Looking for Low Mowing Deck Fix

[oliver2-44 9,739]

 I refurbished my 1985  Side Discharge Deck model j05-42MS04. And my son started mowing with it this summer on the 312-8. I've read many threads about these WH decks mowing low but were Texas newbies when it comes to mowing with them

 

So mowing low is a known issue but has anyone come up with a solution?      

 

Since these decks are free floating has anyone tried installing larger rear deck wheels??  I'm thinking larger front roller would not help since if. I understand correctly these should not always be touching. 

Im looking for ideas ?  

 

I need a picture of the finished deck but you can see from these pics I completely disassembled the deck, replaced all bearing and sliders etc. Took it to bare metal. Did some straightening And repainted it. 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,297]

What is the diameter of your rear deck wheels?

[oliver2-44 9,739]

I'll try to get measurements tomorrow evening. The tractor with deck is at my sons house

[Duramax7man7 506]

Should just be able to tighten up the height trunion on the back of the deck, set the deck wheels to the highest position and then leave the deck all of the way up and you'll get a decent height cut.

[mikeeyre74 289]

Mastiffman.. The trunion on the back is used to adjust the front to rear deck tilt, no? If you mess with that, you're just goofing with the angle. That won't help.

 

As far as the low mowing goes.. well.. they mow in 1/2" increments, from 3.5" down to 1.5" grass height. thats what mine does, by directly measuring the blade height.  I guess I could see the need for a 4" seeing in hotter climates, to prevent burning at lower cuts, but anything over that seems a bit much. I currently mow at the 3.5" (tallest seeing) and it works ok for me, but it seems like the deck wheels never really come off the ground like that. It seems like they're always "down" but when you let down the lift handle, the front "just settles down" more and gets into the right position. If I don't reach down and lift the height oft (rear rollers) up by setting them to their lowest height after pulling the deck up, they'll never leave the ground.  

[Duramax7man7 506]

Okay, I was just assuming that if they want the highest cut, they would adjust the front up as high as possible and the rear height wheels and keep the deck lift all of the way up. From my experience it seems  the more the trunion is tighened back there, the less the lift bracket on the deck moves when lifted by the tractors lift arm. Ultimately lifting the front of the deck (and the entire deck) as high as possible. 

[Racinbob 11,056]

For the sake of hearing what others have to say about it here's what I've found. The rear trunnion is supposed to level the deck. Ideally when the blades are parallel with the frame the front should be 1/8"-1/4" lower than the back. I've never been able to get there. If I set the height lever in the middle hole and adjust the trunnion to anything less than about 1/2" I can no longer get the height lever to move to the two back positions. Mowing this yard for the first summer I've found that I like to mow with the height lever in the next to last hole (to the rear) so I set it there and adjust the trunnion until I'm happy. Doing that I can no longer get the height lever in the rear hole but I live with that. For the actual lifting of the deck I adjust the trunnion connected to the lift bar and the transport stops. If you have hydralic lift be careful adjusting that trunnion. i've heard that you can break the lower steering support by raising the lift bar too high.

[skrusins 128]

I put 7in. deck wheels on and got another half inch in height.

[oliver2-44 9,739]

I stopped by my sons house and tried a little more deck adjusting.  Adjusting the trunnion acted like what @Racinbob said. But with the deck in the highest hole we have 2-1/2" blade clearance. The trunnion rod is adjusted so the nut is about 3/4" from the lower eng so you might say the rod is in close to its longest length The rear wheels are 6" which is correct per the parts list. I also checked tha the mule drive belt wasn't to tight   

I,m missing 1" of height 

Here's a pic of deck sitting down

 

Here a pic of deck in down position. It is almost level front is down 1/8" on 6" level. 

 

[lynnmor 7,305]

Measure from the floor up to the end of the blade when it is front.  Rotate the blade so that you can measure the same end at the rear.  This will eliminate any error in the blade or deck.  Adjust so that you have 1/8" lower in front, less than 1/8" will give you more cutting height but will require a bit more power.