Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[greybeard]

Odd weather here. 2nd day in a row of solid grey cloud cover, low, with the air humid and dusty and strong constant south wind. Sprinkled once, but no real rain or storm. All day yesterday, all night and same today...forecast has called for T-storms, some severe with 8-100% chance of rain same period as above and thru the night but so far that hasn't been the case. Pastures could use some rain tho. Been a pretty dry spring except for a few days when we got 2". I can easily drive anywhere on my place in my 2wd pickup.

 

[greybeard]

Lawn tractors...
Last real job I had was at a Kubota/MTD/CubRegret dealership working on tractors and lawn equipment--all brands and all sizes. We didn't turn any work away.
For lawn equipment, We had a mechanical lift, ramps, and a hyd lift, but it was easier, quicker, and safer just to spend the 5 minutes jerking the deck out from under the lawn tractor than getting it up on the lift and still having to work upside down on the blades..plus, a lift don't help if you have belt or pulley bearing problems to address on top of the deck. My own stuff, I still just pull the pins, disconnect the arms and cable and slide the deck out and do whatever I need to.

Your mower lesson for today:
While we're talking about mowers. You notice decks and blades have odd shapes to them, and they may not seem to make much sense, but they are designed for both blade clearance and grass lift..that is, the area under the deck is designed in a way that there is a negative pressure to lift the grass up so the blade can cut laid over grass and cut it all the same height. The back side of the blades (non-cutting edge) are also swept up (except for mulching blades) to increase this lifting capability, coupled with an area around the spindles that allow for some of the moving air to exit out thru the top of the mower. (Not all decks are made this way but see the first image) The turbulence under there moves the air up toward the underside of the deck as well as out the chute on the side. The most common reason for not getting a good lift and seeing areas not cut when making a turn is buildup of dirt and grass cuttings under the deck and on top of the deck. The cuttings can't move toward the outlet side of the deck and your blades are expending kinetic energy chopping up already cut grass that should have already exited the mower, not to mention your lawn tractor's engine and transmission is lugging around an extra bunch of dead weight for no reason.
See the arrows pointing to the open areas around the spindles? They aren't there for no reason:

It's pretty easy to keep all that crap cleaned out if you
1. Don't cut grass with dew on it.
2. Keep the crap washed out from the underside after every use.
3. Keep the crap cleaned off from the top of the mower deck that pugs up the air exit holes around the spindles.

You can buy tools to help wash that stuff out with a garden hose, or you can make your own like I did. The tubing is malleable copper, meaning I can shape it multiple times any way I want without kinking it or breaking it. I have another one that connects to an air hose for the same purpose. (excuse the old 1/2 peanutbutter cracker on the table--cat didn't eat it after all)

Mower manufacturers make a pot load of $$ from selling repair parts, and nowhere is that more true than mower deck spindles. Some other time, I'll tell you how to save a lot of money instead of spending $90-$150 on a replacement spindle, as well as how to extend the life of replacement spindle bearings. ('sealed for life bearings' means sealed for only as long as the manufacturer thinks should pass before you hand them some more of your hard earned $$$.)

 

[Devonviolet]

('sealed for life bearings' means sealed for only as long as the manufacturer thinks should pass before you hand them some more of your hard earned $$$.)

IOW. . . Planned obsolescence = taking $$$ out of your pocket & putting it in their pocket.

 

[greybeard]

IOW. . . Planned obsolescence = taking $$$ out of your pocket & putting it in their pocket.

as well as unscheduled rapid disassembly..

 

[goatgurl]

well, got no lift but I do have a pair of ramps that I put on the door jam of one of my out buildings takes it up to about 2 1/2 feet and I just crawl my fluffy self under it and do what I have to do. my poor lawn mower thinks it is a mini tractor/brush hog. I've just learned to deal with unlevel grass patterns. heck i'll just mow in the opposite direction next timed. next time I kill it i'll give you a call @greybeard. the guy who works on it knows I use it summer and winter to haul things around the farm and works hard to keep it going..

 

[greybeard]

Nothing I detest more than being up under a mower and all that grass and dirt dropping down in my face.

Ramps are good but I won't put a lawn tractor on jack stands. Generally, the unit just isn't heavy enough to stay perched up on the 2 square inches of jackstand . Least little work ya do creates a risk of it sliding off.

 

[goatgurl]

ditto. jacks scare me to death but figure i'm safe under the ramps unless the whole building comes down.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I lift mine with the FEL on the tractor....you can stand it on it's end and reach everything pretty easily.

 

[greybeard]

I lift mine with the FEL on the tractor....you can stand it on it's end and reach everything pretty easily.

Some, it's fine to do that way. Others, it causes problems with engine and drive train fluids moving where it shouldn't.

I do sometimes pick mine up with the hay fork on my bigger tractor if it's something other than deck work.

 

[Bruce]

Aha! Now I have an excuse to get a real tractor with an FEL @frustratedearthmother

Bruce, I looked into one of those tractor lift things. They want like $150 for it and it only lifts I think it said like 24 inches. What the heck good is that? 24" is about useless to an old fart like me... No way I'm getting down and laying on my side or back under a 600 pound mower in 24" of working space to screw with blades.

They show 26". OK, I know not a lot more than 24" but lifted up at that angle I think one could just sit on the ground and take the blades off without going under. And it wouldn't be hard to get a spray nozzle on a hose under it and generally be able to see what you are aiming at. I don't think jack stands would work at all, no stable point to stick them under in the front. Also not so sure about ramps. I THINK the deck would hit the ramp before the front tires got on top and the ramps would be in the way of getting under the deck even if you got the tires on top. Plus, you would only get about 12" of height, not useful for getting under the deck.

As for removing the deck, mine has front and rear anti-sway (I guess) bars plus 4 pins. Dragging it out sideways is an effort and getting it stable in a vertical position isn't all that easy. If I want to use a hose on it, I have to do this outside, which makes getting the deck out and back under all the more difficult. I don't think there is anything I'd want to stress in that old barn lifting the front of the tractor! So I'm still thinking about a lift. Or if I had a handy tree; I could use the winch on the front of the GT to pull the front end up but I don't have such a tree. Maybe my gorilla ladder ??? I started lifting the front of the tractor when I put a pipe across the 2nd from the top steps and lifted my new (at the time) drum sander up onto the stand. It weighs north of 300 pound so I guess the front of the tractor weighs less.

Only cleaning out once a year? I don't mow when the grass is wet and it still glues itself under the deck. Not quite as bad with the side chute as with the mulching kit on but still inches of grass every time I mow filling everything that isn't touched by the blades.