Mower deck Poor cutting after service at the dealer!

bassadict69

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Mower is a Gravely 52HD

I took the mower in for its spring tune up...new blades, oil change, etc. The invoice said they changed all filters, oil, changed blades, leveled deck and checked air pressure in tires. When I took it in it was cutting perfectly. I got it back and the left side was not cutting right. I took it back, they kept it a couple more weeks and said it they adjusted some spring and it was cutting perfectly. They also gave me some line about cutting on 3 and reminded be about the cutting only 1/3 of the grass rule and maybe I was attempting to cut too low. I explained to them I am cutting on the same level I have cut at since buying the mower from them a couple of years ago and never had a problem.

I bring it home and it is cutting the same. I argued with them a little over the phone and finally the one who sold me the mower 2 years ago agreed to swing by my house on his way home. I mowed some while he was here and he agreed that it was in fact not cutting well.

They have now had it over a week and he tells me they are scratching their heads and have had several mechanics as well as the owner look at it. They say they think the tire pressure on the left side was too high and maybe the blades were bad. In other words they do not know!

I did notice that with the blades engaged one of the chains hanging the deck was vibrating like it was a little loose and not tight. I also noticed one of the pulleys under the deck thing that you can raise to see the belts was vibrating and moving around quite a bit rather than staying tight to keep the belt tight. I do not know which pulley or belt it was. I want to say it was the larger pulley on the right side.

Any ideas on the problem? I am aggravated beyond belief! I spent alot of money on this mower expecting years of problem free service from it and now this...
 

Good 1 Brian

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Don't if this is true when I got my Raptor a few weeks ago the dealer did not recommend removing the decks on zero turn mowers can cause problem.
He said you don't make the decks level if I recall the front should be about 3/8 " lower, anyone else ever heard about this ?
 

bertsmobile1

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The front is always lower than the rear, it is called te attack angle and will vary according to the actual deck.
I do not remove the decks on ZTR's during service either.
There is no reason to do it.

You need to take the weight off the deck hangers & lift in order to grease them properly but you do that by dropping the deck onto some 2x 4.
There is only 2 chargable hours in a ZTR service and cleaning usually takes nearly one of them, so you do not do unnecessary work.

The only time I got caught is when I onertightened the belt tensioning spring so at rest the blades sat nice and level L/R with the correct attack.
But when the blades were engaged the right side lifted slightly.
when cutting nice lawns it was OK but when cutting tall grass it was better then 1"
Took a long while tonut that one out
 

bassadict69

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The owner of the company brought my mower back to me this afternoon. They finally pulled the blades and had them sitting side by side and noticed one blade had a bit of a different twist or pitch on the cutting edge. They put three new blades on it and once again, I have the perfect cut I expect out of this mower.

I thanked him several times for bringing it to me saving me the hassle of picking it up but I also made sure to let him know how aggravating it was returning it once and being called 3 weeks later saying it was fixed only to get it home and it was still not fixed and then they tried to tell me I was trying to cut too low since I had the deck set on three when I brought it in. He was real apologetic and in my book, bent over backwards to keep my business. Even though he is the only dealer within 100 miles and he knows that!
 

bertsmobile1

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It is a problem with running a service shop.
I have 1000 acres ( not mine ) with lots of pasture to test mowers on plus about 6 acres of verge so they all get a good workout before they go back
Most mower shops have 5 sq yd of roadside grass at best.
So checking the actual cut can be problematic.
Having said that I can manage to crawl under the deck and check all the blades are cutting at the correct height
 
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