Hello Chairman,
Sorry to hear you're not happy with the Raptor. I'm going to the last part of your post first. Raising the rear of your deck will not make a problem go away, if anything, it can make things worse depending upon how dense your fawna. If one were to raise any portion of the deck, the front by a quarter may be of some help although you also lose a part of the vacuum from the blades. Usually when leaving a part of the central portion of the cut, conditions of speed relative to dampness (or lack thereof again depending upon the type of fawna) along with lack of sufficient vacuum from blades can cause stragglers.
Bearings are a part of normal wear and tear and especially on 11 acres if you are hitting it pretty much non-stop. The factory bearings are pretty good, however there are even better quality bearings on the market and you won't find them at a mower shop or online. Go to your local auto parts store or if you have a bearing company nearby, give them one of your bearings and lay down the denero to get the heaviest side load, precision bearings you can afford. Once you have done that, mow on brother, hammer down. You could drill and thread the spindle housings for a grease zerk, use the cheaper quality bearings by removing the grease seal from one side on both of the bearings. Then grease the spindles every time you mow. Should solve your bearing problem.
The drive belt tension spring being shortened didn't hurt a thing and will definitely put more side load on the belt inside the pulleys as well as more pressure on the spindle bearings. (I think we talked about bearing problem above. lol) With the extra side loads, a greaseable spindle may be in your future.
To be honest, sounds as though that little old cheapo RSD is standing up to 11 acres pretty well. Normal wear and tear is to be expected. You can always make improvements on a RSD such as belt guard ventilation to keep the belt pulleys from being impacted by clogging, burning belts and throwing off or breaking belts. I'll include a couple of examples herein. Most likely the cause of your belt problems.
You may also want to increase your fuel capacity. I recommend you do not do this as this was for my own use. I did it this way and if you do so, I will not accept any responsibility in your choice to do so.
It adds approximately another gallon of fuel capacity. Make less trips back to the fueling station or as we say in Arkansas, back at the barn.
A seat belt really helps hold you back into the saddle on rough areas and I wouldn't ride without it anymore considering the three fractures in my spine. It isn't for roll over purposes, simply to hold your butt in the rear of the saddle.
There are other upgrades if you're interested. Let me know.
Good luck,
Max
