GR2020 mower deck problem

[DaveinWV]

I bought a GR2020 two months ago. I pulled the mower deck to pressure wash the deck for Winter. I raised the hydraulic lift after disconnecting the linkage. When I went to remount the deck the linkage wouldn't lower. I had to use a crowbar to coax the cylinder to retract. I got the deck mounted. I thought I'd pass this on. With the deck mounted the hydraulic lift works up and down fine. I went by the owner's manual. The fluid level is OK.
Dave

 

[bertsmobile1]

Some lifts have a two way ram that raises & lowers under pressure.
Most rams only lift & use the weight of the impliment to make it drop
Yours sounds like the latter
Next time use a strap or some thing to hold the control lever in the drop position then stand on the arms

 

[DaveinWV]

Thank you for the reply. I looked at the control and knew there is no safety circuit. I had to use a crowbar to get pressure on the linkage until I could use my foot. The next time I won't raise the linkage all the way to the stop. Thanks again.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Most 3 point tractor linkages are the same .
And because you do not want a 500 lb impliment crashing to the ground the hole for the oil to pass through to allow the arms to drop is very small.
Usually the weight of the arms alone will cause them to drop but it will happen a lot faster with the engine off .
The Kubota F2400 we just got had a cloths peg that gat jambed into the control lever to hold it in either the up or down position.
Without the mower attached it takes a good 15 minutes for the arms to drop so we quickly realised the peg was there to hold the control in the down position after the mower was detached as they spring up without any weight and are buggers to get back down as they do not protrude very far out from under the mower

 

[DaveinWV]

I called the dealer today and sure enough, the mower deck linkage relies on weight to lower it. The man I spoke to told me I was not the first to call about it.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I called the dealer today and sure enough, the mower deck linkage relies on weight to lower it. The man I spoke to told me I was not the first to call about it.

SO now you know, you can work around it
We raise decks. undo linkages then allow it to drop before reversing away .
Even then some times there is enough pressure in the cylinder to near flip the decks over as we are backing out.