LTX1042 Mower Deck Won't Disengage
 

On my 1042, after I've mowed the lawn, when I use the PTO lever to disengage the deck the blades keep turning. The PTO cable works freely. The two pivoting arms that operate the deck brake pads were not moving freely, so I sprayed the pivot points with penetrating oil, so now the work. I noticed that the brake shoes appeared to be worn, so I bought a new set and replaced them. While I had the deck off I replaced the mower deck belt with one that I was given when I obtained the machine. The belt that came on the tractor was a black rubber v-belt, but the new one is a kind of light gray in color and is noted on the sleeve it came in as being made of Kevlar.

If you disengage the PTO and the blades keep running, eventually, if you wait long enough, the blades will stop. This leads me to believe that the pivoting brake arms need to be lubed.

What is the best procedure to lube those pivoting arms that work the deck brakes - they still seem kind of stiff? What lube should I use?

If everything is moving freely, it sounds to me like you don't have the spring (p/n 23) attached. That is what pulls the brake shoes into the pulley when you disengage the blades.

Thanks, Ironman. You might be right. When I changed the brake shoes I don't remember seeing such a spring. I'll look for it tomorrow. May have to buy a replacement if that one has gone AWOL.

Ironman, I looked at the deck and don't see that spring, unless it's the spring that is attached to the engage/disengage cable. It looks like the spring #23 on the diagram that you referred to might be hooked to the pivoting arm on which the brake shoe is mounted by means of the hex screw #12 so as to pull the shoe against the spindle pulley, but it's not clear where the other end of this spring gets anchored. But until I can get a chance to pull the deck off again I can't be sure.

Also, there are two brackets, #50 and #53, that are both labeled "bracket, pulley, deck engage. The way this deck was rigged, the cable that came down from the PTO lever is anchored to #50, and bracket #53 is not used for anything. The PTO cable does have a spring on the deck end, and that spring is hooked on to the pivoting arm, #52.

I'm kind of confused at this point how this thing is supposed to work!

A couple of people have been into this deck already over the years, so the way things were rigged when I got it may not be 100% correct, although it seemed to work OK up until a few weeks ago.

NO, not the spring at the end of the PTO cable.
There are two types of 42" deck. One is called a "timed deck". That is because the blades must always be perpendicular to each other or they will collide. You can tell the timed deck because it will have two belts, one belt is notched and only connects one blade to the other, the second belt connects the deck pulley to the engine pulley. The un-timed deck only has one belt running the whole show.

If you have a timed deck, the spring I am talking about can be seen in the first drawing. The second drawing is the un-timed deck but does not show the spring. I took some fotos best I could of an un-timed deck that is mounted. The spring on it has one end connected at "S" bend in the rod that connects to the engage lever to the brake arms, the other end goes in a small hole in the bracket where the PTO cable comes in. Hope it makes sense and helps you.

OK, I do not have that second spring. That's the one that must be AWOL. I see where it attaches to the bracket that anchors the PTO cable, and I see the bend on the connecting bar to attach it to.

So that's where spring #23 goes!

I'll get that puppy on order right now!

Thanks.

If you are saying you have the un-timed deck (single belt), the spring is #23 on the drawing,
part number is 932-0384. You can probablu buy one at a hardware store. It is about 5/8" in diameter and slightly over 6" long. One end hooks into the "S" bend of the rod, #42 in the drawing, the other end in the small hole of PTO cable bracket, #53.
The timed deck uses a different spring.

Yes, it's the untimed deck. I just ordered it, and should have it next week.

I'm still kind of concerned that the two arms that the brake shoes are mounted on don't seem to pivot very easily. When I had them off last week there's not even a washer between the bottom of the arm and the top of the deck. If that's the way it came from the factory, it seems like a pretty poor example of engineering to me. But I'll put this spring on (looks like I won't even have to remove the deck to do it, thank God), and we'll see how it goes.

Except for spring tension, the brakes on this one move very easily. There are shoulder bolts and washers on the brake that moves, the other is attached directly to the pivot bar. Here's pics of the whole shebang.

I was running some errands this morning that happened to take me past a hardware store that is a Cub Cadet dealer. I stopped in, and it turned out that they had the spring in stock for $9.00 OTD. When I got home I slapped it on and tested it - only took a couple minutes and a pair of mechanic's pliers - and that did the trick! The mower deck engages and disengages fine now.

Thanks for the help.