Z242F deck adjustment

[AlterSchinken]

I have been struggling with the evenness of the cut with this mower all season. I have adjusted the deck all over the place and now I can't seem to get it set right. Does anyone know what the initial setup blade height is supposed to be? I can't find anything that tells me where the blade is supposed to be in the highest cutting position ( I assume this is position 5, with 6 being transport).

Thanks!

 

[bertsmobile1]

It is in the owners manual
How are you adjusting the deck ?
many people just use the bottom of the deck where as you should use the blades because they are what is doing the cutting.
A bent blade or cracked spindle housing will cause an uneven cut.
If your uneven cut is sawtooth ( one side higher ) then the deck is tilted
if it s a square step then one blade is lower or bent
If you have mulching blades on then good chance they are upside down
So on a flay concrete surface turn the blades so both are directly opposite each other
Where they almost touch the blades must be at exactly the same height.
Rotate one 1/2 revolution & check again the do the same with the other blade
Then check each blade height at the middle and when rotated 180 deg at the side
If the same end of the blade is different heights middle & edge then the spindle is not vertical so it is broken or deck is bent
Also give the blades a good rock without the belt on
A tiny amount of up down movement ( 1/32" ) is acceptable, any more and the bearings or hosing is gone
Now try a see-saw rock of the blades. any rock at all means bearing are gone


The deck will naturally try & lift on the side that the drive belt pulls due to torque effects of the belt .
So check the deck stabilizers which on domestic mowers are pathetic
Sit on the mower and engage the blades , if one side lifts more than the other then the deck mounts need attention or replacement
Measure it then check the measurement

 

[AlterSchinken]

It is in the owners manual
How are you adjusting the deck ?
many people just use the bottom of the deck where as you should use the blades because they are what is doing the cutting.
A bent blade or cracked spindle housing will cause an uneven cut.
If your uneven cut is sawtooth ( one side higher ) then the deck is tilted
if it s a square step then one blade is lower or bent
If you have mulching blades on then good chance they are upside down
So on a flay concrete surface turn the blades so both are directly opposite each other
Where they almost touch the blades must be at exactly the same height.
Rotate one 1/2 revolution & check again the do the same with the other blade
Then check each blade height at the middle and when rotated 180 deg at the side
If the same end of the blade is different heights middle & edge then the spindle is not vertical so it is broken or deck is bent
Also give the blades a good rock without the belt on
A tiny amount of up down movement ( 1/32" ) is acceptable, any more and the bearings or hosing is gone
Now try a see-saw rock of the blades. any rock at all means bearing are gone


The deck will naturally try & lift on the side that the drive belt pulls due to torque effects of the belt .
So check the deck stabilizers which on domestic mowers are pathetic
Sit on the mower and engage the blades , if one side lifts more than the other then the deck mounts need attention or replacement
Measure it then check the measurement

Thanks for the info. I have finally got it adjusted where it is cutting pretty evenly. What I don't know is what the blade height should be at a given setting. I have it where the height is 3" from the floor on position 5, but I would like to know what the original spec was.

 

[MParr]

Thanks for the info. I have finally got it adjusted where it is cutting pretty evenly. What I don't know is what the blade height should be at a given setting. I have it where the height is 3" from the floor on position 5, but I would like to know what the original spec was.

You will be hard pressed to get the actual cutting height to match your deck selector setting. I doubt that you have enough adjustment to raise the deck 2”. You may be able to get it a little higher and maintain the level and pitch. Raising it to much can put the deck lift in a bind.
I had to set my Gravely deck 1/4” lower than the selector pin.

 

[bertsmobile1]

They actually mean nothing on domestic mowers
You find the number that works for you
Some mowers just used letters so people would not think 3 actually meant 3" when in reality it would be some where from 2" to 3"
find the product brochure for your mower
It should say somewhere "cut height from 1" to 6" or something similar
so 1 would be 1" and the highest number would be 6 " and if you had 10 settings then they would roughly be at 1/2 increments
However all decks either move in an arc or the height adjuster moves in an arc so unless the steps were different sizes none of then would be actual 1/2" steps
Go back & look at your old geometry books.
Some of the dial up deck height adjusters were different lengths so the deck did rise at 1/2 " increments , I know the Honda I serviced did this and by virtue of the fact it was made by JD then probably the equivalent JD moved in even steps
Some of the older Bolens also moved in even steps and the deck moved in a parallelogram fashion but like all quality products people will only pay for junk so Bolens went bust & got bought out so the new models decks lifted in an arc and of course eventually they became a trash brand