Deck height adjustment

Hey all,
Has been a long time since posting but in need of some help. I have been doing some spring time tweaking on my 94 craftsman 2 19.5hp 6 speed lawn tractor, model #917.252561. Yesterday while doing mower deck cleaning, greasing and blade swap out. I remembered that the mower adjustment lever assembly only has 1 1/2 inch of travel from front to rear. I purchased this new back in '95 and thought that it was strange that the lever didn't have that much travel, also remembered that the knob would not turn in either direction. Not being handy at the time, and blade cut height was ok, I decided to let it go. Fast forward to yesterday and now I can't stop thinking how to fix it. I again removed the deck this am to get a better look at the knob assembly. I cleaned what I could reach and sprayed it with white lithium grease. With some persuasion I was able to pull the knob out and see the slide working. I still could NOT get the knob to turn in either direction. Its looks as though the assembly may have been put together wrong from the factory. I don't see anything stopping the lever from going all the way forward but only recently started tinkering and don't know what to look for. I am dreading the possibilty of taking apart the dash etc to remove the assembly. Thanks in advance for any help.

The height adjuster moves between the top , locked for transport position and the height set for the deck.
So if the knob you can not turn was set to 1 the lever would move a foot.
The higher it is set the less distance the lever can travel .
The knob acts as a stop for the lever.

Not easy to get to but lots of wire brushing on the knob thread & some lube will work wonders.
On some models the knob can not be turned unless the height lever is in the locked for travel position.

I'd go easy on the white lithium grease spray, that will collect all the cutting debris etc & stick to it.

Some penetrating oil would be my choice like Kroil, or your favorite.

It takes about an hour for the grease to dry off.
Owners manual says to oil it weekly.

bertsmobile1 said:

The height adjuster moves between the top , locked for transport position and the height set for the deck.
So if the knob you can not turn was set to 1 the lever would move a foot.
The higher it is set the less distance the lever can travel .
The knob acts as a stop for the lever.

Not easy to get to but lots of wire brushing on the knob thread & some lube will work wonders.
On some models the knob can not be turned unless the height lever is in the locked for travel position.

Click to expand...

Thanks for responding. I will wire brush the threaded rod will try some other lubricant than the white lithium spray. I never gave it any thought with regard to attracting
crud/grass clippings etc. I will report back. I do know that the spring mechanism is working as I was able to see it compress a bit when I pull the knob out (away from the dash)
Marc

bertsmobile1 said:

It takes about an hour for the grease to dry off.
Owners manual says to oil it weekly.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up...will as you suggested tomorrow - will have time to remove battery etc to gain more access for cleaning and lube.

7394 said:

I'd go easy on the white lithium grease spray, that will collect all the cutting debris etc & stick to it.

Some penetrating oil would be my choice like Kroil, or your favorite.

Click to expand...

Thanks for replying.
My plan is to try and gain more access, then to wirebrush the crud, then give it a few shots of penetrating fluid (CRC) then hit it with some spray lube (CRC)...
I hope that will help.....I will update this thread tomorrow or Sunday.....depending on outcome.
Marc

:thumbsup:

bertsmobile1 said:

The height adjuster moves between the top , locked for transport position and the height set for the deck.
So if the knob you can not turn was set to 1 the lever would move a foot.
The higher it is set the less distance the lever can travel .
The knob acts as a stop for the lever.

Not easy to get to but lots of wire brushing on the knob thread & some lube will work wonders.
On some models the knob can not be turned unless the height lever is in the locked for travel position.

Click to expand...

Was able to get better access by removing battery and tray....cleaned off all the white lithium grease took out the air hose and sprayed out the grass clippings stc...then I used a bit of penetrating fluid on everything. looking at the travel of the lowering handle....in the transport position to lowest position forward the bar only goes about 1-1/2 inches or so. Obviously that distance remains the same when returning lever to transport position. Still unable to twist the knob...if I turn it counter clockwise the knob comes off the threaded rod....Go figure....Any ideas...this has me stumped. I can go out and take some pics if that'll help.

I downloaded the manual for yours https://www.manualslib.com/manual/480204/Sears-Craftsman-917-252561.html?page=20#manual (page 20) my 2005 LT1000 adjusts the same way, and I just adjusted my deck front/back last week. I had never even checked my deck front/rear angle before.

I had to remove the two front links/threaded rods from mine and hold them in my bench vise to loosen the front large nut with my 3/4" box wrench (I did not have a 3/4"/19mm deep socket with me). I used penetrating liquid, and coated the threads with never seize lubricant upon re-assembly. I don't think my deck had ever been adjusted by the factory, the front nut was almost all the way forward, and I threaded the rearward nuts all the way towards the rear to get the deck angle correct as per the manual.

Now my mowing belt does not jump off its idler pulley as it had been doing. But that only started happening the last few months, so either the deck leveling, bending the idler pulley guide "tabs", or something else I did fixed that.