upside-down. Believe me, we've all probably done it at one time or another! :oops::doh::lol:

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ohiofarmer

   Get under the deck and bring the blades around to see how close they get to each other. they should almost touch tips.The tips should be level one to another. This is a long shot, but possibly the mower hit something and bent the deck where the tower sits. Maybe a previous owner drilled out the tower mounting bolts when a spindle tower was replaces and the mounting holes got elongated. Anyway, there is a video of straightening a deck if it applies to your situation. Good info [and some very weird stuff also] on the video.

 

 Looks like EricF posted while I was typing.

 

Edited by ohiofarmer

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daveoman1966

I don't want to insult you by this, but.... do you have the blades on UP SIDE DOWN ? ? ? ?    (Reallly.......almost hate to ask...)

 

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cschannuth
2 minutes ago, daveoman1966 said:

I don't want to insult you by this, but.... do you have the blades on UP SIDE DOWN ? ? ? ?    (Reallly.......almost hate to ask...)

 

 

I hate to tattle on myself but I installed my blades upside down years ago and it left skip lines. Lol. Considering what I had done it actually cut better than I would have expected but it definitely didn't give a smooth cut. 

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pfrederi
8 minutes ago, cschannuth said:

 

I hate to tattle on myself but I installed my blades upside down years ago and it left skip lines. Lol. Considering what I had done it actually cut better than I would have expected but it definitely didn't give a smooth cut. 

  Been there done that myself:text-yeahthat:

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pacer
43 minutes ago, daveoman1966 said:

I don't want to insult you by this, but.... do you have the blades on UP SIDE DOWN ? ? ? ?    (Reallly.......almost hate to ask...)

 

 

Hah! I did too --- but thankfully just as I was about to flip her over and go mow .... I said to my self "something looks funny here!" and sure nuff!:-o

 

But, as to your prob, I agree that the first thing I'd check would be to confirm the blades are almost touching as they make their rotation.

 

My 48" will stripe a leeetle bit in some types of grass - weedy stuff.

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MalMac

I just started having this same problem. What I have diagnosed it down to is what was mention already is the tension spring getting week or I noticed some very small stress cracks starting to develop on the deck wheel mounting bar. This is a very common spot. Sometimes you will get just  enough flex that it allows the blade spindles to move leaving a missed spot. When you weld those cracks up you must make certain that the blades are all level. The 42" decks are known for getting sprung and cracking around the spindles and the 48's for cracking around the deck wheel mounting bar. 

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Bubbada man

WOW, you folks are great!!! Thanks for all of the wonderful tips and information. In a general reply... Yes, I have double checked that the blades are installed correctly, and yes, I have installed blades upside before, and no that does not insult my intelligence at all, who don't make mistakes?

I keep the left rear height adjustment in the middle hole.

I have not replaced the deck belt in a few years, but, even before I did replace it last time, I had the same problem with skipping. I have not checked the deck from the top side for cracks. I didn't see any from the blade side, but they may be harder to see than they would be from the top side. 

When I installed the 3 blades, looking at the deck from the blade side, the center and right outside blade all but touched each other. However, the center blade and Left blade were close to 1/4 inch apart. Here is the irony, the right side (Left side with the deck correctly installed), is the side that has the widest skip. How can the side with the least blade gap have the widest skip gap? 

Does this make sense...I thought about switching the two out mandrels from side to side or at least rotate them in their current position to see if the skip changes or may even disappear?

 

Thanks again folks, I really appreciate your help!!!  

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ohiofarmer

 There is an idler pulley on the deck and that pulley is mounted on a slide bar. that is tensioned with a spring. If you run blade guards, it is out of sight and out of mind. Dirt and rust get under that slide bar and it can freeze either in a loose or tight position. I run my deck without guards so i can blow the dust and dirt away and also check that the deck blade tensioner works.

 

 I also cut a piece of Formica as a tensioner slide and polished the underside of the tensioner bar.  now the bar rides on smooth plastic and a bed of waterproof brake grease. I know it works well, because it moves enough to notice when you hit patches of tall fescue

 

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Bubbada man

Ohiofarmer, I found that slider in my "deck check" and it does slide real easy. My question is how do I know if it has enough tension? I surmised that it did when I was unable to turn the blades in opposite directions one way but I could not turn them against each other in the other direction; if that makes sense...  

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ohiofarmer

I think you are fine

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daveoman1966

Could it be that....the grass has just become tougher in a preemptive stand against global warming.

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Bubbada man

LOL...must be that global warming, why didn't I think of that???

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Sarge

Might want to check the mid-attach hangers and the top hanger frame on the deck closely . The way a mower deck with multiple blades is designed to track is slightly skewed so the blades overlap more than they appear . Hitting objects and wear on those items can make the deck track outside of it's designed tracking angle - and leave skip lines something fierce . I fought an older 48" for quite awhile and finally had to weld up some worn areas on the mid-attach and install new bushings in the top frame arms on the deck to tighten up and correct the tracking angle - that one mows perfectly , even through tough , thick weeds and never misses a blade of grass .

 

Those blade-ducking dandelions , however , well...

 

Sarge

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EricF

Thick, spreading plants like dandelions and crabgrass have an uncanny ability for a stem or two to escape lawnmower blades if the grass gets the slightest bit thick. :confusion-scratchheadyellow: Timothy and perennial rye grasses can also duck the blades when they send up their stiff seed head shoots. I've got those in my lawn, and really have to stay on top of it... or adjust how much the cutting swaths overlap as I go.

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doc724

Two things I want to point out.

 

1.  Deck level is properly checked when the deck is mounted and checked from the ground to the underside of the blades.  It is all but impossible to measure in there so make some gauge blocks out of a 2x4 in 1/8 height increments.  You can slide the gauge blocks into the gap and use the "go/no go method" to get the value within 1/8 inch.

 

2.  All WH decks have a bit of weakness around the center spindle.  The PTO belt tension will tend to deck sheet metal to creep over time which causes the front spindle to tip to the right and front in the direction the belt pulls.  A degree or two of spindle tip gets magnified by the length of the blade so that the end of the can be lower by 1/2 inch on one side and higher by a 1/2 inch on the other side.  The tip also has the effect of making the gap between the center and outer blades smaller on one side and larger on the other side.  In extreme cases, with new blades, the blade tips will hit each other-only happens once :-)  The only way to fix this is to completely disassemble the deck and stretch the bent area around the center spindle back into a flat position.

 

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