50" deck still ain't right

[inspectorudy]

Your mower is doing the same thing that my mower was doing before I put the cables on it. The non discharge side was cutting low and the discharge side was cutting high. Then if I went the other way on a hill it would reverse the problem. On my mower it just seemed that the deck pivots too easily in either direction from outside forces. It is hanging on the mule evenly but it too sensetive to turning or hills. I bought a 3 foot square rod today at HD and I am going to attach it to the deck support so that I can raise and lower the deck without changing the cable tension. I'll post pictures as soon as I finish it.

[Methos]

Originally Posted by inspectorudy

Your mower is doing the same thing that my mower was doing before I put the cables on it. The non discharge side was cutting low and the discharge side was cutting high. Then if I went the other way on a hill it would reverse the problem. On my mower it just seemed that the deck pivots too easily in either direction from outside forces. It is hanging on the mule evenly but it too sensetive to turning or hills. I bought a 3 foot square rod today at HD and I am going to attach it to the deck support so that I can raise and lower the deck without changing the cable tension. I'll post pictures as soon as I finish it.

You shouldn't needs any cables.

[aagitch]

Originally Posted by cdlong

Here ya go. The last 5 pics are of the neighbor's yard that I mow. It's basically level.

Looks pretty good. Is that just by leveling the deck front to back or did you have to jerry rig it?

[MOturkE]

Just wondering... Are you letting the deck float by locking the lift lever button?

[inspectorudy]

I traded a JD 130 and some cash for my CC 1811 and one of the reasons was because it did the exact same thing. I guess it is the steep front hill I have in my yard that does it. I even had the same problem with an old Snapper that had gone from the outside chain deck supports to a central linked support. I figured that my JD only had deck wheels on two corners and the CC had four wheels that my problem would be solved. If you stop to think about it gravity has to come into play when the only stabilizing force is at the center of the deck and the weight has transferred to the lower side of the deck on a steep hill. On the JD I rigged up a hydraulic piston on one side of the deck support and could raise and lower it in small increments but found getting back to zero angle very difficult even though I added one of those RV leveling bubbles to the deck. One thing I do now to prevent scalps in turns is to turn the PTO off just before I turn and that works well but is one extra chore during a turn. I would say that I have an unleveled deck except that I have had this same problem with three different mowers without fiddling with all of them. I have been thinking about a small rod attached to the deck that is perpendicular to the deck sticking up through the tranny cover set at zero when the deck is on level ground and when I am off grade it will show which way left or right the deck is tilted. For now the cables work fine and for about ten dollars is an easy solution. I appreciate the help you guys are offering.

[cdlong]

You shouldn't needs any cables. I agree, but I'm open to any and all suggestions before I get a new mower.

Just wondering... Are you letting the deck float by locking the lift lever button? Don't know anything about a lift lever button. I have hydraulics.

Looks pretty good. Is that just by leveling the deck front to back or did you have to jerry rig it? This is the bad mowing I was talking about. I haven't mowed since I leveled the deck.

I'm thinking of getting a smaller deck.

[MOturkE]

Originally Posted by cdlong

Don't know anything about a lift lever button. I have hydraulics.

Wasn't familiar with the setup you have, being new to Cubs. Sorry I can't offer anything further, so I'll watch from the sideline.

[inspectorudy]

I was under my mower deck today looking for signs of maladjustment and noticed that by having only one pivot rod, the rod that goes on the fixed rod between the foot pedals, it makes the whole deck mechanism inherently unstable. There is almost no play in the deck if pushed from the discharge side where the pivot rod attaches but when you go to the other side the story changes. There is a lot of play caused by the one rod having to do duty all the way across to the other side. It is a poor design although on flat ground it seems to do well. I believe if I can add another pivot rod it might strengthen and stabilize the deck. I looked at it and it gets real messy in a hurry down there with very little room to add anything. I wonder why the elected to use only one pivot rod? Also, I was wondering if any of you had added a hole to left side frame to get at the steering column adjustment nut? It seems like such an easy thing to and it is something that should be done frequently to keep the wear down on the steering gear. One last question. Have any of you removed and left off the screen on the bottom of the mower? While I am working on my tractor it is real inconvenient to replace and the remove again after each adjustment

[Matt G.]

Is there a lot of wear on the footrest support rod that the 'pickle fork' part of the carriage rides on? That could be part of the problem.

That screen should be there, it keeps grass out of the flywheel screen. However, I don't think I've ever seen an intact one. None of my tractors have it anymore.

[darkminion_17]

You should be able to get at that nut by removing the tunnel cover.
I have a 44c deck on my 782 cuts nice.It has guide wheels on it.
i have another deck and the PO added two wheels to the front and that cuts the grass pretty nice also.