wrightorchid 261 #1 Posted August 20, 2015 (edited) I ran over a live oak root and have bent the deck. (excessive rain, and some tree work made the ground around it lower than before) The middle spindle now is hitting low, and causing a bit of a scalp when mowing. The front edge of the middle blade is off by about 1/2 to 3/4" in comparison to the others. There is also some play in the right spindle that I did not notice previously, but is still smooth.The deck is a 1996 42"SD on a 312-8 (1991)Has anybody had luck bending the deck cold, with a large hammer, or maybe even heated with a torch? Looks like I'll have to remove the spindle before anything happens, (might be interesting, since the look like they have never been removed). I was thinking that maybe I could use a floor flange and some pipe, as leverage, especially to keep the mounting area for the spindle flat. Edited August 20, 2015 by wrightorchid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
slammer302 2,156 #2 Posted August 20, 2015 I have had good luck bending the edges back out with a adjustable wrench without heat Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmaynard 16,349 #3 Posted August 20, 2015 Did the same damage to a two spindle John Deere deck. Straightened and leveled it as best I could with hammer and dolly, but cannot get it perfect. My local JD dealer has a machine that they use to re-align decks, but it's an expensive process. I've been keeping my eyes open for a new deck shell. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wrightorchid 261 #4 Posted August 20, 2015 Overall the shell is in pretty good condition. I'll give it a shot. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pacer 3,177 #5 Posted August 20, 2015 Overall the shell is in pretty good condition. I'll give it a shot. Heck yeah! you cant hardly make it any worse! Seriously, I'd be banging on it. I've had 2-3 with bends around the front lip, one had taken a pretty good hit but I got my trusty 12lb sledge and a few blocks of wood and proceeded to beat the #$^# out of it, and got it back pretty good! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
doc724 925 #6 Posted August 21, 2015 When you plasticly deformed the metal, you put lot of energy into it. To put it back you have to put even more energy into it because it is now work hardened a bit. The best way to do this is with a hydraulic press. That being said, there is not many who have one just sitting around. The next best thing is to use threaded rod with thick flat washers and nuts (1/2 is best, but 3/8 will do) and support the deformed area so that when you tighten the nuts the deformed area will bend back. You can even resort to bolting the deck to a solid object. A real heavy work bench or a wall will do and then stand on it if necessary. Heat helps, but you need a really high capacity torch to get the metal hot enough over a large enough area so that the yield strength of the metal is lowered. Hope this helps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wrightorchid 261 #7 Posted August 21, 2015 Thanks for the ideas. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Leverage is your friend in this case. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
