Water Hose Fitting

[larpa47 23]

My neighbor has a John Deere rider with a water hose fitting on the deck to wash the underside.  Has anyone ever thought of adding one to a WH deck?  Has anyone actually done it?  His has only one blade.  With 3 blades, placement could be an issue, unless a spray system was installed using plastic tubing on the underside of the deck!!! Just something to think about!!!!  I need something to do, huh?????????

[can whlvr 991]

some one did it a while back,plastic tubing wouldn't last under the deck long

[DennisThornton 4,769]

All the conversations that I've had with folks that had one said it was a feature with no benefits!
I don't have any and no first hand experience yet somehow I agree with them.  Why would water swished around remove already packed in grass?
Mystery to me.  I don't know...

Other opinions?  I'd can certainly add a hose connection to any deck if it does indeed work!

[fast88pu 3,313]

It works at keeping the grass wet packed to the deck and speed up the rot process under the deck. That is about all it does

[cleat 4,990]

My Ford  tractor had the water wash and what it did was make a big wet sloppy mess under the deck as you used it and nded up taking all the bearings out as the grease was washed out.

Scraping the deck clean is the way to go and really on the wheel horse decks I have there is only a couple of places the grass collects anyways.

Cleat

[Racinbob 10,303]

Kits to do this are readily available. Years ago I used one but have to say that the majority here are right. They just don't work.

[doc724 924]

One of these was standard on my 48 inch xi deck.  I used it once.  They probably work OK if the freshly cut grass is not wet and you do it every time.  Operating instructions say to hook up the hose, lower the deck all the way to the ground and engage the PTO.  The fitting just squirts water directly down onto the blade as it spins.  Like Cleat, I prefer to pull the deck, flip it and scrape, however as I age, flipping these decks on their backs is getting more and more difficult
 

[shallowwatersailor 3,213]

It works at keeping the grass wet packed to the deck and speed up the rot process under the deck. That is about all it does

Other tractor forums have discussed this at length because their manufacturer installed them on those decks. Just like fast88pu said, it just promotes deck rot.

[larpa47 23]

Thanks for the replies.  It was an idea that maybe works on an unripe red tractor (read green), but I believe I'll leave mine in original condition!!!!!!!!

[bmsgaffer 2,043]

My dad's Deere has the "washout" port, and I am fairly certain this was a clever design by someone to make you THINK you are doing good, but really just guaranteeing that you have to buy a new deck sooner.

Complete junk.


I use a set of the mechanic ramps to drive the front of the tractor up on and spray it out good with a hose or pressure washer. And gives you access to scrape if need be. http://www.harborfreight.com/magnum-16000-auto-ramp-set-with-built-in-safety-chock-67722.html

[clueless 2,898]

Years ago a wise old mechanic told me boats are designed for water, cars and tractor not so much. Less water sprayed on them, less problems. Chris in Florida.

[WNYPCRepair 1,875]

My dad's Deere has the "washout" port, and I am fairly certain this was a clever design by someone to make you THINK you are doing good, but really just guaranteeing that you have to buy a new deck sooner.

 

I was just about to say the same thing, guaranteed future sales

[JimD 3,345]

I've seen them advertised as kits and didn't put any faith in them at all. However, I did have a standing water puddle after a heavy rain the day before I mowed one time. I mowed around while cutting the grass but when I was done it occurred to me to see what happened if I stopped in it and let the blades fly. The result was a very clean deck. With the blades in the water and the lifting action pulling the water up and slinging it all over it really did a nice job. Oh sure there is still some scraping to do but if you could do this after each use it would never be a serious problem. (Afterwards the deck drips dry from the top down or you could turn them on and air dry it. ) So go out and dig yourself a hole in the yard.