Ive broke a few here and there, have had the nuts come off and lost the bolt...can usually find the wheel. Ive had a few where there isnt quite enough thread for the nylock nut nor split lockwasher and nut. Looked into using bolts, but cant find a usable sleeve for the wheel and bolt. What are the recommendations from the group.
To save wear and tear on the gauge wheels, make sure that the deck isn’t riding on them. The wheels aren’t supposed to be in constant contact with the ground.
To save wear and tear on the gauge wheels, make sure that the deck isn’t riding on them. The wheels aren’t supposed to be in constant contact with the ground.
That is correct, gauge wheels are meant to only contact the ground when there is an uneven/ irregular ground condition. Once upon a time they were call "anti-scalping wheels" Unfortunately, many people never read the operators manuals.
Years ago, it became a waste of money to print the operator manuals, so most manufacturers have since published them online for people who actually want to read them someday.
Nine out of ten customers that I see do not realize the function of the gauge wheels, so they never adjusted them up so the deck hanger linkage could work efficiently.
It would also be nice if they made the wheels a bit easier to adjust rather than having to remove the bolts and nuts to reset them. I live in Wisconsin and cut my grass at 3in all summer but in the fall the last two cuts I go to 2in for winter, and it is always a pain to change the gauge wheels to do the shorter cut. Would be nice to have them adjustable like the wheels on a push mower. Has anyone ever done some type of conversion to do this? Maybe time for me to start looking into this and set up something.
The rider tire pressures need to be correct, and your deck hanger adjustments made to ensure a level cut.
This goes back to the gauge wheels are not intended for full time ground contact.
Set the gauge wheels for your 2" winter cut and rely on the deck adjustment lever to adjust up from there for the summer cutting.
If you want wheels to contact full time, they will require grease fitting on bearing spindles, otherwise you will constantly wear out the pilot holes and bolts.
I have some mowers in my area that are over 20 years old, and they have never had gauge wheel problems unless the operator snagged something by cutting too close.
I don't have an issue with the wheels, and they are not setting on the ground but at 3in deck height I have the gauge wheels set to 1/2in higher off the ground on a concrete surface with deck height at the 3in setting but when I change to the 2in setting I have to do the resetting of the gauge wheels. That is why I thought it would be a bit easier to have the wheels a little easier to reset the adjustment. I set up my deck every spring after removing the snow blower for summer. It would be alot better to just move a lever on the wheel brackets to change the height after changing to the 2in setting. If I were to set them for the 2in cut than they would not be working correctly at 3in as they would be higher than they should be for that setting. My Craftsman tractor says it is a floating deck but believe me on uneven lawn it has a tendency to not cut very straight without the gauge wheels and deck setup correctly.
My consciences is ; the gauge wheel was developed in an attempt to make a lawn look like a golf course . Unless we have a surface smooth as a baby's butt by spending thousands on surface prep , that will never happen .
I mow at the highest possible setting. I have the adjuster nuts on the lift screwed up as tight as i can get them. I have the gauge wheels set so the dont touch the ground on a concrete surface. I have the bumpiest ground there is and areas of exposed tree roots. I havent lost a gauge wheel in a couple of summers and recently a think i broke that one shoulder bolt. I have replacement wheels and some shoulder bolts, but what im now finding is the thread length is a bit to short for a nylock nut or for a nut with a lock washer.
I have replacement wheels and some shoulder bolts, but what im now finding is the thread length is a bit to short for a nylock nut or for a nut with a lock washer.
