I have 2 acres with quite a bit of sandy areas. Bought John Deere z 355E ZTR 3 yrs ago and stamped deck already has sandblasted holes. Love everything else about the mower. Am thinking of getting new fabricated deck and wonder if it is an easy swap and if the lifting mechanism will handle the weight. Also the stamped deck wasn't an easy lift for an 82 yr old man - can I handle the fabricated deck??? Original deck is 48", could I drop to a 42"?
Well I have trouble moving fabricated decks & i am a good few years younger than you .
The trick is to use something under the deck to slide it in & out .
If you have a 48" deck, you will need 2 length at lease 96" long.
Slide them under the deck hen drop the deck onto the "rails" then undo it & slide it out .
Engine cranes are very handy for lifting things like fabricated decks .
Whatever deck you end up with make sure you fit low lift blades , the straiter the better .
Mowing before noon when the grass is a little damp will also go a long way to preserving the deck .
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The trick is to use something under the deck to slide it in & out .
If you have a 48" deck, you will need 2 length at lease 96" long.
Slide them under the deck hen drop the deck onto the "rails" then undo it & slide it out .
I appreciate the hint and can see where I will need to do it this way when removing and feel I can handle it okay. What I was mainly worried about was the lifting and lowering the deck to mow. I didn't know if a mower that came with a fabricated deck had a different lifting device with a different ratio (gearing) to lift the heavier weight of the fabricated deck and if anything else would have to be changed besides the deck.
All of the fab decks have a foot pedal to lift the deck and the hand lever is really only there to keep it in position.
If a fabricated deck was an original option then the frame will be able to support it.
It is not economic to two different frames for different weight decks.
It would be worthwhile to go to a few retail outlets and try lifting the decks on the display machines.
Considering you age, some of the decks with assisted electric / hydraulic lifts might be a good upgrade .
FWIW I regularly weld old blades into decks that are wearing like yours .
Not an ecomomic repair but I enjoy a bit of blacksmithing.
Smacking things with a big hammer is very therapudic .
There is also the option of getting a welder to put some beads of hardfacing over the wear spots.
