Simplicity deck on a Wheel Horse Tractor...

[timmybobwatt 0]

What with living in England - it's pretty much impossible to find a deck for my 227-5 tractor ANYWHERE.

I have got quite a pleasant deck off an old Simplicity mower.

With a bit of fabbing - do you think this is do-able?

:woohoo:

[Sparky-(Admin) 19,677]

Sure anythings possible. If you a had ruined deck for yourWheel Horse that would give you the right hanging hardware. Can you find a rusty, beatup, junk deck over there?

Mike..............

[timmybobwatt 0]

Not a thing. That would be a better position - as I would have the option of repairing such a deck.

As it stands, I walk into the workshop and have the Wheel Horse on my right and the Simplicity cutting deck on my left.

I then stand, look under and around the mower for about an hour.

A bit of this.

Then I leave again.

It's gotta be possible!

[Duff 206]

Ring up our member Ian (Stigian) from your side of the pond! He's an incredible fabricator and could probably give you some ideas!

Duff :woohoo:

[timmybobwatt 0]

That would be like talking to the oracle...

[timmybobwatt 0]

Anyone from the states flying over to England with a cutting deck any time soon?

:woohoo:

[hm12460 53]

Anyone from the states flying over to England with a cutting deck any time soon?

I'd love to if you can foot the bill on it.

[Stigian 1,234]

He's an incredible fabricator and could probably give you some ideas!

Thanks Duff

That would be like talking to the oracle...

I look nothing like that old lady in the matrix films

Howdo Tim, it's a bit hard to say if your Simplicity deck will fit on your 227-5 without seeing a look at it.

Have you got any photo's you can post?

I'm sure I have some Wh deck lifting brackets buried somewhere under the bench, maybe they could be made to fit?

Is the 227-5 lifting gear the same as a Raider or 3 series?

Where are you in the Uk Tim?

[Stigian 1,234]

Just been looking at a picture of Andy's 227-5 Click here to see and the cutting deck looks very similar to a Raider cutting deck!!

Are decks not interchangeable between models?

[mavfreak 11]

yes and no,

The decks are drilled for the different mounting systems. The atch a matics and the LT tractors mount differently but the shells are the same mounting bracket and pulleys are different.

in theory just about any deck can be fitted. just depends on if you want to take on the challenge. Only limitation being is the deck size and if it fits between the front and rear wheels.

[timmybobwatt 0]

Where are you in the Uk Tim?

I'm in Derby, Ian. How about you?

I had a look around the deck today and I've come up with a couple of fabrication ideas.

It's definitely do-able but the big problem is lifting the front. I've noticed 's have the lifting mech on the decks themselves. The Simplicity lifts at the front with a bar through to just beneath the wheel.

When aligned properly this fits just nicely right below the PTO clutch.

This can be altered by running a rod horizontally out to the side of the tractor, whilst welding a plate to hold this in place on the deck.

Proposed lever positioning...

The front of the deck...

Proposed alteration to mount deck at front (bar is 14mm threaded)...

The Workshop...

...and the best tool in there.

I have been offered a deck that should go on it, but at 150 it's quite steep for the condition. Could be sorted though. Does anyone have an e-mail address for me to forward the pictures to in order to confirm whether or not it'll do the trick? If so - I might have to fork out the cash.

:D

[shorts 182]

Good looking workshop, looks well light and roomy you just need to decide are you going to woodwork or mechanic? I'd like to woodwork but I'm to cheap to pay someone to do what I can do for free.

[wheeledhorseman 573]

Hi Tim

Here's the front page of the 200 series mower manual. It's in hi res so if you save a copy to your computer you can zoom in on the detail.

There are other good photos in the manual that show exactly how a 200 series deck mounts on the tractors. These would give you a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve.

Rather than load this thread with hi res images I can email them to you if you are interested.

[wheeledhorseman 573]

I've just checked the last post out and saving the image to your computer (right click - save picture as) works great.

Open the file on your computer and you can zoom in on the detail. As the image loads quite fast I'll post the next few pages in the thread after all as they may be of use to others as well.

There are more pages to the manual but I think you'll get what you need from these.

It there's any more detail you need I can photograph my deck but it won't be till after the weekend now as I'm off to a show on Wednesday.

Re the price of decks, I paid

[timmybobwatt 0]

:woohoo:

Thanks so much for uploading that lot!

Yeah, by the looks of things I'm going to have a bit of fabing on my hands!

With a bit of effort and a lot of money I could hunt down the original deck but I quite like the idea of getting the Simplicity one on there.

However great the original decks were, I think the single blade on the Simplicity will have just as much 'oomph' as the three smaller ones in the 200 series decks.

Should I just buy a sheep?

:D

[312Hydro 473]

Should I just buy a sheep?

You'll have quite a bit of fabwork to get that sheep mounted under the . It would probably be better to pursue your present course :woohoo:

[wheeledhorseman 573]

Sheep, now there's an idea. I think I'd need three but they'd have to be able to drive a then two could get on with the mowing and one with the towing and I could just supervise from the D-200 when I get it fixed up. :D

[farmer 1,075]

You may get a hard time from the animal rights people with the mid mount sheep idea too. :woohoo:

[timmybobwatt 0]

Guess I'll stick with the mower deck then(!)

Had a bit of a session in the workshop today. I must have consumed about 50 gallons of tea just trying to work this thing out. The biggest challenge is to try and do all this without any major modifications to the tractor itself. The only thing I'm hoping I'll need to do is to weld the height selector in place.

Will get a couple of pictures up of progress so far tomorrow night in case anybody is interested.

Figured now might be a good time to tell you a little about myself!

I'm 24, just graduated from University with a degree in Music Technology. I've spent 5 years using my brain, so I'm taking the next few months to do a couple of restoration projects, one of which is to (hopefully!) get the Wheel Horse up and running again.

Everything I've learnt to do with fabbing/restoration has either been through observation or just pottering around. I'm sure the vast majority, if not everybody on this forum will appreciate the satisfaction in seeing the potential in a project and then the hours spent getting to the final result. *cough* IAN *cough*

I used to be hugely into my digital technology, but quite frankly, I think the world is travelling a little too fast for it's own good and there are few people of my generation, let alone younger, who are interested in getting their hands dirty.

So for the next few weeks, I'll be in the workshop...drinking tea.

[timmybobwatt 0]

you just need to decide are you going to woodwork or mechanic?

My brother is the cabinet maker - I just borrow a space to potter around/make a mess/use his vast selection of tools.

:woohoo:

[timmybobwatt 0]

:banghead: Success!

Thanks to everyone who offered their input along the way. Still a bit of 'tarting' up to do but it does the two jobs I wanted it to...cut grass and collect it. The deck still needs the top coat. It's had a few coats of undercoat but obviously I was impatient and needed to test it.

See pictures below...

:banghead: