Riding lawn mower problems from poor maintance

rocky4

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I would like to give some problems i have seen with riding lawnmowers and get some feed back on my thoughts as to why the
it happened.
First problem: This is a John Deere mower. The pullies on the deck stripped off the spindals and belt came off. The deck height
when mowing is skimming the ground on uneven ground. My thought is that the blades are stopped turning due to hitting high
place on ground and spindal has also stopped. The belt is still turning and trying to turn pully which has stopped, putting torque
on spindal ( Which has flat and high places on it to hold pully in place) and something has to give. Either the belt burns up or the
pully spinds on the spindle wearing pully and spindal. The hole in pully enlarges causing the belt to jump off.
The other problem is the mower has a clutch for the deck. The clutch burns up because the blades have stopped turning, but the
clutch is still trying to turn blades. So, with no clutch the pullies strip out ( weak point) and with clutch, clutch burns up( weak point). All due to deck being too low on rough ground. Is my thoughts correct?
Improper deck adjustment.
Thanks for any thoughts.
 

bertsmobile1

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You have it fairly well right.
People seem to have a problem working out the difference between a scarrifier & a lawn mower.
Mower companies pander to this by making decks that go lower that 2" which is the lowest you should ever cut grass.
The nuts that hold the pulleys down tight on the spindles have a cut away so they can clear the end of the shaft and clamp tight onto the pulleys.
The wrong nuts will not hold the pulleys tight and they will strip out.
There are a couple of different blade mounts.
One will allow some slip when you hit something solid, the other 2 won't.
The deck should have anti scalp wheels to prevent the blades becoming plough discs.

There are a few different spindle housings that will bolt up to the deck, some are more expensive that others and some hold the blades lower than others .
Being it is a used mower, you have no idea what is on there.,

So your first stop, is the JD web page for a copy of your deck parts.
You can print out the page strait off the web , but not the entire book.
Then have a look at what should be there against what is currently there.
 

Rivets

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I don’t think you are correct, but have many questions before I say why.
1. How old is the unit?
2. What is the model and serial numbers?
3. Who setup the unit?
4. Who maintained the unit?
5. How often does it get maintenance?
6. What do you base your complaints on?

I’m not the greatest fan of JD, but not everything you say is the fault of the manufacturer, in fact most of what you state could be solved by a good maintenance schedule.
 

rocky4

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Thanks Rivetts. I was not blaiming JD. It's the person using the mower as they did not do the adjustment on deck as stated in manual. He is running the mower in the number two setting but if the deck is not adjusted properly that setting with lever is not correct. He is scalping the ground.
 

rocky4

Active Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2014
Threads
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You have it fairly well right.
People seem to have a problem working out the difference between a scarrifier & a lawn mower.
Mower companies pander to this by making decks that go lower that 2" which is the lowest you should ever cut grass.
The nuts that hold the pulleys down tight on the spindles have a cut away so they can clear the end of the shaft and clamp tight onto the pulleys.
The wrong nuts will not hold the pulleys tight and they will strip out.
There are a couple of different blade mounts.
One will allow some slip when you hit something solid, the other 2 won't.
The deck should have anti scalp wheels to prevent the blades becoming plough discs.

There are a few different spindle housings that will bolt up to the deck, some are more expensive that others and some hold the blades lower than others .
Being it is a used mower, you have no idea what is on there.,

So your first stop, is the JD web page for a copy of your deck parts.
You can print out the page strait off the web , but not the entire book.
Then have a look at what should be there against what is currently there.

Thanks for replying, All goes back to proper adjustment of deck which has not ben done.
 

bertsmobile1

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Thanks for replying, All goes back to proper adjustment of deck which has not ben done.

You can set the deck too low but there is only about 1.5" to 2.5" of adjustment depending upon the model.
If the deck is dragging in the dirt then the deck wheels will show excessive wear with the axel holes flogged out twice their size
The front of the deck will usually bear testiment to this being bashed in and the skid roll on the edge will show substantial wear.
Then there are all of the lift points.
A small ovality in a lift linkage can make a vary big difference to the deck height.
Again depend upon the model.
Lots of Deers use plastic bushes which chop out ( most others mowers have no bush ) and they make a big difference once they are gone.
Had a deck which shook violently when engaged because the bushes had all flogged out.
 
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