Modifying/making a bigger deck

[IthacaJeff 151]

Okay, guys, here is the scoop. . .

With the grass finally starting to grow, and after last summer's work of planting

about 2 ac of lawn, plus the other parts of my yard that need mowing, the 48"

deck on my 416-8 simply ain't getting the job done fast enough. I know, a nice

60" zero turn, or 520 would work, but not the money.

Have any of you retrofitted some other 60" deck (or even 54') to a 300/400

series tractor? I have a spare mounting bracket from my old 42" RD deck. I

realize most anything can be done with enough skill, material, and a bigger

hammer (my style), but what may be feasible?

Thoughts?

Jeff in Enfield NY

[mavfreak 11]

I do believe that a 60" won't fit between the tires (front to back). But I know of some who put the front swept front axle off of a 520 but not exactly sure a 60" deck would still fit under there. You may want to look for a drag behind mower that has a engine on it.

[Butch 194]

What about gang mowers? You can go as wide as you want and they give a nicer cut.

[sgtsampay 117]

Mavfreak is correct. If you take a swept front axle and stick it on the tractor, the mower deck should then fit fine. The other problem would be the power to drive the deck and handle its large 300lbs beef.

So, a 48in isn't large enough for 2 acres? Hmm. Interesting,

[IthacaJeff 151]

Gents;

I am looking for a tow-behind, and they pop up on CL regularly. I just haven't

found a decent enough one at a decent price. And modifying a 60" deck from

a 520 has all the other issues involved and may not make sense.

One reason I ask is because I saw an old White/MTD advertised on CL with a 60"

deck. The deck seemed stamped and smaller than the huge WH 60" deck, so it

seems possible that it could fit under my 416 with only a change in the mounting

hardware and careful placement the deck to work with the attach-a-matic and

belt set up.

Jeff in Enfield

[mavfreak 11]

Well I do believe you could make just about any deck work if you wanted to and how much fab you are willing to do

[shorts 182]

how about a 60" deck on a front mount with large casters kind of like a z-turn?

had a front mount deck carrier that fit the front attach-matic bracket, it looks like the deck used a standard belly mount system to the bracket

[SAM58 30]

Mavfreak is correct. If you take a swept front axle and stick it on the tractor, the mower deck should then fit fine. The other problem would be the power to drive the deck and handle its large 300lbs beef.

So, a 48in isn't large enough for 2 acres? Hmm. Interesting,

I agree with these guys, you can make it fit with the sweep axle...

but you would have to drive very slow, I don't think you would have enought power to turn the deck and pull the tractor.

Several 520H's have sold this year, that is what you need...

If you had a 60" deck with a tractor with less than 20 hp I would say that you could cover more ground with the 48" mowing at a faster pace.

The 60" deck is a workout for the 520H's, could only imagine what it would be for a smaller tractor. :wh:

[IthacaJeff 151]

Thanks for the input, gents.

I think it only makes sense to be on the lookout for a tractor with a bigger deck.

Plus, over the past two weeks we've planted nearly 80 trees. Most are saplings

from the county soil and water district in the far off reaches of the property, but

some are nice trees on the "lawn." The 416 turning radius is poor, and getting

around the trees is time consuming. It is not as though the 48" deck is too small,

but getting the job done faster and better would be nice. (The 48"SD is missing

baffles and tends to leave some grass ridges).

Any thoughts on a used zero turn or out-front mower to AVOID?

Jeff in Enfield

[6wheeler 586]

I can tell you this Jeff, I also have thought about the bigger deck as well. But like the fellas here said, I don't know if my C-165 could handle it. It probably would, but at what cost. I just mowed my yard last saturday. I too, have 48" SD and I mowed it in about 4 1/2 hours ( 2 beer breaks,and a 20 min. B.S. session with my son who stopped by). I mow about 3 1/2 acres. Usually, my wife helps but she was sick. Anyway, We usually use 2 mowers and although I will probably get lambasted for this , she uses an STX 38 JD with a 38" deck. It is one of the tightest turning tractors I have seen. She mows around the trees (and we have alot) And I do the big stuff as she calls it. That tractor is very easy for her to use, and it has a smaller stance so it doesn't intimidate her. She doesn't want to use the 165 because she says it is too big. Funny thing though, she wants me to put the cultivator on the 120 and she will cultivate the gardens while I am at work, To her, it seems the 120 is smaller. It is the big hood on the 165 that makes it look bigger. But, these STX's are pretty cheap to buy, and they make a good second mower( if you just need a mower). This just may get your wife or significant other to help you and you can have fun doing it (we call it, Sunday Funday). We usually stop for a couple beer breaks and can still be done in a couple hours. Pat

[mavfreak 11]

My wife and I mow about 1.5 acres and it takes about 2 hours to mow with a MTD 18hp with a 46" deck. Now the last time I mowed I put the 40" deck on the C161 twin. It took about the same amount of time believe it or not.

1 i could go faster with the Horse

2 I left more to push mow cause I couldn't get as close to things with the smaller deck but I would have had to do the same with the lager deck so not a big deal

3 the cut that the 40" deck was beautiful no scalping or high spots.

Just some food for thought

[can whlvr 991]

i saw a guy one time that made a bracket that bolted to the deck and held a push mower on each side,he would start them get on the tractor and mow 2 times as much,dont know how it would steer though

[Forest Road 594]

Les be devils advocate! have you considered a 42" Rear Discharge. It'll process anything faster and easier than a side discharge. They leave a clean trail as opposed to the SD pile ups. And with the reduced size and wide open rear you can cruise a bit faster than you would with ANY side discharge. Just a thought. Maybe you could get one on loan as a demo?

[C-Series14 15]

Dale, aka Thirdroc17, over on another WH website (dot org site), made a 72" deck once and it worked....

[shorts 182]

I've got an old, "early 70's" 12hp TORO walk behind commercial mower with a 60" deck that will cut just about anything in front of it from grass to hay to 1" brush, the 3 blade deck has a rt side discharge that can be closed off to force it into rear discharge operation, the rear opening is rubber mudflap material that stops flying objects from coming back into the operator. the front shields on the deck can be raised about 4" so that it can cut tall grass off before it pushes it over(not recomended around people or windows) I usually cut regular grass in 2nd or 3rd gear depending on the amount of obsticals, cut rate is 1 acre/hr or more in an open yard. I added baffles to make it a center discharge deck for fall leaf cleanup, then I pull a vacuum trailer to suck up the windrow of chopped leaves

[IthacaJeff 151]

Good ideas, all, gents. I do have a 42" RD deck, but because of the massive stress

crack on the shell at the middle spindle I now keep it to pirate parts, like a spindle

mandrel. (I really like the RD feature, and wonder why WH never made a 48" RD

deck.)

I've toyed with pulling a contraption of push mowers, and even inquired if anyone

had done that here on RS. I've got a couple of non-running Toro mowers just for

the purpose of doing so. With the trees I've planted I can't see this being a good

solution, so now I've got a couple of Toros sittin' in the shed taking up room. (I'll

let them go cheap.) For the same reason a tow-behind mower (e.g., Swisher) is

not my best solution.

I was at a large auction a couple of weeks ago (for you CNYers, it was at the

Broome Co. fairgrounds in Whitney Point), with about 150 or so tractor/mowers.

I could not believe the high prices on beat up old Ferris and JD zero-turns and out

front mowers. (A 310-8 with a severely smoking motor went for ~$220; my

favorite was an Ariens S-16, 3 pt hitch with backblade, and a large mower deck).

I came home only with trees.

Anyway, I'll keep an eye out on CL and word of mouth.

Jeff in Enfield NY