Deck height - need to get it higher
 

I have a problem with my 1250 (44A deck) and my 129 (50A deck). The decks are only 3 maybe 4 inches up in the highest position and both would lower the deck a lot lower than the casters let it. The 129 is hydro lift and the 1250 is manual. I have another 129 with the 38" deck and it lifts a lot higher. Will the A type decks ever get very high on those tractors? The 129 with the 50A has A LOT of wear that probably hurts it's height. I currently have this one torn down to the frame, the shaft that holds the rear of the mule drive is worn about 1/8" and the mule drive itself is also quite worn where it rides on the shaft. I plan to fill these areas back in. I have reworked the hangers (filled the slots) and that got me a little, but not enough. Both of these mowers are used in some rough areas and it would be nice to get the deck(s) higher
Thanks

I have the exact same problem with my 1250. I'm going to watch this thread. :bigthink:

None of the Cub Cadets will lift over that height. They are made to mow yards, not "rough" areas. Good luck getting your deck higher, they aren't made to go up any more. I think you will find if you do get them any higher, you will start having belt alignment issues. IMHO, get a pull behind bush hog rotary, or flail mower if you are going to mow rough areas.

or taller tires

Do like farmall did with their letter series- make a "V" version; AV, MV, HV etc-- like this 100 "v"

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ps0eb37d98.jpg

I'll have to get the 129/38 and the 129/50A lined up and do some measuring. That's a good point on the belt, but I still can't see why the 38 gets so much higher. I use the 129/50a to mow grass, but I also use it to mow a grove of spruce trees. My JD 830 has a 6' bush hawg finish mower, but it is not much wider than the tractor and the ag tires grab the branches if I get too close. I mow between the trees with that, then "trim" with the 129/50a which gets under the branches pretty well. I only mow this a few times a year and it is tough on the 12 HP when set so low. :bigthink: maybe more HP is the answer, it usually solves all problems

Maybe more HP is the answer, it usually solves all problems.



Re-wire it for MORE POWER. " arrh arrh

If your mowing under trees, it sounds like you could benefit from a sickle bar mower....... :bigthink:

My impression (though I've never measured them) my 44A and 50A decks sit lower and do not raise as high as the 42 inch deck. Not sure if that actually equates to a different blade height difference (if the deck sides of the 44A and 50A go down past the plane of the blades more) or if it's just a different arrangement. There is some adjustment in the deck hangers, so you can adjust both the front hanger loops and the mid hangers, but the rear pin clips are not adjustable. :bigthink:

I ventured out and measured. The 1250/44A manual lift max height is 2 3/4" (cutting edge of blade). This is really just the height that the casters hold it, they are set to hold the deck as high as possible. The lift can not get the casters off the ground, sitting on flat concrete. Tires are inflated properly. The 129/38's blades are 4 3/4", this 129 has very little wear on the deck hanging wear areas (my first post was on my other 129 which has a lot of wear-and is torn apart). it would be interesting to hang the 50A on that 129 and see where it rides, but will have to wait for someone to put it back together - and some warmer weather so I can paint the frame.
And yes a sickle bar would be the real answer

Them TV commercials say SeeAlice or Viagra helps older "decks" get higher.:biggrin2:

If u figure out how to get em higher that would be nice the deck on the 1450 d osnt go near high enough the 38 on my 1200 goes plenty high to clear pulling onto my trailer the 1450 gets hung up and im afraid im going to break a spindle

I had a 1450 that would lift the deck about 6". So high the belt would rub the paint off the deck if I forgot to shut it off. In not sure why it lifted so high. I no longer have the tractor do I can't look at it . But it is possible to get them to lift high I just can't tell you how to do it .

Me to? I'd like to get an extra inch on the deck myself?????

I hope some-one comes out with a plausible plan.:bigthink:

NIK,

Someone fabricated some connecting linkages (the pieces that go from the lift arms to the under carriage that mounts to the top of the mower deck) for my 48" mower. They are shorter than OEM; it raises the deck more but again the belt rubs when it's that high, plus it doesn't like to lock in place because the cross rod of the under carriage hits the u bolt nut of my IH spring assist.

Are you sure you have the correct lift links? I have several pairs and they have different lengths. The 44C on my 1450 raises 6". I had to play around with different lift links until I got the deck level. Check the arms on the hangers. Are the contact points worn down? Is the bar that holds the rear arm worn down?

I'll have to check the lengths of the lift links. Everything is worn a fair amount on the 1250, but I can't see that stacking up to more than an inch or so. Of my cubs the 1250 is probably the least peiced together, so I would guess the links are what came on it, but I will measure all I have and see. On the 129 I did weld the slots back to original, but the bar and the mating mule drive are both worn ~1/8". That will be fixed soon

Papaw makes a good point. I use 2 adjustable lift links for my 38 inch deck. I like to cut my grass high, I was able to get the height i wanted using the adjustable lift links.

Thanks - I went thru my stuff and found 3 different link lengths. Both the low riding 129 and the 1250 had the longest of the links. My 129 that lifts high had a medium length linkage (73 had real short links). While going thru the low riding 129 I welded the lift linkage, filling it in enough so the other side with the adj linkage was adjusted all the way to the short side. I also filled in the wear on the rear frame rod (probably 1/8") and tweaked the top side of the "fork" on the mule drive which slides onto the rod so it just fits on the rod. With it all levelled I now get 3 1/2", better but not that high. I had this all torn down and I don't know where the blades were before, but the casters never came off the ground and now they are about an inch off the ground. The belt still misses the deck by a lot and the belt aligment looks OK. The 1250 is going to get medium linkages the other fixes and I post where it ends up.

You keep mentioning the casters but are you sure they are in the correct holes? On some models the casters can be adjusted from real low to about three inches higher. Some people think that the casters should be on the ground all of the time but they are anti-scalping wheel and not bush hog tires. They should be set to about 1/2 to 1 inch above the ground depending on your ground.

The 125 I had wouldnt even get the deck off the ground even when I moved good deck linkages off my 107 onto it. It turned out that the lift arms on the rock shaft were bent down. You could not tell that they were until the rockshaft was removed and set next to a different rockshaft. Given the rockshaft on a wide frame is stronger It is somthing to think about. Also isnt there some roll pins in the rock shaft. There could be worn down. It would only take a few degrees off to make a big difference.

Currently they are set to the second hole from the bottom - or one hole from holding the deck as high as possible. With the casters on the ground the blades are 2 1/2" up

You might want to check the hydraulic ram to see if the chromed or shiney part of the piston arm is in/out all of the way when the deck is up or down to make sure that the ram is going out and in to its limits. Then with the deck lift arms in the full down position, deck unhooked, measure it and then without the deck hooked up raise the deck mechanism and then re-measure it. If the ram is working correctly and the lift system is not broken the distance between the two measurements should be the travel of your deck. This measurement will not be affected by the links and unless there is a whole lot of wear on the lift system you can tell quickly how much lift you should be getting. I was surprised by the small amount of lift that my 1811 has but when I did what I just explained I know that what I get is all I'll ever get from it. I did have to fill and redrill the two holes on the lift arms because they were worn out enough to make the deck unstable when mowing on a hillside. I found that I could gently push down on either side of my deck while on the driveway and it would move about an inch before the arm pins took up the slack caused by the worn holes. :beerchug:

Thanks for the ideas. The 129 is hydro lift and the piston does travel it's full movement. I am sure the accumulation of wear (this one has a ton and I only fixed a few wear areas) costs me some height. As for the overall travel, it has plenty. The problem is most of that travel is trying to lower the deck to a subterrain level. The newly installed rear hydro lift hitch is not even half way down when the casters hit the ground. The 1250 is manual lift but it's travel range is similar. The 1250 is going to get a goin thru to see if that can go higher. Must be a pill for that

With one 1250 having a problem with height & I would like mine higher seems to be normal for this series? My only thought would be custom made hanger to compensate the deck to be raised higher? I don't know?:bash2:

NIK,

I had to go to red paint to get the deck high enough! :bigthink:

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...022640x426.jpg

:biggrin2:

I have a 44 inch deck on my 109 and a 48 inch deck (triangle shaped type) and around 3 to 3-1/2 inches was about what I measured one time. There's nothing where I mow that's consistently flat. Lots of bumps, rises and dips. So far so good - but if I lower it a tad, the decks scalp like crazy. I mow always with the deck in the highest position. I should look at the lift links on mine.

One thing that concerns me with mowing in the full up position is I don't believe there is any float. So if I bottom out the deck on something, I guess I could high centers the tractor vs the deck moving further up and out of the way.

I've got a Wheelhorse probably doesn't cut any higher than the IH's, but the deck is ground supported vs hanging from the frame - kind of like a Simplicity, but without the rollers. While the height of cut is determined by the rear deck wheels, there is plenty of room for the deck to roll higher if I hit a hump.

OTOH - you could take my Dad's approach from back in the day and set your height to whatever you want and after a few passes, the yard is level anyway... LOL!

"better dead than red!" sorry I couldn't help my self - and that from a guy with a green "smear".
Leeave96 - Even when lifted all the way the slot in the lift links should allow it to float over stuff.
and of course you can level it by mowing low, it's just the opposite of rolling the lawn

Here is some pictures from my 1811 in the up position. Nothing is bolted to the cylinder, the pin on the cylinder just pushes the arm. Is this correct?

Deck height problem solved.
 

Got about 2" more in my deck height on the # 1250.

The previous owner had a wider-turf tires on the back, although they looked correct they were the wrong size. It's hard to see comparing the 2 tires but I dont have to tinker around with putting or changing hangers.

The wider turf tire on top & proper tire under, you can see the difference.

Nik,
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...psey3et4jb.jpg