Mowing uneven, need a little advice

[silverbullet02 0]

I love my tractor but not the way the yard looks when I'm done. I've got 2 decks and they're the same, both 42" cut side discharge. When on uneven ground or when turning, she leaves a low cut on one side. Where the yard is perfectly flat it cuts great. I have to set the deck about as high as it'll go (setting on rear wheels, not in transport position) to keep from scalping humps and roots, but it's actually about the right height.

One thing I've noticed is that the blades are about level with the bottom edge of the deck, has anybody put shorter spindles on to raise the blades up into the deck some? If that were the case I'd think being able to lower the deck and let those front rollers roll on the ground would help.

Another thing, the front roller wheels are nowhere near riding on the ground, any thoughts about putting on some brackets and running a bigger set of wheels up front to keep the deck from rocking around as much? Or would that be hard on the suspension gear?

Everything seems to be intact and in good shape, just wished it cut better. I'll try to get some pictures up when I mow in a couple days to show what I'm talking about.

Thanks,

Brian

[wholdguy 73]

Brian-

I'm having some of the same issues with my 42in. Side discharge mower too. I hope someone can offer some tips.

I sharpened the 3 blades yesterday and torqued them to 35 ft lbs per the manual. Also in the manual is a description of leveling the deck. I haven't done this yet but I will try it before going out mowing tomorrow. I hope this will help put that front roller at ground contact while mowing.

G.

1970 Charger 12

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 10,530]

Have you tried setting the deck up as suggested in the manual?

 

Garry

[pacer 3,160]

I've had this problem on most of the decks I've had and after many frustrating hours trying to correct it, I tried this solution and solved it!! I now have a similar set-up on all 4 of my decks (this is on a Kubota, I dont have a pic of one of the horses)

 

 

[slammer302 2,154]

Adding extra rollers is a great idea you might make sure the tires are all aired up and at the same pressure

[silverbullet02 0]

Thanks guys! I was leaning toward wheels on the front, but I really like the caster wheels idea. That'll be an easy little project.

[pacer 3,160]

OK, -- a couple pointers on doing the casters. Dont go too small on wheel size or width, they will tend to dig in, I had a bunch of 3" casters and mounted a couple of them and while I could see the concept was good on smooth ground, they tended to dig in on rough ground and turns. I have settled on 5"dia, 2" width (from HF) .... but, all my decks are 48" and that brings up another pointer - you have to pay attention to the front wheels having clearance in turning when you get in the larger diameter wheels. In that pic of the Kubota, that was the first one I tackled, its a 6" caster and it had clearance, no problem. But, when I did a 48" deck on a horse I couldnt use a 6" wheel and dropped back to a 5" and still had to do a bit of trial and error before I got it right

[dtallon 320]

I had a problem with uneven cut on my C-160.  It was mostly level on flat ground, but on rough ground or side slopes the cut was very uneven.  I had been been thinking about something similar for the front casters.  I did find that I could adjust the front casters almost all the way down, but wasn't sure that was really the way it was supposed to run.  By chance I ran the deck on a my C-120 while I was working on the C-160 and it cut much more level.  Finally tracked it down to a worn tach-a-matic hitch on the C-160.  Swapped the one from the C-120 and problem was fixed.  

 

Dave

[doc724 924]

There are a number of reasons why you may have an unlevel cut.  First of all, the front wheels are not supposed to contact the ground.  They are called antiscalping wheels for a reason.  Also, make sure you level the deck EXACTLY the way the manual says.  Do NOT put a level on the top side of the deck.  You must level from the blades to the ground.  As Dave above has observed, if the front tach a matic and the front hitch are worn (caused by carrying the mower around a lot in the transport position), the deck will be out of level.  The tires may not be equally inflated.  The rear wheels on the deck may be of different size (one worn more than the other if you take more left then right turns for example) and lastly, the deck could be sprung from hitting stuff or the blades bent (again from hitting stuff).  I have had all of the above at one time or another in the 36 years I have had WH tractors.  It takes patience to get to the root cause.