Mower deck attachment gripe

[Wayne0 444]

I'll tell 'ya, JD had a great idea with the drive over deck!

Every time I have to put the deck back on my Work Horse, I fight with it for half an hour, shoving it underneath and trying to get every thing lined up. It sucks even with the Tatch-o-matic.

Is there a trick to this that I don't know?

[squonk 41,041]

I get the deck hooked on to the lift arm then lift the deck. It makes getting the front bar into the Tatch o Matic a lot easier

[Red-Bovine 309]

We solved the problem by relegating our 520H to a snow removal machine. The 48" deck is stored and the 44" two stage blower stays on waiting for winter. We replaced it with a John Deere X730 with the drive over 54" mower deck.

[pacer 3,168]

9 minutes ago, squonk said:

I get the deck hooked on to the lift arm then lift the deck. It makes getting the front bar into the Tatch o Matic a lot easier

I do like squonk. really not all that hard ------- course this is after I have removed/installed couple hundred

[Wayne0 444]

2 hours ago, Red-Bovine said:

We solved the problem by relegating our 520H to a snow removal machine. The 48" deck is stored and the 44" two stage blower stays on waiting for winter. We replaced it with a John Deere X730 with the drive over 54" mower deck.

My 520H is like yours. The 44" blower stays on all year. My Work Horse is the hauler and mower. I take the deck off to mount the plow for the small snows and the wet stuff that clogs the blower.

THEN I have to put the deck back on.

My main issue is "sliding" the deck under to get the lift arm hooked up. It would work great with a Teflon driveway!

Maybe I'm just getting too old for this sh*t.

[RED-Z06 2,220]

I lift the hanging dingus first, slide the deck under, lower the dingus and slip it into the lift slot.  Then i flip up the tach-a-matic arm and eyeball it...making sure the tach-a-matic is open..and pull back on the lift..the deck raises, the rod engages on the lUl, i turn the tach handle and give the deck a shake..usually drops right in.

 

Full disclosure...mine are hydraulic lift or factory electric lift, im sure that helps some.

 

Want fun...60" deck on a deere 420, the deck is like 200lbs, and theres a drive shaft, 2 lift points and a front draft arm.

[kpinnc 11,940]

Anything 48 inches or less should be easy, if you go by the method already described here in this thread.

 

Though I admit the surface you work on makes a huge difference. Dirt, grass, gravel kinda sucks. Concrete or smooth surface is much better. 

 

60 inch decks are a bear no matter what surface. I'm a big boy, but the dang thing outweighs me by a stretch. I use a strap and pull that sucker into place from a standing position, and hope my kids don't hear the colorful metaphors...

Edited April 12, 2023 by kpinnc

[peter lena 8,589]

@Wayne0   first thing i do is slide it in from the PTO SIDE , drop it to lowest height deck height setting , does related linkage move easily ? once I  hook it up its easy . those 2  initial steps , make it simple , pete

[Wayne0 444]

4 hours ago, peter lena said:

@Wayne0   first thing i do is slide it in from the PTO SIDE , drop it to lowest height deck height setting , does related linkage move easily ? once I  hook it up its easy . those 2  initial steps , make it simple , pete

I do the same, but, Murphy's Law always messes me up. Something always seems to get hung up on the way under! Too far back or forward. As Emily Letella says "It's always something".

[8ntruck 6,993]

I've swapped my deck in and out on both my concrete driveway and the semi grassy spot in front of the tractor shed.  

 

The semi grassy spot is much easier on the knuckles as I slide the deck in and out than the concrete!

[peter lena 8,589]

@Wayne0  how soon do you hook it up to the frame atatcho matic?  once its hooked up on that its stable and in place . pete 

[Wayne0 444]

5 hours ago, peter lena said:

@Wayne0  how soon do you hook it up to the frame atatcho matic?  once its hooked up on that its stable and in place . pete 

Pete, Today I realized most of my problem. I keep trying to put the fork on the tatch-o-matic release bar instead of the one behind it! Dumass move on my part. When doing that, the bar is to far forward to engage the notch. One day I will learn!

I still hate shoving the deck under, but that has to be done.

Thank you guys for you're help. I feel like a sh*t head for bitchin' about something that was my fault!

[peter lena 8,589]

@Wayne0   most important thing about screwing up , is learning  from it so next time , it won't as traumatic , no problem , we have all bene there , weather we want to admit it or not . Pete     

[Horse Newbie 7,057]

We learn by doing… then we refine the process until we find the easiest way…

Edited April 13, 2023 by Horse Newbie

[8ntruck 6,993]

Like I tell the kids on the robotics team I mentor - you gain knowledge from your own mistakes and wisdom from others mistakes.

 

Most of here on the forum have plenty of knowledge to pass on to others as wisdom.

[peter lena 8,589]

@ @8ntruck when talking to the grandkids , on a problem , no sarcasm , insults , just matter of fact  correction to an issue . walk them thru it , emphasize the reason , method of detail , so they can get involved to an understanding  point . that was their connection point . great having  questionable exchange , with them , grandpa , pete