mower deck tilt adjustments

[inspectorudy]

In the past I had used short steel cables with very small turnbuckles to adjust mower deck tilt when mowing on a hillside. This will work if you you do not need to adjust the mowing height as you mow. I had a real need to be able to adjust the height and was frustrated by the limitations of the two cables that connected to the foot pad bolt. I found a big turnbuckle (TB), at Harbor Freight made of stainless steel for $14. I knew that there had to be a way to adjust the deck tilt and still have the height adjustment and this big TB gave me the idea. On the discharge side of the deck there is a rod that goes from front to rear and is very substantial. There is also a hole in the deck lift/support arm on the same side as the rod. I added an eyebolt with big washers to the hole and hooked the TB to it and the rod and it works great. In fact I can reach down and turn the middle part of the TB to adjust on the fly. I have included a couple of pictures to look at and to see how simple the hook up is. It helps if you bias the tilt towards the discharge so that when the adjustment is made it is under strain and not neutral. I have a 12 volt window motor from a Mustang and I believe it will be adaptable to slide over the turnable part of the TB so that I can do it with the flick of a switch. Today I finally got to mow WITHOUT ridges between mowing rows!

[superduty5.9]

I see you did some nice work but why again would you want to do this? I don't see what you are trying to accomplish?

[inspectorudy]

I don't know how your neighborhood looks but in mine EVERY yard has uneven mow strips after they have been mowed. My yard is pretty steep and the original lift/hold arms just do not keep it in the level ground position. Once I get on a hillside the deck will tilt slightly so that I have a low side and a high side strip of grass. It looks ok for the first couple of days and then the longer grass gets much greener than the shorter and looks like hell. Now when I start out on the hillside I cut a short strip and then back up and see what it is doing on that particular day and simply turn the turn buckle nut to adjust the tilt. I am conjuring up a way to have a rod that is mounted on the deck come up through a slot in the tranny cover plate marked for zero tilt on flat ground so that when I get off grade it will show me the tilt angle that it is off from zero. Then I will not have to mow a test strip to find perpendicular/90 degrees angle to the tractor. It is simply amazing how none of my neighbors who almost all have lawn services using commercial machines have evenly cut lawns. These lawn services represent all makes of mowers and none of them have a tilt adjustment that is easily used. Does anyone know of an electronic angle measurer that has a remote read out? Sort of a simple bubble level with a remote gage. That would make the setting very simple and would tell you when and if your deck got out of level. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. The drawing below is crude but it is like using an etch-a-sketch! The angle arm would have a "U" in it to go around the drive shaft. Any ideas on this design?

[superduty5.9]

My property of which I mow 3 acres is mostly flat with gentle hills and dips. Some is rough. I determine the height of grass I want to leave. Then my gauge wheels do all the work. The wheels prevent the low side from going any lower. They are called anti-scalping wheels for a reason.

It's just hard for me to in-vision needing any more adjustment than that. I'm sure you have your reasons though.

[Matt G.]

Having a level on the tractor would be pretty much useless unless all of your yard has the exact same slope. Your calibration would change for each row. The location you've shown for the tilt gauge would likely not be sensitive enough to show you anything. If the end of the deck tilts up an inch, that area will probably move up less than 1/8".

How short are you trying to cut your grass? Most people seem to like to cut their grass really short, like 1 1/2", and that is too short if you have a rough yard and are expecting it not to scalp. At home in IL we have a pretty rough yard with some hills. I rarely have scalping issues with any decks because I mow the grass at 3". What size deck do you have? For rough yards, a 44" deck will do a better job than a 50" deck. Do you have 4 gauge wheels and the front roller? I added a rear roller to a 50" deck I have, and that helped a lot, too. What you'd typically do with the gauge wheels is adjust them so they're 1/2" above the ground at cutting height, but what you probably need to do is keep them on the ground at cutting height.

Is the float function of the rockshaft still free to move? Also, if the footrest support rod where the 'pickle fork' goes is worn, that'll add slop, too.

Those commercial mowers don't have a tilt adjustment because a) 99% of lawns would not need one and b) the operators would be losing money taking the time to make the adjustment. They are probably also using the largest deck they can, which is causing the same problems that I mentioned above.

You don't want to restrain the deck too much, or you'll make the problem worse instead of better. The deck needs to be able to tilt side to side to match the terrain- that's what the gauge wheels do- pick up the low side of the deck when it goes into a low spot.

All in all, I still think you may have some sort of problem with your deck and/or subframe that, when fixed, will solve most of your issues.

[inspectorudy]

I understand the use of the anti scalping wheels but that brings up two things. One I am not talking about scalping but uneven mow strips. and two the wheels if set to deep will prevent me from using a much lower setting when I need it. I do cut some areas of my lawn lower than others due to terrain conditions so the anti scalp wheels will not help. I know on bush hogs they usually have four wheels that are adjustable with handy cranks on each wheel but they are the total support of the deck and do not tilt due to a narrow lift system. Don't get me wrong, I like the anti scalp wheels and if you notice that today many of the "Big box" stores mowers no longer have four wheels on the decks. I think this was probablly a cost saving measure or realization that users were setting the wheels to the cutting height desired and not using the lift system as built.

[883sport]

Originally Posted by inspectorudy

I don't know how your neighborhood looks but in mine EVERY yard has uneven mow strips after they have been mowed. My yard is pretty steep and the original lift/hold arms just do not keep it in the level ground position. Once I get on a hillside the deck will tilt slightly so that I have a low side and a high side strip of grass. It looks ok for the first couple of days and then the longer grass gets much greener than the shorter and looks like hell. Now when I start out on the hillside I cut a short strip and then back up and see what it is doing on that particular day and simply turn the turn buckle nut to adjust the tilt. I am conjuring up a way to have a rod that is mounted on the deck come up through a slot in the tranny cover plate marked for zero tilt on flat ground so that when I get off grade it will show me the tilt angle that it is off from zero. Then I will not have to mow a test strip to find perpendicular/90 degrees angle to the tractor. It is simply amazing how none of my neighbors who almost all have lawn services using commercial machines have evenly cut lawns. These lawn services represent all makes of mowers and none of them have a tilt adjustment that is easily used. Does anyone know of an electronic angle measurer that has a remote read out? Sort of a simple bubble level with a remote gage. That would make the setting very simple and would tell you when and if your deck got out of level. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. The drawing below is crude but it is like using an etch-a-sketch! The angle arm would have a "U" in it to go around the drive shaft. Any ideas on this design?

I came here looking for an answer for this problem. I learned that it was my tire pressure. I had called the dealer, thinking I needed a servicing, he said check the tire pressure. That clicked, I knew the tires were a little soft. Didn't think it could make that big of a difference, but after inflating up to spec, no more uneven mowing with a short grass stripe on the lower side of the hills.