Mower Deck is too low in the rear.

[gsim]

I"m a bit late to the party, but I'll reply anyway, and you may've already found your answer. You might look where the deck attaches to the tractor and just maybe yours may be in the bottom hole. Just a possibility.

Good post, and great photo by the way. I had one of those two bolts simply fall out of my Hopper. Noticed my feet not level on the footrest platform and that it had a bit of side-to-side motion as wall as the normal up and down front to back rotation. I was surprised at how well the single arm and bolt that were still attached properly pushed that 72" deck with so little movement. Replaced using a Grade 8 bolt, and locking nut. Checked other one and it was properly tightened and was a lock nut. Gotta say here, I'd sure hate to have to pull and replace that deck for any reason!