Custom Building Mower Decks

[Hodge71 664]

Well I have been tossing this idea around for awhile but put it on the back burner. Actually had it rekindled yesterday when a member messaged me about purchasing a 42" RD deck. We had the conversation that the tractors we love so much will be around for many years but the mower decks are getting to be like hens teeth. Those that have them want lots of money for scrap and sometimes we are forced to buy them because we need them and then spend tons to repair the rust holes and busted spindles etc.

 

I'm seriously considering taking a 48" SD deck shell to start with, tearing it down and taking all the appropriate measurements  and building my own version of it using 3/16" and 1/8" sheet steel. Cutting it with a plasma cutter and MIG welding it like the 60" decks that Dixie Chopper made for the 520's. I haven't decided if I will use the anti scalp rollers like the 60" or ones like the smaller 42" and 48". I think the smaller ones will be much easier to find parts for and I can make the brackets and weld them on the deck. Possibly moving to 42" SD and 42" RD decks once I get the 48 down and functional. I think they could be a huge success as the really would have nothing to do with Toro (so theres chance of copy-rite issues). They would be hand made and merely fit Wheel Horse tractors and allow us to keep using them for decades to come. Is there any input from the folks on here? Not really going to be a full time gig or anything but I think it would fill a void that will be upon us soon. Cost would probably be around $500 maybe a bit more but that would be with brand new spindles, bearings, and blades. I tried to buy a 48" deck shel about 7 years ago and it was $500 for just the shell. They haven't made deck shells in years so they will only go up in price I feel, if you can even find them.

 

 

Throw some thoughts at me, good or bad, no worries. I wont be insulted unless you do it on purpose. I'm just gauging the public opinion. I'm going to do one for myself anyhow after the 416 is done and sold.

[AMC RULES 37,127]

Awesome idea...       

can't wait to see the prototype. 

[KC9KAS 4,741]

This sounds like a very good idea.

I have several WH GT's, but very few mowing decks. Like you said, these are the parts that do wear out and are NLA!

[welderman85 53]

It sounds like a great idea. What spindles would you use. Wheel horse or another brand

Edited September 25, 2013 by welderman85

[daveoman1966 3,745]

As a bean counter for a tool & die shop from 1983 to 2000, I had a custom made STAINLESS STEEL liner made for my 48" SD deck in the late 80's and am still using it today.  No rust on it whatsoever, and never will be...not in my lifetime, at least.  I made a cardboard pattern with cut-outs, then trimmed the SS to fit inside the shell myself.  The shop used their TIG welder to run full circle weld bead, just as a factory would.  I've forgotten the gauge of the SS, but it is about as thick as a dime...

Just my comment here.... 

[DoctorHfuhruhurr 137]

Will you make an aluminum version too? 

[meadowfield 2,570]

go for it!!!

 

my brother (Raider10) got a 1970 lawn ranger with no deck here in the UK and copied my sons. We managed to get the spindles and blades and pretty well fab the rest. To the layman it's original, for us it's a close copy and perfectly functional.

 

Only pic I can find is here - wheels were turned out of a piece of nylon

 

 

mark

[MalMac 1,331]

Great idea hodge71, but I thought the 60 was made by Wood's. I often thought of making a smaller version of the 60 using a 60's spindles. With it being made by Wood's parts would be available. Dixie made some of the ZTR stuff for Wheel Horse. I know Wood's made that same deck for John Deere and several others. Great idea, your on to something there.

[Hodge71 664]

Great idea hodge71, but I thought the 60 was made by Wood's. I often thought of making a smaller version of the 60 using a 60's spindles. With it being made by Wood's parts would be available. Dixie made some of the ZTR stuff for Wheel Horse. I know Wood's made that same deck for John Deere and several others. Great idea, your on to something there.

 

As far as I have been told by the WH dealers I know, the 60" deck on the 520 was a Dixie Chopper 60"deck from the Sidewinder 6024 Chain Drive. It was part of the collaboration between Wheel Horse and Dixie for the 700 series zero turns mowers that Dixie Built for South Bend. I have Dixie Manuals from 1987 and the 60 inch deck in it is the exact same deck I have for my D. Which came off a 520.....

 

 

 

Will you make an aluminum version too? 

 

I was asked this in my private conversation with the member on here. I doubt there will be an aluminum version. The stresses from loading the center pulley in 2 directions plus the inherent vibrations from all those blades belts and pulleys would be nothing but trouble. The steel decks have always had a spider cracking issue around the spindles, thats why WH made the reinforcing ring for them. To stop them with aluminum you'd need to get into alloying aluminum and once you start using aluminum alloys it gets real expensive. Plus the fact of new MIG and TIG welder to work with aluminum. Way too cost prohibitive.....    

Edited September 25, 2013 by hodge71

[wrightorchid 261]

I think this would be a great idea.  My concern is for the spindles, being that they get expensive, and would need to be available, for a long time, and serviceable with standard bearings, not a special custom size. Smooth on the outside so they don't build up gunk, and corrode the aluminum.   I'm sure this has been thought of.  I do like the idea of a stainless liner.  I have a 312-8, so a smaller deck would be more appropriate.  I have not used a RD, but there are certainly times when the tall bahia grass is a challenge, and I have to go very slow.  I wish I could cut in high gear, and get a good cut.  There seems to be a tendency for a lot of grass and junk to collect around the top of the deck belts and spindle pulleys, and currently my tensioner is frozen.  A better cover would be nice, not only for safety purposes.  Keep us posted.

Maybe somebody has as CNC cutter that you could use. cutting by hand would not be much fun.

[JC 1965 1,530]

Great idea !!   Reasonable price also.   

[Wheel-N-It 2,968]

Thats a great idea, especially considering the price and availability of lightly used decks. I bought a very lightly used 48" SD Deck at the big show this year just to keep for a spare. I now have three 48's, one 42" SD, one 42" RD and these five should outlast me. However I can see where there would be a market for your idea. I'd say go for it and see what happens.

Edited September 25, 2013 by Wheel-N-It

[js5020 111]

Spindles, spindles, spindels,,,, Anyone ever have a Gravely walkbehind and the 40" 2 blade commercial deck? Ever look at the steel manufactured spindles housings, they amount to a piece of pipe and a flat plate welded together and the pipe bored to accept bearings, nothing complicated, no castings, easy to make for anyone with the skills and tooling to do so. 

[swarfeater 49]

i am doing a 50" deck for my 312-8 right now. 1/8 plate and 1/8 by 1 for diagonal deck stiffining. cast 3 new spindle housings in alum (bigger in dia from stock) and will get to machining them over winter.  from my work i think without some cnc's doing a lot of the fab work (cutting,bending,welding) $500 is a pipe dream. there will be more than that in labor alone, unless $2.25 is worthwhile labor profit. i have done a LOT,LOT,LOT(45 yrs) of fab work over the years, all the way up to reactors for nuke subs and i have a pretty complete machine shop in the garage that the wife loves the neverending supply of metal chips in the house, and it still surprises me when my time estimates are 100,200 or 300 percent off. best of luck in this venture if you choose to do it, but try doing the first one and i believe the optimism will drop a bit.

[SousaKerry 501]

If you can get batches of them made definitely look into getting your sheetmetal from a shop that does custom laser cutting.  I have worked at several custom fabricators, a well engineered deck cut on a laser will almost fall together. 

 

At one shop we did make deck components for Kubota zero turns, mostly baffles and the outer bands that wrap around the deck.  They specked out the cheapest softest steel they could it was 1/8" material but a 4" wide strip you could literally bend by hand.  The one feature that I did like is that the baffles were bolted in so they can be replaced when they wear out.  But they way they were designed they were very expensive to manufacture and every one of them had to be hand tuned(big hammer and a jig) after weld to get things back in line.   Of coarse better alloy steel would have helped this problem but that wasn't up to us.  I would never buy one of these decks after I saw how cheap the material was but it was a good experience in how a low production deck was made.

 

Anyways I think you will find that if you have the parts quoted out in lots of 10 or more your production costs will go way down, even though you may have to sit on some inventory for awhile to use it all up.

 

I have made a few replacement spindles from solid aluminum bar, at work after hours and they worked very well but if I had to charge for  them they would be incredibly expensive, again contracting lots out to a CNC machine shop would considerably reduce this cost but you loose a lot of material on the flanges and that gets expensive real fast in aluminum.  The other option would be to have a separate flange welded to the barrel to reduce material cost but that requires a skilled welder and good equipment.

 

I am fortunate to work in a prototype engineering shop that lets me use equipment after hours and my labor is free, but as a business venture I think this would be tough to manufacture them at a reasonable cost.   There is a reason why a new deck shell from Toro is $500-$700, although they do still have all the dies paid for many times over it's the labor and setup costs that kill you.

[Don1977 604]

I think it would be a great idea if you need a deck for your own tractor.

[Marv 919]

As far as I have been told by the WH dealers I know, the 60" deck on the 520 was a Dixie Chopper 60"deck from the Sidewinder 6024 Chain Drive. It was part of the collaboration between Wheel Horse and Dixie for the 700 series zero turns mowers that Dixie Built for South Bend. I have Dixie Manuals from 1987 and the 60 inch deck in it is the exact same deck I have for my D. Which came off a 520.....

 

Is this 60" deck mounted under your D?

Marvin

[DoctorHfuhruhurr 137]

If you made it a combo rear/side discharge you could add a lawn roller to the rear discharge flap similar to Simplicity decks.  I've always heard that Simplicity mowers have the best cut so I would look at their decks for ideas.  

[Hodge71 664]

As far as I have been told by the WH dealers I know, the 60" deck on the 520 was a Dixie Chopper 60"deck from the Sidewinder 6024 Chain Drive. It was part of the collaboration between Wheel Horse and Dixie for the 700 series zero turns mowers that Dixie Built for South Bend. I have Dixie Manuals from 1987 and the 60 inch deck in it is the exact same deck I have for my D. Which came off a 520.....

 

Is this 60" deck mounted under your D?

Marvin

 

Why yes Marv....Yes it is...I don't like to leave well enough alone. I take what wheel Horse did and see if I can make things better. I did it last year when I restored my 18 Auto. I bought a 60 inch deck from a member on here, bought a carriage for a D series mower and re-engineered things so to speak. I had to get a custom belt length for the PTO and I have to make a custom center lift bar but I set the gauge wheels on the deck for 3 1/2 inches and mowed all last year with it and t it all worked out in the end. I have had some engine issues with the Kohler on the 18 so i have been using the D exclusively for plowing  and been mowing with my C-160 8 speed. But once I get the engine sorted out on the 18 the deck will be back under the 18 Auto

[Marv 919]

Great looking tractor. Nice job. The front wheel looks real close to the mower. Is steering restricted?

Always wondered why Wheel Horse did not have a 60" mower for the D. Guess they figured the D250 had one so the 180 and 200 didn't need one.

Marvin

[Ken B 3,164]

Real nice 18. At some point it would be real cool if you could make a video of it in action cutting thru some deep grass.

[546cowboy 301]

I have thought about doing that myself. Actually I did build a deck from scratch for a trail mower I built.

 

I got three spindles from a friend and decided to build a 60" trail mower. I had built a 42" trail mower previously but I didn't build the deck. I used a 42" deck I had from a Cub. You have to realize that I was going to use whatever I had on hand or could get cheaply. For the deck itself my neighbor had an old truck cap for a small pick-up that had doors on each side that opened. I saw possibilities and brought it home. I cut that up so that it was the right width and depth with a saws-all, then I took some 1" angle I had and reinforced the outside edges all the way around, then I built a frame for the sides and back out of 3/4" square tubing for three sides. Then I added some 3/16" plate where I had decided to put the spindles. I cut those out with a hole saw. This cap had foam sprayed on the bottom side which I was skeptical of leaving on there but actually was a good thing. The grass does not build up on the bottom of the deck at all. This could also be caused by the fact that the deck is opened on three sides though. I used the same set-up for the rear height adjustment that I had on a bush hog at the time and the front has chains for height adjustment.

 

Anyway I built a trail mower frame to hang the deck on and have been using it for about 6 or 7 years now. Here are a few pictures. You will notice a piece of plate at the  left rear that is where I can attach a second trail mower. With a tractor with a 48" deck, this mower and another 44" trail mower I can mow a little over 12 feet at a time. Talk about cutting your mowing time.

Edited October 6, 2013 by 546cowboy

[woodbird007 16]

great- even just building the deck liners and letting folks add there own spindles etc.

[bowtiebutler956 650]

I like this idea, I'll be watching this thread.

 

Matt

[Aldon 4,826]

So I guess this idea had been pondered many times. 

 

Why was aluminum used by wheel horse for spindles to begin with? 

 

I rebuilt an old Massey MF610 I believe it was. Great deck. Similar to JS5020's observation in post 13 of the thread.

 

I assume no one is making replacement 48 or 60 inch decks other than the occasional run that Toro does???