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I have a sears craftsman L1000 riding mower with a 42" deck that I can't figure out why when I make a turn mowing one side seems to gauge the ground and cuts about 1/2" lower on the turn. I have got the deck level and the blades are inline with one another. The wheels on the back of the deck are just touching the ground and will turn by hand in the mowing position I have it set on. Every time I make a turn it seems that the opposite side I'm turning away from cuts deeper and leaves a gauge in the yard and the other side that I am turning into the grass gets higher if you know what I mean. It is like the deck is tilting when a turn is made. I have been thinking of trying to put some more wheels on the side of the deck to see if this would help but want to get feedback from anyone here before I tackle this not knowing if it will work or not.:confused2:

When the tractor front wheels turn, it does slightly lower the front deck edge opposite the turn direction, like a car when you have wheels cut & look at it.


How short are ya cutting ? I never noticed any gouging when I had my tractor, but I cut at 4 inch.. Maybe you could use some rollers in that area, should already have em ?

I have rollers on the back of the mower deck but they don't seem to help in this situation when turning. I am going to see if there is any way to put some rollers on the front of the deck as well to see if this will help with the twist in the deck. Has anyone tried this before and if you have please let me know what the outcome.

I'm surprised you only have rear (anti-scalp) roller wheels, more important for them to be in front.

2 craftsman tractors I used to have had em on all 4 corners.

You could add some to front easily, weld some brackets & make them adjustable (multiple holes) like your rears.

mine does that too and I do have a wheel on each corner of the deck. I think its just the nature of the beast with bigger decks. I have a 48" deck and if I turn to sharply it will do this but only if im on any sort of incline. if I just turn its fine. I think when you have a wider deck and the ground is uneven, even just a little, it doesn't stay perfectly level across the area of the whole cut. I cant find any way to stop mine from doing this so I just cut in a different direction in spots where I know this happens. But I also have another cutting issue that ill have to write a different post about... good luck

Had this issue with my LT200 42" it turned out to be one of the blades were bent.

zacker01 said:

mine does that too and I do have a wheel on each corner of the deck. I think its just the nature of the beast with bigger decks. I have a 48" deck and if I turn to sharply it will do this but only if im on any sort of incline. if I just turn its fine. I think when you have a wider deck and the ground is uneven, even just a little, it doesn't stay perfectly level across the area of the whole cut. I cant find any way to stop mine from doing this so I just cut in a different direction in spots where I know this happens. But I also have another cutting issue that ill have to write a different post about... good luck

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Yep, a wide deck on a narrow mower without enough stability becomes a see saw when you turn.
So you will have to compensate for it.
First try a little more pressure in the front tyres so they deform a little less when cornering ( do it in 2 lb incriments )
Drop the back of the deck till it has the minimum forward tilt.
Or worst case, do a couple off cross cuts either end where you turn then switch off te deck so you only cut in farly strait lines or make sweeping slow turns.