ZT1 42 bent/warped stamped deck question

[ITguyAR]

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.