L130 OEM deck trouble.

Thanks for looking,

I am running an L130 with a little over 500 hours on it, and she has served me well! A few weeks ago while hogging some rough areas on the side of the house the front axle broke. Upon researching the issue it became evident that although my sizeable stature likely contributed to its early demise, I am far from the only person to experience this issue. That being said, I made the repairs last weekend using an OEM axle from my local JD parts store and put her back in service with fresh grease all the way around. Now my issue is this...I believe when the axle broke and the tractor fell, the ground made significant contact with the deck causing it to move from its proper location. I am having a heck of a time getting this thing leveled out...is there a secret to it? I verified part that geometry was correct (as I was thinking that I bent something when she went down). I am not certain as to what role the front support should play in leveling the deck, should that be a consideration when adjusting it? Or is that primarily a support? Should the deck be leveled on the ground when all 4 deck wheels are seated?

Also, a bit off topic but is an LA130 the same as an L130?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Charlie

No the LA is a lot better mower.

The deck is a 3 point mounting.
The height is set by the the 2 side mounts.
The front does nothing other than change the tilt angle of the blades.
When you set the deck, take your height reading from the cutting tip of the blades, not the bottom edge of the deck.
A deck is only considered badly damaged if the left & right blade tips are not in line with each other.
What dose happen with that deck is the welds on the side mounts rip out so have a close look at them.

Great info, thank you very much. I will take a look at the mounts, now are you referencing the area on the deck that the slide bracket bolts to?

Thanks again,

Charlie

Yes
JD changed them a few times and the latter ones were better.
The deck has nothing much to stabilize it left right and you have a very heavy bracket being welded onto a fairly thin deck pressing that is already stressed due to the pressing so it tends to crack along the HAZ where the weld meets the deck.

bertsmobile1 said:

No the LA is a lot better mower.

Click to expand...

Thanks, do you know if the 48" edge cutting system deck on the LA130 is the same as that on my L130? I have been trying for a year to locate a set of belt guards and have located a set on Ebay... but in the description it calls out the LA130.

That is what parts listings are there for

LA deck http://jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/com.deere.u90490.partscatalog.view.servlets.HomePageServlet_Alt
L130 deck early http://jdpc.deere.com/jdpc/servlet/com.deere.u90490.partscatalog.view.servlets.HomePageServlet_Alt