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So I'm gradually getting this mower all sorted out. I need some expert help now because I'm getting into things I don't have experience with. Two things I noticed first time I used it. It wouldn't go into "transport mode" and it cut lower than it was set for. I measured yesterday and it was about an inch low. To keep it easy for me (and anybody who might need help in future and come across this post) to understand lets take these one at a time.
Transport mode is when the height adjust pedal is pushed all the way forward and the tip of a metal rod called the deck latch lever (A) slips down and holds what the manual calls a deck height adjust slide (B) in place, keeping the deck in it's highest position. In the pic below the pedal is pushed all the way forward and you can see how far the lever is from being able to slip down and hold the slide in place.

In this pic you can see the adjusting rod is at its limit and I can't get into transport mode or use the 5" cutting height.

I could live without transport mode and the 5" cutting height but I just like for things to be right.
If anybody can help me fix this I'd appreciate the help. Then I'll move on to cutting height adjustment.

First you need to adjust the deck height. You need to have all the tires to the correct pressure and a flat and level surface on which to do the job. With the deck set to a mid range level and a blade height measuring tool, you can continue. Clean, unbent or new blades should be installed.
Keep these in mind as you adjust the deck:
As a reference, you can use the bottom edge of the deck or the actual blade height, I prefer to do the actual blade height, but I have the tool to do this easily.
The front deck suspension is not adjustable.
The adjusting nuts at the forward ends of the side rods are turned to either raise or lower the rear of the deck by moving the swivel joints to bring it into correct height adjustment relative to the front of the deck.
If you have a Velocity deck, the lever adjustment on the L/H forward corner of the deck is for fine adjusting to ensure that all four suspension chains have equal weight on them.
The blades when facing forward, should be slightly lower in height than the aft height of the same blade by about 1/8 to 3/16 inch lower.
With the deck in correct adjustment by blade height measurement, then the height adjustment mechanism can be adjusted to match the actual blade height.
Check to see if the side rods are each sharing the weight of the forward part of the deck.
Check that the deck will raise up into the lock position.
The side rods will turn in time from vibration and this along with someone tinkering when they shouldn't, will cause the deck to get out of adjustment.
It isn't as difficult as it seems, have fun!!!
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:

Thanks and yep its a velocity+ deck. I was going to get to leveling after I got this figured out but like you say there are so many adjusting points and they are all related.

Are you saying I'm not going to be able to get the deck to go into transport position because something else is out of whack?
And turning those side rods only raises/lowers the front?

All 4 chains seem to have equal tension. I did raise the deck when I saw how far off it was. Tires have 12psi. It seems to have a lot of rake.

Mike88se said:

Thanks and yep its a velocity+ deck. I was going to get to leveling after I got this figured out but like you say there are so many adjusting points and they are all related.

Are you saying I'm not going to be able to get the deck to go into transport position because something else is out of whack?
And turning those side rods only raises/lowers the front?

All 4 chains seem to have equal tension. I did raise the deck when I saw how far off it was. Tires have 12psi. It seems to have a lot of rake.
View attachment 23569

Click to expand...

The front tires get 24 PSI, the rears get 12 PSI. In the pic, I can the front of your deck is way too low. I just went out and looked at my machine and I need to make a correction to what I have previously posted. The rear of the deck is what is adjusted by turning the forward nut by the forward swivels. So basically, the front height is a fixed adjustment. The side rod lengths are adjusted by turning the forward adjusting nuts to raise or lower the rear of the deck. The rear swivel are threaded, but the forward swivels are not. Sorry for my mix up, been a while. The foot pedal and the forward deck suspension levers are all connected and welded so essentially they are one piece. The rear suspension levers are separate from each other and their adjustment is done by the side rods thru the forward swivels with the adjusting nuts. So it is the rear of the deck that gets adjusted to match the front of the deck. I gotta get going, catch you later!!
Mad Mackie in CT:laughing::biggrin::smile:

Mike88se said:

Thanks and yep its a velocity+ deck. I was going to get to leveling after I got this figured out but like you say there are so many adjusting points and they are all related.

Are you saying I'm not going to be able to get the deck to go into transport position because something else is out of whack?
And turning those side rods only raises/lowers the front?

All 4 chains seem to have equal tension. I did raise the deck when I saw how far off it was. Tires have 12psi. It seems to have a lot of rake.
View attachment 23569

Click to expand...

The rear of your deck is too high and hitting the up stops before the transport lock will engage.

Mad Mackie said:

The rear of your deck is too high and hitting the up stops before the transport lock will engage.

Click to expand...

I think I got it all sorted out now. Thanks for putting me on the right track. Pretty much everything did yesterday was backasswards.
What I did here actually lowered the deck:

And by turning the two long rods I was increasing the pitch which caused the raked appearance.
Got that fixed and now the deck is level, higher, and has a tad more than 1/4" pitch. I didn't get a chance to take more pics. I hope to test it out tomorrow but my brother is really sick and on life support and not expected to live so I might not get to mow tomorrow. I probably will tho.
I also read that by loosening the two circled bolts in the next pic and pivoting that plate the chain is attached to, the deck height can be altered somewhat:

but I left those alone.
The deck will get to 5" now but still won't go high enough for transport mode. Transport mode is just a bit higher than 5" so I'll just use the 5" hole for transport mode if I need to.
Everything should be good now. If the garage floor was level that is
I'll find out soon enough. I sharpened the blades too. And ran a new fuel line to the R/L tank selector. Whoever ran the lines before cut himself short on the left side and couldn't get the valve lever even close to being lined up with the marks on the mower. Not a big deal but I just like things to be right
Appreciate the help :thumbsup:
BTW the front tires aren't pneumatic(?) so I couldn't inflate them to 26psi :laughing:

If anybody is interested its mowing fine now. I guess deck adjusting is just like the rest of the machine maintenance. Just have to learn it and watch how everything interacts.
Having somebody give helpful tips is great too.