ZT1 42 bent/warped stamped deck question
 

Hello all. I bought my ZT1 42 3 years ago, (7/20) and have been putting up with a bent or warped deck since last spring. It was probably due to a small stump, literally 2" or smaller in diameter, that I apparently tagged at a slow rate. Ever since that point, mowing looks like crap as it has the left spindle pointing wrong so when you mow a patch, one side digs lower than the other and you can't just adjust it out. I sometimes wish from the beginning I'd bought the 54" as it wasn't that much more or I'd gotten the non ZT version as I use a tow behind sprayer, tow behind granular spreader, and a cart. It can be done with the ZT but a little cumbersome.

So I'm down to 3 choices as it's driving me nuts.

1.) Remove the deck, get my sledge out and beat the hell out of it and try to straighten it out some.

2. Buy a new 42" deck and swap the parts out....IF I can find a deck in stock for the $800+ range or so.

3. Take the hit and sell it as is and get something bigger like the XT1 ST54 and call it good. I really don't need anything major heavy duty and do mow a slight incline but nothing major at all.

I like how it mows and I don't care about the speed part. I mow hybrid bermuda grass (golf fairway style sod, you know) and not much rough stuff and I have a tad under an acre. If you guys were in this pickle, what route would you go? Thanks for any input.

I say, cant hurt to try and straighten it out. Doubt you could make it any worse. Although without pics hard to see if its worth saving

I'm not sure pics would really show it as it's not drastic. But, in checking the blade locations underneath, they are fairly close in the middle but to the front the blade dips down a good half inch over the other side. You mow a strip and it stands out. Even my wife, who really wouldn't care much, notices it. lol Almost like unintentional lawn striping.

But true...can't be much worse.

Ok. If im understanding you correctly. The area of the deck around where spindle is mounted is bent?

If thats the case, I would remove deck and flip over. Clamp a strong steal bar to the blade long enough to get leverage to straighten out deck

Wouldn't that put a lot of pressure on the spindle though? I'd thought about that direction as well. I did take it apart last fall and did some smacking with a 3 pound mallet but may bust out the 8 pound sledge and do some knocking. ha I need to take it back off again and remind myself how "level" the deck itself is and the extent of the bend. May do that tonite if it's not blistering hot. I just hate the horse flies being out right now...hate those worthless bugs.

Flip the deck over and put a straight edge on all the blades to see which one is low or high. Then maybe you can tweak the deck some or shim a spindle. I wouldn't yank on the spindles too much to try and straighten because from what I have seen they are getting super cheap and flimsy.

You might be correct Oak. Not like the old spindles. But my thinking was, the decks aren't like the old ones either. The cheap tin deck may bend and flex rather easily. Its all about feel. I should have said try that with caution and do it gingerly

Yeah, last time I had the spindle out on that side as I knew these newer El Cheapo spindles wouldn't hold up to much. I did buy a spare one just in case so I do have one to install in case it was damaged. Also put new blades on it last spring as it bent the hell out of the blade and I had hoped that would have been the issue. No luck of course. I beat the bajeezus out of it with the smaller sledge but going to get the big daddy after it today and see what happens. Seems like a double whammy of being slightly bent towards the front on the deck and also the spindle mounting area.

Of course, it's my fault I hit it but good grief...it really wasn't that big of a stump. Maybe 1.5" to 2" and maybe 3" out of the ground. Oh well.

I appreciate the input.

My buddy keeps telling me that if I'm wanting a larger mower, either a 54" ZT or LT model, that I shouldn't put a lot of time into it and just sell it as is and move on. I get that. It's a lot of work going back and forth with it all. Bottom line is, I do want a larger mower and maybe the LT 54" model as the LT version is a little easier to work with for the spray spreader with switching. Wonder what one is worth with maybe 120 hours on it.