I'll do it again, but I did follow the procedure from the manual, except I raised the back of the deck by an additional 1/8". Hardly think this should have thrown the lift mechanism (pedal) off by that much. I did find that my deck was at least 1/4" lower than the actual setting on the pin. At 3.25" (H on the pin), I am supposed to be able to get a 3" block beneath the deck; I found that the deck was closer to 2.75" at this point. So my settings have been off by at least 1/4" lower...
Like I said, do it
exactly as per the manual. If it locks in place, it was your raising the deck that 1/8th. Even small changes can throw things off. Yes, raising the rear of the deck will lower the front! The deck hangers arent connected to the very front or rear of the deck. Put a ruler over your finger. Lift one side, what happens to the other side? It lowers! Same things happened with your deck!
As far as deck height v's the pin setting, forget about it. Find the height you like the lawn to be cut at and use that setting. It would be nice if the pin and deck match up but at the end of the day, unless its like an inch off, who cares. One spot on the lawn will be slightly different from the next anyway unless its putting green! I mean, park your mower somewhere, measure to the soil. Move the mower to another spot and measure again, its going to be different. Might be over a high or low spot! Think of the pin setting as a guide only. Even tire pressure can change all that! If you want to mess around with deck pitch, try different tire pressures. Put 8psi in the front and 12 or 15 in the rear. That should change the pitch without messing with the deck. The ride might suck though but an easy way to experiment!
If you really want to mess with pitch, change the length the blocks of wood you use to set the deck on. Make the front blocks 1/8th shorter. But you may still run into problems latching the deck. You wont know until you try! But really, I'd just do the tire thing for testing!
