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I have a new HD 52 which I am very happy with however there are a few quirky issues I seem to have.
The first is a ratteling noise that comes from the left hand side of the deck when to PTO is engauged. It is a very tinny sound like something is loose. It doesn't happen all the time when the PTO is engauged but it happens a lot. It is loud enough that my wife hears it when I am mowing the lawn. It seems like it is comming from the pulley cover on the left hand side of the deck. I looked and nothing is loose. The only thing I see that could be the issue is the spring that runs under that cover however it does not seem to be loose. The noise is anoying and sounds like something is wrong. It does not make it when the mower is not moving so I am not sure if taking it to the dealer would help at this point. Any thoughts?

The other issue I am having is there seems to be a lot of blow through coming from the front of the deck. I checked the level and from what I can tell the tilt on the right hand side (discharge side) is off. It is 1/4 in. lower then the front. The left hand side is even front to back. Other then the blow through the cut is very even and I am very happy with the looks of the lawn so I am hesitant to adjust the level. Should I be concerned contuning to run it like this?

You failed to mention what model number is but this is more general answer so it should not matter. Noise carries so it could be center of deck or left like you think. White lithum spray grease is your friend. Get a can and spray all the pivot points and any slide points on the deck. If this does not quiet your problem it is time to head to dealer. You should adjust your deck from left to right. That is the most important adjustment to the deck there is in my opinion. I will not allow more than 1/8 of an inch difference. I try to always have it the same. If the carpet look on the lawn is important to you the level the deck. If it is not then let it go.

I have a Gravely 48Z which sometimes rattles a bit, and it's from the v-belt tensioning springs (two on left side) vibrating on the deck. On mine it's not enough to irritate me, as otherwise I'd figure out a fix, like maybe glue a piece of rubber gasket material under the springs. I have leveled my deck and also shimmed the blades to be exactly even in height. The cut is very good after doing that.

BlazNT said:

You failed to mention what model number is but this is more general answer so it should not matter. Noise carries so it could be center of deck or left like you think. White lithum spray grease is your friend. Get a can and spray all the pivot points and any slide points on the deck. If this does not quiet your problem it is time to head to dealer. You should adjust your deck from left to right. That is the most important adjustment to the deck there is in my opinion. I will not allow more than 1/8 of an inch difference. I try to always have it the same. If the carpet look on the lawn is important to you the level the deck. If it is not then let it go.

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The deck is level from side to side. The cut I am getting is perfectly flat. I just seem to get a lot of grass blowing up from the fron of the deck. I am very happy with the cut so I will leave it alone.

wrede said:

I have a Gravely 48Z which sometimes rattles a bit, and it's from the v-belt tensioning springs (two on left side) vibrating on the deck. On mine it's not enough to irritate me, as otherwise I'd figure out a fix, like maybe glue a piece of rubber gasket material under the springs. I have leveled my deck and also shimmed the blades to be exactly even in height. The cut is very good after doing that.

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That is what I think. It is the spring under the cover.i was think exact,y like you mentioned and putting a rubber spacer around the spring to see if that fixes it. I probably live with the noise as long as I know it is not something wrong.

If it is the springs you could cut a old garden hose lengthwise and wrap it around each spring.

BlazNT said:

If it is the springs you could cut a old garden hose lengthwise and wrap it around each spring.

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I am going to give it a try this week. If it ends up being the spring hitting the pulley cover I am thinking about taking the cover off and spraying the inside of the cover with plasti dip.
I know the spring is there to put tension on the belts but which belt? Or what is the official name for the spring. The reason I ask is I have seen in other posts that there is a know issue with one of the tensioner springs. My model is HD 52 991164


https://plastidip.com/our-products/plasti-dip/

Ahalachis said:

I am going to give it a try this week. If it ends up being the spring hitting the pulley cover I am thinking about taking the cover off and spraying the inside of the cover with plasti dip.
I know the spring is there to put tension on the belts but which belt? Or what is the official name for the spring. The reason I ask is I have seen in other posts that there is a know issue with one of the tensioner springs. My model is HD 52 991164


https://plastidip.com/our-products/plasti-dip/

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The tensioner issue is the drive belt tensioner, not the blade tensioners. I had one break at 20 hours. The easy way not to hear your left side rattle is to mow with the chute in the vertical position. It will then rattle loudly and drown out all the other rattles. :wink: I haven't noticed a left side rattle. I need to mow this evening. I'll pay attention and report back if I hear anything from that side.

tbzep said:

The tensioner issue is the drive belt tensioner, not the blade tensioners. I had one break at 20 hours. The easy way not to hear your left side rattle is to mow with the chute in the vertical position. It will then rattle loudly and drown out all the other rattles. :wink: I haven't noticed a left side rattle. I need to mow this evening. I'll pay attention and report back if I hear anything from that side.

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Do you know if the replacement drive belt tensioner spring is different from the one that comes on the mower or is it just replaced with the same spring? Woundering if I should be proactive and have one on hand.

Ahalachis said:

Do you know if the replacement drive belt tensioner spring is different from the one that comes on the mower or is it just replaced with the same spring? Woundering if I should be proactive and have one on hand.

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I didn't get a good look at it, but it looked the same from what I could tell. I told them I'd probably be back for another one soon.

I know this is off topic but I am trying to figure out if the blades that came on my mower are considered high lift. Their part number is 03253800. One of the reasons I ask is that I switched over to Gator G6 blades after my first two cuts with the stock blades and notested a few things

Stock blades - the cut was very clean and smooth. But the clippings I felt could have been a little smaller but were livable.

Gator G6 - the cut was clean but maybe not as clean as with the stock blades and the clippings were much smaller. However it seems like after mowing, the grass seemed to be "bent over" not standing up as straight as with the stock blades making the cut not look as clean.
One thing to note is that these blades when new seemed to have a coating over the cutting edge making them appear to not be as sharp as expected. I assumed that would were off after a few passes.

So I think I want to try high lift blades assuming the stock blades are not high lift.


Also I read on this fourm that G6 blades may be too heavy for "residential" mowers and could cause the spindles to pre maturely fail? And that they should only be used on mowers who's blade speed is over 18k?
Any truth to this? With the ZT HD having many heavy duty components is this something I should be concerned with?

The part mumber you gave is for standard lift blades. The part about the blades being used on residential mowers is incorrect. I have been using the G6 blades for five years and not had to replace a single bearing. I mow commercially and put a lot of hours on my machine.

BlazNT said:

The part mumber you gave is for standard lift blades. The part about the blades being used on residential mowers is incorrect. I have been using the G6 blades for five years and not had to replace a single bearing. I mow commercially and put a lot of hours on my machine.

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Yea. It didn't seem right to me. I did some testing on my own and found that when engaging the PTO with the G6's on it seemed like everything had to work harder to get the blades up to speed. I switched over to the stock blades and there was much less lag when engaging the PTO.

I bought a set of G5's which are the same dimensions/weight as stock blades but have all the features of the G6's.
I will give them a try next week.

As far as the ratteling noise goes I did some testing and it is the belt tensioner spring hitting the deck cover plate on the left hand side.

I am going to get some plasti spray and see if that helps the noise.

hello,i have a 2017 ztxd 52 one old, the first time i engaged the pto it had the rattling noise. today i cut my yard and the noise is rather loud and i feel a vibration i think its the left side .i removed cover over spring no change still noise and vibration ,any one found a fix for this .

thanks

wmixon said:

hello,i have a 2017 ztxd 52 one old, the first time i engaged the pto it had the rattling noise. today i cut my yard and the noise is rather loud and i feel a vibration i think its the left side .i removed cover over spring no change still noise and vibration ,any one found a fix for this .

thanks

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Your problem is not the same as the origional post. Not only that you should not hyjack someone eles post. Please create you own.

sorry i am new , no hijack intended just need some help.

Then start your own thread and explain your problem. Include your model number.

Ahalachis said:

As far as the ratteling noise goes I did some testing and it is the belt tensioner spring hitting the deck cover plate on the left hand side.

I am going to get some plasti spray and see if that helps the noise.

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Hello, I have a brand new Gravely ZT HD 52” and I’m having the same exact issue. Rattling coming from left side of deck seems to be the spring. Doesn’t happen 100% of the time while mowing but enough and loud enough to be annoying. Did you end up finding a fix for this? I took a video of mine yesterday and I’m going to send it to the dealer tomorrow to see what they say.

Love the mower and the cut quality. Would just like to mow in peace without this rattling noise!