YTS 3000 still scalping yard! ARRGGHH!!

Ever since I ran over that shepherd's hook my daughter threw out in the yard last summer, my lawnmower has not been right ever since.

This was what it was doing:



Then all of a sudden I hit a large stick and it starts making this ungodly noise where one of the blades was hitting the deck. So I pulled the blades off and sure enough they were bent up pretty bad.



So I installed new blades and it fixed the problem for a few mowing cycles. Now it's doing it again!

I put the mower up for the fall and decided to just mess with it in the spring. Since we had a drought last summer and there was really no grass to mow. So I got it out today for the first time this season to knock down some stray weeds and mulch some leaves I missed last fall before the grass starting growing. I don't fertilize my yard and I have a zoysa grass so it doesn't start to grow until mid May.

Here's what I have checked so far:

Tire pressures
Cracked or bent spindles
Obviously bent blades (underneath deck)
Adjusted nut on left side of mower to level deck using bubble level.
Deck wheels.
Checked to see if the bar that goes from the deck to the front end is still there (I lost the original one)

So far here is all I can find wrong with the mower.

With the deck set at "3" where I normally mow, the wheels on the "fixed side" of the deck touch the ground. The ones on the "adjustable side" lack about 1/2" from touching the ground.

I tried adjusting the deck to where all four wheels contacted the ground (in my level concrete garage). Well this threw the deck off (using my bubble level) and seemed to make it worse. I recall that the owner's manual said to set the deck height to where you want it then adjust the deck wheels to where they would make contact with the ground. The thing is there is no adjustment on these wheels, just holes. Seems like when I got this mower back in 2009, they did but now they don't and I have no idea why (deck wheels worn out?).

So I proceeded to raise the deck height up to where the deck was level using a bubble level. So now the deck seems to be level (side to side) but the wheels on the adjustable side no longer contact the ground.

I'm about to pull my hair out on this one. Do I need to pull the blades off and check to make sure they are not bent again? I don't recall hitting anything hard. I rotated the blades and eyeballed how far the ends were from the bottom of the deck. They seem straight just from doing a visual inspection.

What else could it be? Do all four wheels need to touch the ground? I can't think of anyway to adjust them unless I drill a new hole in the deck.

Would replacing the deck wheels do the trick? They do seem to be worn out a bit.

Bubble level will not work. The deck is not flat or straight. You can only level deck by measuring blades from ground up to blade tip. Front to back and left to right.

http://www.searspartsdirect.com/mod...elNumber=917289240&diagramPageId=&documentId=
Your mowers manual for leveling deck. If this is not your manual it is because you did not give the model number just the name of the mower.

turbofiat124 said:

Ever since I ran over that shepherd's hook my daughter threw out in the yard last summer, my lawnmower has not been right ever since.

This was what it was doing:

Then all of a sudden I hit a large stick and it starts making this ungodly noise where one of the blades was hitting the deck. So I pulled the blades off and sure enough they were bent up pretty bad.

So I installed new blades and it fixed the problem for a few mowing cycles. Now it's doing it again!

I put the mower up for the fall and decided to just mess with it in the spring. Since we had a drought last summer and there was really no grass to mow. So I got it out today for the first time this season to knock down some stray weeds and mulch some leaves I missed last fall before the grass starting growing. I don't fertilize my yard and I have a zoysa grass so it doesn't start to grow until mid May.

Here's what I have checked so far:

Tire pressures
Cracked or bent spindles
Obviously bent blades (underneath deck)
Adjusted nut on left side of mower to level deck using bubble level.
Deck wheels.
Checked to see if the bar that goes from the deck to the front end is still there (I lost the original one)

So far here is all I can find wrong with the mower.

With the deck set at "3" where I normally mow, the wheels on the "fixed side" of the deck touch the ground. The ones on the "adjustable side" lack about 1/2" from touching the ground.

I tried adjusting the deck to where all four wheels contacted the ground (in my level concrete garage). Well this threw the deck off (using my bubble level) and seemed to make it worse. I recall that the owner's manual said to set the deck height to where you want it then adjust the deck wheels to where they would make contact with the ground. The thing is there is no adjustment on these wheels, just holes. Seems like when I got this mower back in 2009, they did but now they don't and I have no idea why (deck wheels worn out?).

So I proceeded to raise the deck height up to where the deck was level using a bubble level. So now the deck seems to be level (side to side) but the wheels on the adjustable side no longer contact the ground.

I'm about to pull my hair out on this one. Do I need to pull the blades off and check to make sure they are not bent again? I don't recall hitting anything hard. I rotated the blades and eyeballed how far the ends were from the bottom of the deck. They seem straight just from doing a visual inspection.

What else could it be? Do all four wheels need to touch the ground? I can't think of anyway to adjust them unless I drill a new hole in the deck.

Would replacing the deck wheels do the trick? They do seem to be worn out a bit.

Click to expand...

London to a brick & on you will finds one of the spindle mounting legs cracked.
It is a very common problem with AYP decks and is a design feature to prevent damage if you mow over something really hard.
The spindle mounts break & the belt then jumps off.

BlazNT said:

http://www.searspartsdirect.com/mod...elNumber=917289240&diagramPageId=&documentId=
Your mowers manual for leveling deck. If this is not your manual it is because you did not give the model number just the name of the mower.

Click to expand...

Yes I did, it's in the subject header "YTS 3000".

YTS 3000 is not a model number that is a series number. there are cases within craftsman were two mowers of the same series were actually made by two different companies in the same year.

the actually model number is on a label under the seat.

ILENGINE said:

YTS 3000 is not a model number that is a series number. there are cases within craftsman were two mowers of the same series were actually made by two different companies in the same year.

the actually model number is on a label under the seat.

Click to expand...

OK, I'll check with that. I kind of figured the number on the hood would be good enough when I wrote this post. Being it's made by Husqvarna I figured all their mowers like this would use the same method.

The deck leveling procedure says:

A tilted mower deck can cause uneven cuts. Park the lawn tractor on a flat surface and inflate all 4 tires evenly. Lower the deck to the cutting position and position the blades sideways. Measure the height of the cutting blade outer edges. Adjust the mower deck hangers to level the mower blades for an even cut.

I don't know how your supposed to measure the blade height with the deck on the ground...

Bertsmobile1: I guess the only way to know is to physically pull the spindles off the deck and check? Otherwise I grabbed the blades and they did not move and looked at the ears and didn't see any breaks. I figured since it has three legs if one leg is broken the spindle/blade should wobble.

If none of the spindles are broken and none of the blades are bent what's my next step? The deck wheels on the adjustable side sort of baffle me. Are they supposed to touch the ground like the other side? Like I said they are a bit worn down.

Looks to me like if one set of wheels is touching the ground and the other side is not, this would cause the deck to be uneven. On the other hand it may not be the wheels at all.

I'm wondering if I should replace these, then adjust the deck on flat concrete to where all four touch the ground like it did when I bought this mower new.

That's bound to be frustrating, my old craftsman used the same blades. When installing blades, I had to rotate them a bit when tightening the nut to make sure the star pattern slid all the way up to spindle base. When my mower did a pattern like in your pics, it was a bent blade. I know you have newer blades, you may want to pull them and place one on top of the other (like they were packaged when bought) and see if they fit together, seeing if there is minimal gap and rocking movement, then switch them (top to bottom) and do the same.
Sometimes hard to tell a bend with the eye or placing on a level surface with that type of blade.

My anti scalp wheels ride above the ground never touching unless I am about to scalp the lawn. I will not be able to tell you where they should be untill I get your model number.

turbofiat124 said:

OK, I'll check with that. I kind of figured the number on the hood would be good enough when I wrote this post. Being it's made by Husqvarna I figured all their mowers like this would use the same method.

The deck leveling procedure says:

A tilted mower deck can cause uneven cuts. Park the lawn tractor on a flat surface and inflate all 4 tires evenly. Lower the deck to the cutting position and position the blades sideways. Measure the height of the cutting blade outer edges. Adjust the mower deck hangers to level the mower blades for an even cut.

I don't know how your supposed to measure the blade height with the deck on the ground...

Bertsmobile1: I guess the only way to know is to physically pull the spindles off the deck and check? Otherwise I grabbed the blades and they did not move and looked at the ears and didn't see any breaks. I figured since it has three legs if one leg is broken the spindle/blade should wobble.

If none of the spindles are broken and none of the blades are bent what's my next step? The deck wheels on the adjustable side sort of baffle me. Are they supposed to touch the ground like the other side? Like I said they are a bit worn down.

Looks to me like if one set of wheels is touching the ground and the other side is not, this would cause the deck to be uneven. On the other hand it may not be the wheels at all.

I'm wondering if I should replace these, then adjust the deck on flat concrete to where all four touch the ground like it did when I bought this mower new.

Click to expand...

A strong light is a good place to start.
Pull the deck out then rotate the blade so it is directly over one of the 3 legs
Grab the end of the blade and try to push it up & down.
Repeat on all 3 legs on both blades.
The blades themsleves should have no play up down if so then new bearings are required.

When back on the mower set the deck to about midway and measure the height of the blades front back and left right.
I use a block of wood 2" x 2.25" x 2.5" others use a coffee cup wrapped around a coke can, the blade will leave a dent in it so you can pull it out and measure it.
Make sure both sides of the blade are the same height, check them against each other and at the edge.
If one side is always lower then the blade is bent if one side of the blade is lower than the other, both ways then the housing is off center ( deck bent ).
I put a blob of paint on one end of the blades to make things easier.

There is a good You tube on blade checking on Taryl Fixes All channel on You Tube.

Lots of my confusing works are better explained with a few seconds of video.