37” Deck 05-37SC01

[TractorEd 633]

Been working on this deck on and off for a while.  I’ve used this deck on a 310-8 for about 12 years.  Given to me from my Dad.

wish I had a picture of the front edge of the deck before I fixed it.  That would have shown the chunks missing from hitting tree roots and stuff.

 

Sand blasting the bottom AFTER I repaired the missing chunks and I welded in a 1/2” bar all along the front and in the chute opening for rigidity (using my new awesome welder).

 

Used metal etch and applied 4 coats of POR 15.

 

Made a mulch cover for the chute opening.

 

Got some Gator mulching blades (I may go with a different set of blades later on)

 

Put the deck on and it’s ready to go again.

 

I ordered a new 6-sided belt and awaiting its arrival.

 

Those Gator blades actually ride about 1/16” of an inch below the bottom of the deck.  I saw another set of blades without the downward bend in them that I’ll maybe switch to, but I’m going to see how this works.

 

The only issue I’ve ever had with this deck is the flex around the chute when it hits an immovable object 😂.  Hence the reinforcement upgrades!  As far as I know, it was all original when I got it and my Dad never had issues with this deck either.

[ebinmaine 67,484]

Excellent work!!!

[Handy Don 12,217]

1 hour ago, TractorEd said:

Got some Gator mulching blades (I may go with a different set of blades later on)

Please let us know, with pictures, how they do when mowing.

Given your obvious skill at metalworking, you might want to consider creating a curved mulching plug that rides closer to the blade--similar to the curve on the opposite end of the deck.

You did check, right, that the blade ends cannot contact each other?

[TractorEd 633]

47 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Please let us know, with pictures, how they do when mowing.

With the deck being so shallow and the blades sticking out of the bottom of the deck, I’m not expecting this to work as good as a made for mulching set up, but I will keep you posted.

 

49 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Given your obvious skill at metalworking

Pictures don’t relay the ridiculous amount of effort I exerted to make that. 😂. Thank you.  You are too kind.

 

47 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

You did check, right, that the blade ends cannot contact each other?

Yessir.  I’m actually concerned that it might leave a small uncut strip between the blade ends.

 

I converted 2 other non-WH tractors over to mulch and my wife and I said to each other after using them last fall, “why didn’t we do this years ago!” and “never going back!”.  So, I put in the effort on this one to see if I get the same results.

[Handy Don 12,217]

1 hour ago, TractorEd said:

With the deck being so shallow and the blades sticking out of the bottom of the deck, I’m not expecting this to work as good as a made for mulching set up, but I will keep you posted.

 

Pictures don’t relay the ridiculous amount of effort I exerted to make that. 😂. Thank you.  You are too kind.

 

Yessir.  I’m actually concerned that it might leave a small uncut strip between the blade ends.

 

I converted 2 other non-WH tractors over to mulch and my wife and I said to each other after using them last fall, “why didn’t we do this years ago!” and “never going back!”.  So, I put in the effort on this one to see if I get the same results.

Good luck! Yes, most of the time mulching is the way to go.

I am a longtime user of a Snapper rear engine rider (RER) that is an amazing muncher, especially on fairly level lawns and in the fall up until the major leaf “drop". 

That said, I find the wider, gage-wheel-suspended WH 36” geared-deck does a better job cutting--but it doesn’t mulch! I’ve been tempted to build up a second deck as a mulcher but the big holdup is finding a pair of 18” counter-rotating mulching blades (yours both rotate in the same direction).

Edited July 27 by Handy Don

[TractorEd 633]

13 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

That said, I find the wider, gage-wheel-suspended deck of the WH 36” geared-deck does a better job cutting--but it doesn’t mulch!

Is that a side or rear discharge?  I have a rear discharge 36” on another tractor that I used while this one was being worked on.  I really enjoyed using that rear discharge deck.  I forgot how nice that was to use!  It doesn’t mulch, no, but I’m ok with that.

[Steve Janninck 171]

This is great work! I am going to steal all the ideas here and make one, circular to put on my deck. I have gator blades on it already, but it would be better if the mulching went a little farther. I even sharpened the upper gator blade tines and that really helped too! Thanks for the idea, and look forward to your cutting report.

I am going to make it removable. I’ll make a cardboard template tomorrow and start cutting and bending the steel.

Steve

Edited July 27 by Steve Janninck
Correction

[Handy Don 12,217]

19 minutes ago, TractorEd said:

Is that a side or rear discharge?  

Mine is a rear discharge, with the curved sides--1968.

On could, on the earlier “suitcase style" geared decks, remove one or both of the side covers but since the blades were counter-rotating they didn’t really convert to “one side" discharge well. Even more, with the blade tips so exposed, they could be hazardous to operate. 

[TractorEd 633]

7 minutes ago, Handy Don said:

Mine is a rear discharge, with the curved sides--1968.

On could, on the earlier “suitcase style" geared decks, remove one or both of the side covers but since the blades were counter-rotating they didn’t really convert to “one side" discharge well. Even more, with the blade tips so exposed, they could be hazardous to operate. 

Very interesting!  I didn’t know those operated like that;  I’ve never seen one!

[TractorEd 633]

16 minutes ago, Steve Janninck said:

This is great work! I am going to steal all the ideas here and make one, circular to put on my deck. I have gator blades on it already, but it would be better if the mulching went a little farther. I even sharpened the upper gator blade tines and that really helped too! Thanks for the idea, and look forward to your cutting report.

I am going to make it removable. I’ll make a cardboard template tomorrow and start cutting and bending the steel.

Steve

Sounds awesome!  Please keep us posted and don’t forget to take pictures (and share them).  You can never take too many pics.  I thought I had taken a lot more of this process; I didn’t take any of the welding or bending that cover into shape.  I apologize.

Edited July 27 by TractorEd

[clueless 2,991]

The 37" had and has some issues, mainly small cracks where the cradle mounts to the deck, especially around the right front. They start off being very small crack, but left unattended they can get larger, which then starts to crack the others, right rear mount then the other two. From the photos yours looks good but check for hair line cracks. Also all Wheel Horse deck or shallow only about 3", blades like Gator blades don't do much more than the standard blades.

[TractorEd 633]

43 minutes ago, clueless said:

mainly small cracks where the cradle mounts to the deck, especially around the right front. They start off being very small crack, but left unattended they can get larger, which then starts to crack the others, right rear mount then the other two. From the photos yours looks good but check for hair line cracks

I can confirm there were cracks.  Several.

 

I welded those up best I could.  Ground the welds.  Should last for some time now. I took that bolt out of the last pic before I welded it.

 

Here’s another view of the 2 areas after welding, grinding & POR 15

 

Edited July 28 by TractorEd

[ebinmaine 67,484]

10 hours ago, clueless said:

Also all Wheel Horse deck or shallow only about 3", blades like Gator blades don't do much more than the standard blades.

 

Keeping in mind we don't mow with a Wheelhorse...

What's the science behind that?

Is it because there isn't enough depth/height of the deck to allow grass recirculation? 

 

 

[clueless 2,991]

23 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

Keeping in mind we don't mow with a Wheelhorse...

What's the science behind that?

Is it because there isn't enough depth/height of the deck to allow grass recirculation? 

 

 

Yep, that's pretty much the reason. I guy down the road from me was the mechanic for the local Wheel Horse dealer from 1967 till they closed in 2001, he is the reason I bought my first WH. I learned a lot about these little tractors from him and the owner of the place who was also the district manager for WH. Back then they were required to take classes and training every now and then. They both told me that these tractors were designed by their engineers including the decks, the belts and the blades, thus the reason why their belts and blades last longer especially their belts. When gator blades first came out I ask about them, he told me these decks only have a little over a 3" depth and that's not really enough depth to make those blades to work that well to do what they are designed to do. Sadly both of the guys have passed, I miss both and the conversation we had even after both retired.  

Edited July 29 by clueless

[Handy Don 12,217]

34 minutes ago, clueless said:

not really enough depth to make those blades to work that well to do what they are designed to do

I had noted this myself when comparing my Snapper RER and WH mowers.

The Snapper has a single, chassis-suspended 33” blade, the shell is over 4” deep, and the shell’s bottom edge curves inward by ~⅜” to actually be underneath the blade tip.

In “Hi-Vac” mode, this relatively tight edge with the blade all the way around plus the shape of the blade, lifts the cuttings and discharges them up the chute into the bag at high velocity.

In “mulching” mode, a cover blocks the discharge and there is a different blade with curved up tips (like an airplane wing) and a second cutting edge above and behind the main edge. The air filled with clippings circulates under there. The “mincemeat” discharge is downward around the shaft in the middle and gets embedded into the now-cut grass below.

All this was specifically engineered to get these results.

WH mowers predated a lot of this sort of engineering, which is also much harder to pull off with multi-blade decks and relatively limited vertical clearance under the tractor. The WH recycler deck with its close-to-the-blade full surrounds was WH’s good-but-not-great (IMHO) answer. It made a unified 3-blade housing into, essentially, three separate mulching decks. With 20-20 hindsight, I suspect the recycler would benefit by removing the “kickers” that disrupt the internal airflow and installing mulching-type blades.

[Brockport Bill 1,661]

interesting project with the 37" S.d. model -- i have had that model deck with the bagger since i bought new in 1989 with my 312-8 - it was still in good shape after 30 plus yrs but i decided to do a restore to last another couple decades -- the best decision was to have professionally sand blasted to remove all corrosion down to bare metal. Didn't do the Por treatment but might on some decks in the future - - but the repaint came out as planned

[TractorEd 633]

On 7/29/2024 at 1:55 PM, Brockport Bill said:

new in 1989 with my 312-8 - it was still in good shape after 30 plus yrs

That deck looks to be in stellar condition @Brockport Bill !

 

What are the things that look like they are bolted on to that one blade?  Bagger related?  OEM?

[TractorEd 633]

Finally got to try out the “mulching” 37” SD deck.  Worked pretty good!

 

As you can see, I have a yard, not a lawn.  Lots of clover and weeds with a little grass.

 

 

 

It worked better than I thought it would.  I’d still like to try some other mulching blades that wouldn’t hang so low, but I’m otherwise happy with the result.

 

I did sharpen the last two lift tangs after seeing @Steve Janninck do it to his blades. 👍🏻

 

 

[Handy Don 12,217]

1 hour ago, TractorEd said:

That deck looks to be in stellar condition @Brockport Bill !

 

What are the things that look like they are bolted on to that one blade?  Bagger related?  OEM?

Yes, bagger related and OEM. The bagger on the 37” does not require an external blower. The “wings” added to the discharge-side blade provide the “whoosh”!

[Brockport Bill 1,661]

4 hours ago, TractorEd said:

That deck looks to be in stellar condition @Brockport Bill !

 

What are the things that look like they are bolted on to that one blade?  Bagger related?  OEM?

the lift blade has that lift piece to create the air circulation and air flow to elevate the grass as well as create the air thrust to propel the grass up the chute to the bagger

[TractorEd 633]

Those gator blades created a lot of lift.  It was suckin’ up all the debris along the way.  That deck didn’t ever do that before.

 

And did I mention how solid and quiet it was?  Felt like a brand new deck.