MTD/Huskee deck excessive play

[DumpsterB4by]

Recently bought a 2007 Huskee LT4200 to expand my little one-man. lawn care operation. Not sure how I missed it when I went to look at the machine, but the deck can swing wildly from left to right, far more than it should. I got a chance to compare the play against the same tractor that a neighbor of a customer had and that deck didnt move a quarter inch. Mine will swing several inches both directions. I have the parts diagrams and an understanding of how the deck is adjusted in all directions. I cannot figure out what is missing/broken on my deck to allow that much play. The assembly at the rear of the deck where it is adjusted is intact on both sides as well as the hinged bar connected to the inside of that adjustment assembly. The adjustment rod up front is intact and fumctional. Those 3 points are the only connections to the body of the tractor that my machine has. What am I missing? I've checked tightness on the hinged rods and everything is secure. I'm kinda stuck here, not sure what to even look for at this point. I'm considering making my own hinged stabilizers. I can attach pics if needed. Also, the steering is extremely loose but I assume that is worn out tie rod ends. Havent gotten to that issue yet.
Thanks.

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

Recently bought a 2007 Huskee LT4200 to expand my little one-man. lawn care operation. Not sure how I missed it when I went to look at the machine, but the deck can swing wildly from left to right, far more than it should. I got a chance to compare the play against the same tractor that a neighbor of a customer had and that deck didnt move a quarter inch. Mine will swing several inches both directions. I have the parts diagrams and an understanding of how the deck is adjusted in all directions. I cannot figure out what is missing/broken on my deck to allow that much play. The assembly at the rear of the deck where it is adjusted is intact on both sides as well as the hinged bar connected to the inside of that adjustment assembly. The adjustment rod up front is intact and fumctional. Those 3 points are the only connections to the body of the tractor that my machine has. What am I missing? I've checked tightness on the hinged rods and everything is secure. I'm kinda stuck here, not sure what to even look for at this point. I'm considering making my own hinged stabilizers. I can attach pics if needed. Also, the steering is extremely loose but I assume that is worn out tie rod ends. Havent gotten to that issue yet.
Thanks.

Why would you buy a cheap, 19 year old riding mower if you are doing lawn care for a living? You should have two zero turns at a minimum and that is all you need. Deck hangers, etc. have a lot of slop and will require replacing parts if you want it right. I would level the deck and don’t worry about the side to side movement. Then sell it.

 

[StarTech]

Most likely both deck lift arms are bent. They are meant to ride very close to the frame rails on both side of the mower. And there is a left and right versions.

I have a customer that had a 2011 Huskee that used to cut other yards.When he first brought it he had to have it straighten out. At first it was the deck rebuild in 2022. Then the engine had to have a cylinder head gasket in 2023. This year it was a carburetor rebuild. Then for some darn he he tried adjusting the governor because he had a slight surging at initial start up. He followed some YouTube instruction which ended up badly. He destroyed the governor.

Now he has spent on the mower $508.95 in shop repairs since '22 plus he brought two tires and a battery all while mowing other people's yards for money. that is an average of $127.24 plus fuel and oil per year. He and his wife got to understand that in order to make money you got to spend some it. If not making enough net profit to offset the bills then the rates has to be upped by a reasonable amount.

His wife decided no more repairs and told him to buy a new mower @ $3000.00. As it was cheaper to buy a new mower. Hmmm I don't see it myself as he still need repairs over time. Even that is with no repairs over 4 yrs it is still $ 750 plus interest as I know he is going to buy it on credit.

I have had customers to say to me boy you make a lot money on repairs. Those I sit down with, go thru all through the charges and costs, showing just what the real profit is after taxes. Then I tell them if they want the work done cheaper go to someone else or do the repairs themselves. I don't work for free but it is pretty darn close.Overhead can be a killer at times.

And this brings me another pet peeve of mine. Others working on the side and not paying any income taxes which make it harder on the ones that does pay their taxes. IF everybody paid their fair share of the taxes then everybody could pay less.

 

[DumpsterB4by]

Why would you buy a cheap, 19 year old riding mower if you are doing lawn care for a living? You should have two zero turns at a minimum and that is all you need. Deck hangers, etc. have a lot of slop and will require replacing parts if you want it right. I would level the deck and don’t worry about the side to side movement. Then sell it.

You gonna put the money up for that hig priced equipment? I dont have a need for 2 zero turns. Appreciate the advice.

 

[DumpsterB4by]

Most likely both deck lift arms are bent. They are meant to ride very close to the frame rails on both side of the mower. And there is a left and right versions.

I have a customer that had a 2011 Huskee that used to cut other yards.When he first brought it he had to have it straighten out. At first it was the deck rebuild in 2022. Then the engine had to have a cylinder head gasket in 2023. This year it was a carburetor rebuild. Then for some darn he he tried adjusting the governor because he had a slight surging at initial start up. He followed some YouTube instruction which ended up badly. He destroyed the governor.

Now he has spent on the mower $508.95 in shop repairs since '22 plus he brought two tires and a battery all while mowing other people's yards for money. that is an average of $127.24 plus fuel and oil per year. He and his wife got to understand that in order to make money you got to spend some it. If not making enough net profit to offset the bills then the rates has to be upped by a reasonable amount.

His wife decided no more repairs and told him to buy a new mower @ $3000.00. As it was cheaper to buy a new mower. Hmmm I don't see it myself as he still need repairs over time. Even that is with no repairs over 4 yrs it is still $ 750 plus interest as I know he is going to buy it on credit.

I have had customers to say to me boy you make a lot money on repairs. Those I sit down with, go thru all through the charges and costs, showing just what the real profit is after taxes. Then I tell them if they want the work done cheaper go to someone else or do the repairs themselves. I don't work for free but it is pretty darn close.Overhead can be a killer at times.

And this brings me another pet peeve of mine. Others working on the side and not paying any income taxes which make it harder on the ones that does pay their taxes. IF everybody paid their fair share of the taxes then everybody could pay less.

I can't see any obvious misshapen areas on the lifting arms. Doesnt mean they arent bent, I just dont see it. I'll find something to compare them to and see if thats the problem. I spent a whole lot more money on a much nicer mower at the beginning of the season. It ran for an hour and threw a rod through the block. That left me push mowing 2 customers with 4+ acres, or lose the customers. I didn't want to lose them so I pushed, after a couple roinds of that a very good friend met me there with his big john deere and did the bulk of the mowing, wanted to help me recoup the big hit I took on the first riding mower. We should all have friends like him. I have this old thing now because it cost me practically nothing, and it cuts grass. After leveling the deck it can cut grass evenly. I have been a bit hesitant to put any money forward after the last fiasco. I have a way of horse trading to end up with what I need, I just have to keep my eyes open for opportunity. I'm quite happy with the scale of my operation. I don't have to pay anyone else to get my work done unless I want to. I'm not killing myself cutting 30 lawns a day. I like my customers and cultivate those relationships, which leads to a lot more work doing things besides cutting grass. This gig also gets me out meeting people which leads to other opportunities, including my winter work, selling firewood, which I enjoy immensely. My needs are simple and achievable and I'm good with all of that.
Also, my partner operates a CPA firm along with her sister, which means I pay every nickel I am responsible for in taxes. Having a tax skipper in the same house as a CPA doesnt look great, thus I pay.

 

[StarTech]

This you need to understand if you run a business of mowing grass you must have backup equipment. I got a commercial customer that has a mower in the shop right now that been here a month awaiting parts. He actually got three bit JD Z900 series mowers. A Z925A that he has semi retired, a Z930M, and the Z950R that is in the shop right now. His nephew destroyed the PTO clutch which tried welding which destroyed it. Luckily the clutch off the Z950R is the same so he agreed to let me pull and use it on the Z925A. Meanwhile his main mower the Z930M threw the drive belt taking out the RH hydro fan. Again the Z950R came to the rescue. And I have since got a new fan. It the PTO that is taking so long two weeks on order and it does has a delay from the vendor. And I have all the parts to start putting back together the LH transaxle that a bearing fail inside.

And his business is just operated by his wife and himself. She mowing grass or picking up sticks which he does the trim work. He has learn to get the broken to the shop as quickly as he can so I can get it back in service as fast as I can.

On top of things I got weather related delays myself and quite a few rush jobs. 110 degree plus heat indexes and me being 67 doesn't help a lot. Catching up but it just take time to get everything done. Part of the main problem is it seems every one of my vendors is having to order the parts I need. One won't ship back orders; unless, I place new order which most times those b/o's are not in by.

I just went thru a mower that customer insisted on me installing the electric fuel pump that he provided. It failed a week later and he tried troubleshooting by injecting voltage into the wiring harness which the way is grounded when the ignition is off. All he had to do was unplug one connector that I installed in plain sight to test the pump. Which didn't even need to do since the way I wired in fuel pump its supply voltage comes off the same lead as the fuel solenoid on the carb which is working so it definitely a failed new pump. Instead he manage to destroy the ignition switch, take out the ignition kill harness, and a couple ground wires. And I haven't got the mower running yet as i had to figure what he fried, hopefully the stator and voltage regulator are good but that take having the engine running. He has gotten lucky so far as coils are still good. Finding faulty grounds were part of the problem. One ground at the starter solenoid was showing 12v with the ignition switch on so I assuming he melted the harness in one spot that I haven't found yet but part of the problem with the destroy ignition switch which isn't even the correct one for the mower per the IPL. All this testing took out three hours of my 4th which I had other things planned.

What worst on that mower it has been DIYed so he doesn't the spend the money me to restore the PTO circuit so it just a got on/off switch that if he forget to turn it off it kills the battery before his next stop cutting grass.

He going back to the vacuum fuel pump so that means I got remove the plug I installed the rocker cover, install a new impulse hose, and fuel pump. Now this week it is going be a nearly rain out according to forecast.

You mention selling firewood hopefully you have a spare saw or two as they do break or get hang up wood and requires another saw to get it out. I personally destroy a lot of chains over the years coming across in trees. The worst of which was a railroad spike that took a brand new chain. Good thing I brought two chains instead of one that morning.