retro fitting a mower deck

[mavfreak 11]

I purchased this deck last year, I knew it was an older deck but I figured I could make it work. I thought it was a 42" but its really a 40" at lest that is what the tape measure says across the blades. This deck is for the pre-tach-o-matic, and I am making it work for a tach-o-matic.

I had to find center so I laid everything out and marked it s I could drill some holes.

So once I was happy with my layout I committed to drilling. I drilled out all the holes and then used a square file to make the carriage bolts work.

Now I wanted to remove all the extra holes from the deck. I used a piece of brass on the back side of the hole and then got out the stick welder and had some fun! I miss welding

I ground down the welds and it looks like this.

The underside

I cleaned up everything then painted with a rust eater called conquest. It works on the rust and will turn so hard that you can't hardly scratch it.

And now painting

[danjmah 71]

Very Nice! great work!

[racinfool40 202]

Looks great Mav!!! I,ve done that to a few old style decks and have never had a problem with them...I have also switched a 1970 Raider over to the whole new style attachamatic with the front mule drive and works great!! :thumbs:

[B-8074 19]

Nice work. Is the conquest similar to por-15?

[mavfreak 11]

Not sure what por-15 is?

[mavfreak 11]

conquest goes on milky yellow, once it starts to make contact with the rust it will turn purple and very sticky, then when it dries its black and hard as hell.

turns your fingers purple to

[WH854 44]

:thumbs: Good Job Heath

Chas

[mavfreak 11]

Takes forever for paint to dry when its only 60 out. I don't want to go buy kerosene for the heaters right now, but may have to. :thumbs:

[KB9LOR 4]

Takes forever for paint to dry when its only 60 out. I don't want to go buy kerosene for the heaters right now, but may have to.

Heath, where do you find that Conquest stuff?

[mavfreak 11]

I wish I knew, when my plant shut down they were giving it away. I took two bottles one froze over the winter and broke I have one left. Not sure were they got it from other than it came in on a truck.

[mr.pipes 4]

Heath, where do you find that Conquest stuff?

LINER ROLPANIT INC., North America 430 Montrose Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6G 3H1 (416) 534-1511. Conquest Converter; will sell liter quantities direct.

[mavfreak 11]

Heath, where do you find that Conquest stuff?

LINER ROLPANIT INC., North America 430 Montrose Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6G 3H1 (416) 534-1511. Conquest Converter; will sell liter quantities direct.

Great thanks :thumbs:

[mavfreak 11]

I got alot done today. Paint is done, started putting on all the brackets. I had to make a new shaft for the front roller.

I also had to figure out this dam bracket that attaches to the rear rollers. In order to make this work I had to move the one rear roller over about 1 1/2". I just cut a piece of shaft and welded it onto the old shaft and welded a washer on to keep the roller in place. I will also make a support for the one side cause it hangs out there pretty far now.

[mavfreak 11]

What do you guys think of an 8hp running a 40" deck? I have been thinking of mounting this on my commando 800.

[smoreau 658]

fine as long as the grass isn't too long. the k181 will be stretched for power in thick grass. Looks great on the mod. for the deck. I would like to know how much that stuff you put in the inside of your deck cost. I see the link with the phone # for them, just thinking about it. :thumbs:

[mavfreak 11]

Not really sure on the cost. I would think its not cheap

The place I worked at we made everything for water treatment plants. From the piping to simple mounting brackets. We used this stuff on the carbon steal that would be under water. We would wipe on with brushes then paint over it. It works there is a lot of chemicals in that water and it holds out well.

[RyanM84 0]

Nice work for a fellow Butler Wheel horse Freak :thumbs:

[mavfreak 11]

Nice work for a fellow Butler Wheel horse Freak

Hey another butler Person!

[mavfreak 11]

so I finished up the deck and then proceeded to mount it. This lead me to learn that the lift arm wasn't working properly and I had to rebuild that. But its on and works great!

[mavfreak 11]

One more thing about the Conquest is that it does not treat fresh metal it has to have rust or it will peel off or never dry.

[mavfreak 11]

Well today I mounted this on my commando 800 and gave it a try. It worked and worked well but I had to run the engine at full rpm and I wasn't really happy about doing that. But it worked. On my C161 twin about 3/4 or just a bit more was all it needed to cut grass so I'll be using it on the C. And I'll be staying with the smaller deck on the 800.

[Len Haduck 0]

That looks great! I wanted to do the same thing. If I sent pics of doner deck could you run me through the process? I would hate to let a nice shell go to heck. I paid 100 bucks and thought with the right info. I might get it to work. Would appreciate anything you might be able to help me with.

thanks,

Len

[mavfreak 11]

Len

I can help you the best I can. If you want send me a PM or post your picture on this thread or start another one witch ever you would like.

[can whlvr 991]

good choice on the 16hp,i know lots of guys will tell u that theres does it,i HAD a magnum 8 on my 308,thats why its now got a 13hp honda on it,it blew an auxilirury port hole the size of my fist cutting long grass,it did it for several years before it blew but its too much for a 42,i should have had the 36 inch deck,so i think u r on the right tract,and you should run the engine wide open when loading it,they are air cooled and require the fan to blow max air through the engine

[Len Haduck 0]

I will try to put on this weekend. Some reason I can't get photos to post to the forum. Can I send them to an email if I need to?

thanks,

Len