Deck unlevel left to right

[conehead 14]

Hello all. I recently acquired a 1988 312-8. Prior to this season I removed the deck, cleaned it, greased the pullies, sharpened the blades and replaced both the mower deck and drive belts. I discovered during my first mow that the right side of the deck is slightly lower then the left. Height is good on the left side but I am scalping the lawn on the right side. Any guidance to solve this problem would be most appreciated.

[8ntruck 6,992]

  to the forum.  Bunch of good folks here that have already broken and fixed about anything on a Wheel Horse.  They are eager to provide guidance, too.

 

I believe that the cutting height on your deck is set by the gage wheels on the rear of the deck.  Check to see if anything is bent or broken in the linkage and rod that connects the wheels. 

 

Is the blade on the low side on its spindle upside down? 

 

Is there vertical play in the low hand spindle?

 

Is the mower correctly positioned in the attach-matic hitch? 

 

Is any of the attachment linkage on the low side bent?

 

Oh yah, we are like little kids around here - we like pictures.  Makes posts easier to read

 

Good luck and have fun.

Edited May 9, 2021 by 8ntruck

[SylvanLakeWH 25,502]

 

Looks like @8ntruck has you covered…

[stevasaurus 22,712]

I'm thinking not, but check the air in the tires.  More air in the right should raise that side.  

[conehead 14]

Thanks for the warm welcome and suggestions! I will start picking away at the list tomorrow. A quick visual inspection today revealed non-of the above but I'll take more time tomorrow and see what I can find. Again thanks all!

[Lee1977 6,648]

There is a fork on the deck attachment, It has to go over the bar above. The deck won't latch up on both sides if the fork is not on that bar. Causes the deck to hang down on one side.

[conehead 14]

Good evening gang,

It appears that the problem with my deck has been solved. Turns out that the tires air pressure was way low on all four. After inflating to the correct pressure the mower is cutting nice and level. I did remove the deck to inspect the items outlined by 8ntruck, no issues found. After remounted the deck confirming that the front fork was engaged correctly I checked the tire pressure and discovered that it was very low. Added air to all the tires and took it for a test run, pretty close to perfect. Thanks for advice and suggestions, really appreciate the support.

[8ntruck 6,992]

Glad it was something simple.  So simple, I neglected to have it on my list of things to check.  At least you learned more about your machine.

[conehead 14]

Hello gang, I am revisiting this discussion with hopes of additional thoughts. Although the tire pressure did help, it did not resolve the unlevel cutting issue entirely. I have once again been working on the 312-8 this winter. I have four new tires (correctly inflated), new bearings in the front wheels, and just completed an entire electrical rewire job. The deck is next on my list. I will be removing it soon to sharpen the blades and get it cleaned out underneath. Last year the right side mowed noticeably lower than the left. I discovered that if I pulled back on the deck lever slightly this would lift the right side (front) up to be level with the left. So, what I did was to tie a rope from the top of the lift handle and loop it down to the rear hitch and tie it off there. This seemed to work fine other than I had to navigate around the rope mounting and dismounting the tractor. Clearly, this "rig-job" is just that. I would like to get this bewildering issue corrected for this year (and the future).  I am not sure what 8ntruck means by "is there vertical play in the low hand spindle?"  Clarification on that would be appreciated.

Addressing the other points made my 8ntruck and others:

All of the blades were installed right-side up

As far as I know I did re-install  the mower correctly on the attach-matic unit with the fork engaged with the bar on both sides

And nothing on the deck or undercarriage appears to be bent. 

Thanks in advance for all of your thoughts.

[Handy Don 12,174]

FWIW, my checklist would be:

 

- Be darn sure the tractor is level at the mid-mount attach-a-matic (don't "eyeball it", measure it to a level floor with someone in the seat and the mower deck off the tractor). Measure from the tops of the locking arms that are carrying the weight of the deck when they are in the closed position. I use a long straight rod sitting through both sides of the locked attach-a-matic. Being off by even ½" can make a lot of difference.

 

- Find the bent/worn parts in the deck lift mechanism (Something is. Your "rope trick" was giving you a very strong hint.)

With the deck mounted, have a helper move the lift lever very slowly up and down while you watch the mechanism. You are looking to see which parts are moving and lifting on the right side before it moves/lifts on the left. That will lead you to what is causing the "un-lifted" deck to sit lower on one side.

The mowing height is largely handled by the gage wheels. If they are of unequal diameter, or the bushing/bearing on one is shot, or if a retaining bracket is bent, it'll work badly. If the cross-deck bar that holds them is bent (from someone heavy stepping on the deck?), it won't put the wheels down evenly. If the deck shell itself is warped, same problem.

The lift frame at the front (plus the adjusting rod) handle rest of the mowing height. Is the frame "racked" and out of alignment? Are any of the pivot points wallowed out? Are any of the cross-bars bent? Again, someone stepping on the deck can cause a lot of problems.

 

Edited February 27, 2022 by Handy Don

[pfrederi 17,685]

Just to add to Handy Don... Unequal wear at any mounting point can throw you out of level

[Handy Don 12,174]

Also forgot to mention that if the deck has been run into an obstacle, well, it might have bent something.

[conehead 14]

9 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

 

 

9 minutes ago, pfrederi said:

Thanks Don and Pfrederi. I will begin my investigation, perhaps next weekend. Don, I see you're in Cortland NY, just up the road from me. If need be, could we get together?

 

[Handy Don 12,174]

Just now, conehead said:

 

 

Cortlandt, not Cortland 

I'm down in the burbs north of NYC a couple plus hours away!

[conehead 14]

Ohhh... Too funny, thanks for clarifying! Sorry for my ignorance!

[953 nut 55,119]

18 hours ago, conehead said:

I discovered that if I pulled back on the deck lever slightly this would lift the right side (front) up to be level with the left.

Have you adjusted the deck height limit knob? Turning it a bit in the clockwise direction would be the same as pulling back on the lift lever.

[conehead 14]

Good morning all. I've started to troubleshoot the deck issue. Thanks to 953 for the suggestion of the deck height limit knob, unfortunately, my model is not equipped with this feature. So, after some close inspection of the deck and underside supporting structure, it appears that the bar that has the "fork" welded to it and goes into the attach-a-matic mount is slightly bent down on the right side. All of the other steel components appear to be in sound condition. All of the wheels on the deck are whipped (tons of play and wear). I am planning on finding some new wheels for the deck, any suggestions for sources. And, I will take any thoughts on how to address the bent bar. Should I try to straighten in a vice or search for a replacement.... do both...??

[Handy Don 12,174]

Hi. Aha! you are on the trail of it now. Can you snap and post a picture of the bent component? That'll help us understand options. 

[conehead 14]

I was afraid someone was going to suggest some photos..... will give it a try.... 

[conehead 14]

Hello Don, 3 photos are attached. #1 is not great, let me see if I can find another. But, #2 and #3 are very interesting. Note the difference in height of the front to back bars on the vertical piers. I took these two photos while holding the attach-a-matic bar up to simulate the connection to the tractor. I have to believe these two photos provide some clues.

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

15 minutes ago, conehead said:

some clues.

 

Have you got this doo-hickey-majig on your deck?  I know that this is the 'front to back' leveler but I'm wondering if it's maybe missing ?  Or really out of adjustment ? 

 

 

When I pull up on the bar on my deck as you did, they don't come up anywhere near as far as your pictures show, and they're level.

That rod is what limits how far the mechanism raises and I would have to actually remove that bar in order to get my mechanism to come up as far as yours does.

 

 

[conehead 14]

Hello Jeff, yes, I do have that on my deck also. I have not touched it since buying the tractor, and am clueless as to what it does. I am currently searching for an owner's manual for my deck model number with limited success.

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

1 hour ago, conehead said:

clueless as to what it does

 

When the deck is on the ground with the gauge wheels set in the center slot (middle), that rod would be adjusted so that the blades are just about 1/8" lower in the front than in the back.

(check the manual!  Not sure who is correct... probably Paul)

 

1 hour ago, conehead said:

searching for an owner's manual

 

I'm sure you can find one in the manuals section.  It doesn't have to be the EXACT same model as they were all so similar as to be nearly indistinguishable from each other.

 

https://www.wheelhorseforum.com/files/category/18-mower-decks-reel/

 

See how this one fits:

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[Handy Don 12,174]

1 hour ago, conehead said:

Hello Jeff, yes, I do have that on my deck also. I have not touched it since buying the tractor, and am clueless as to what it does. I am currently searching for an owner's manual for my deck model number with limited success.

Thanks for the pictures. Big help.

So.....

 

The "doo-hickey-majig" help (we LOVE technical terms here) has only one purpose--it controls the fore-aft level of the deck when it is down for mowing. It does this by raising or lowering the front of the deck. Your goal is to have the blades be ¼" higher at the leading (front) edge of their rotation than at the rear. This is covered in the manual which is very likely one among those in the site's files. Here is a link that does a search for "rotary deck" in the file area (you should practice searching yourself and testing out the search options like "use all my search terms").

 

Yes, that bent cross arm is suspicious. In the pictures, where is the deck--down, partly up, fully up?

 

The parts of the deck are regular steel and if you have the wherewithal to extract and straighten them, by all means go ahead.

Edited March 5, 2022 by Handy Don

[Handy Don 12,174]

Jeff beat me to the "submit". His ⅛" one way and my ¼" the other will need some investigating!