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On my 2135, as with all my mowers over the years, I sharpen and balance the blades every spring tune-up. The last couple of years, I've found it necessary to level the deck. Over six months of hard use, the front U-mount lock nuts have vibrated loose and the side-to-side is always slightly off.

It's a small PITA to go through this adjustment, but the result is a visibly smoother cut on the lawn.

The next time I have it apart, I may put new nylok nuts on the front U-mount and use them on the back side as well as the OEM placement on the front.

Any other deck leveling tricks or tips to share?

jack vines

Nylocks are a good idea for those pesky problems.

Once adjusted my decks seem to stay, but for tips / tricks for us that didn't wearn to wead and rite wery well I made this weveling gauge so I don't have numbers to wead - wemember - or record. When left and right adjustment leaves only one mark it's perfect. As you can clearly see this one needed a little tweek. It's been so many years ago I don't recall which tractor it was but the record are still there.

All tractors or zero turns which come in for a complete check over, residential or commercial, have the deck leveled each year. Tool I have is a 3/8" threaded rod coupler with a bolt turned into it. Make sure you have your tire pressure correct before starting.

Rivets said:

All tractors or zero turns which come in for a complete check over, residential or commercial, have the deck leveled each year. Tool I have is a 3/8" threaded rod coupler with a bolt turned into it. Make sure you have your tire pressure correct before starting.

Click to expand...

I use inside calipers, just because I had them in the box.



jack vines

Rivets said:

Tool I have is a 3/8" threaded rod coupler with a bolt turned into it. Make sure you have your tire pressure correct before starting.

Click to expand...

I'm still grinning at the effectiveness of your suggestion to use a coupler nut. I am using two 3/8" countersunk bolts with flat (allen) heads with the coupler. The bottom one makes a stable base on which to rest; it never has to move in or out. The upper one turns to just brush the bottom of the leading edge of the blades. I have to get the measurement blindly by feel since I can't clearly see under the left side of my deck due to pliable plastic skirts that I attached to help contain clippings and leaves in the fall. Due to the design limitations of my 1995 MTD rider, I will be good to achieve a 3.25" cut from both sides of the 42" deck. My only path to a higher cutting height is to replace stock tires with slightly taller ones that will still fit inside the fenders and clear the deck on the right side. The MTD OEM website is adamant that the deck shouldn't be raised above normal design limits due to increased exposure to blades and discharge and they refuse to offer any suggestions for raising cutting heights including taller tires. A more expensive solution would be to shop for a more modern machine that is designed to cut higher, but that takes away the "fun" of homegrown solutions to said challenges.