How do you like your 62D drive over mower deck?

[jester156]

bz1: my 62D for the 2320 purchased in May of 2010, didn't come with the lifting brackets but did have rounded casters with grease ports. I do agree once the deck is off, its a pain to move it. I have done the wheel pin method but like you mentioned, its a heavy deck and gets old quick.

 

[dannyk]

OK, dumb question: I like those mower stands:

Mower Deck Axles,Carrera,Cayman,John Deere,Kubota

but I don't understand how most people actually lift the deck to vertical once the stands are attached. I assume you use the loader, but using what (chains?) and attached to where on the deck?

Oops, sorry, I see Kenny posted:

"I lift it with a strap around the front wheel supports and a the loader. I'm making a vertical stand for it for service and storage which will help a lot."

Danny

 

[kennyd]

OK, dumb question: I like those mower stands:

Mower Deck Axles,Carrera,Cayman,John Deere,Kubota

but I don't understand how most people actually lift the deck to vertical once the stands are attached. I assume you use the loader, but using what (chains?) and attached to where on the deck?

Danny

I just lift mine by hand...still young enough to get away with it.

 

[glc24]

I just lift mine by hand...still young enough to get away with it.

DITTO!!

Don't know about the young part though

Greg

 

[OrangeRidge]

... I have also not always been happy with the cut. When traveling in a straight line it cuts great. When going around a corner you have to go real slow or it leaves uncut streaks. Not sure if this is typical of 3 bladed decks or if I'm doing something wrong. Just thought I'd point out problems I've had even though they are minor and this is a very nice deck.... .

Thanks for your review ( I'm researching JD2720/62D2 )

MMM decks have little ( half an inch or so ) blade overlap . When one
turns left ( for example ) the left side blade has a much smaller cutting
radius , whereas the right blade has a bigger sweep . This is why the
overlap is lost . On Zero Turn decks the overlap is often one and a
half inches of blade and they don't miss anything ( since the deck
sweep can be considerable if you wish ) on a tight turn . You'll notice
that in order to accommodate this overlap , they are a pronounced
"v" shape deck ( to fit the blades in the same total cutting width ! )
compared with MMM decks. Another aspect is the deck depth : deeper
decks produce more air-travel-speed/volume ; hence the improved
grass throwing ability of deep ( often fabricated too ! ) decks.
My ONLY concern with JD decks is that they are rather shallow.

 

[bbackyard]

I have 2320 with the 62D mowing deck: The issue I have: front caster wheels not turning, left or right. They just become plows. I have greased them with bearing grease, bike cycle Teflon oil and white lithium grease. It works for about 30 mins. then they stick again. The bushing appears to be to tight of a fit.

Second problem: height adjustment. I basically have one inch of travel. The U shaped turnbuckles are fully screwed in. If I do not have the caster wheels pinned in the second highest position. The deck would only sit about 1 inch off the ground. Are the caster wheels only meant for scalping or are they meant to ride on them 100% of the time?

Lastly: the mower HATES to mow tall stringy grass. I purchased JD's pred blades; B1PD1068, which do not overlap like earlier thread.

I want to love my mower like everyone else. Especially after paying around $1800.00 for it. I would greatly appreciate any more suggestions/ solutions.

 

[bbackyard]

I have 2320 with the 62D mowing deck: The issue I have: front caster wheels not turning, left or right. They just become plows. I have greased them with bearing grease, bike cycle Teflon oil and white lithium grease. It works for about 30 mins. then they stick again. The bushing appears to be to tight of a fit.

Second problem: height adjustment. I basically have one inch of travel. The U shaped turnbuckles are fully screwed in. If I do not have the caster wheels pinned in the second highest position. The deck would only sit about 1 inch off the ground. Are the caster wheels only meant for scalping or are they meant to ride on them 100% of the time?

Lastly: the mower HATES to mow tall stringy grass. I purchased JD's pred blades; B1PD1068, which do not overlap like earlier thread.

I want to love my mower like everyone else. Especially after paying around $1800.00 for it. I would greatly appreciate any more suggestions/ solutions.

 

[KennyG]

Backyard:
I have a 2320 and this is my 4th season mowing with my 62D. I have the independent lift kit.

My experience has been much better than yours. I will agree that the height adjustment is not ideal because it isn't very linear, but if you have the turnbuckles fully shortened, something is wrong. If they are that short, you shouldn't be able to lock the deck up because the uplimit tab will hit the frame before you can turn the adjuster to the lock position. Do you have the independent lift or are you using the 3 point?

The deck should be supported on the lift, not the wheels. If it runs on the wheels all the time, it will wear them out in no time. To measure height, you should be measuring the blades, not the deck frame. (The plastic JD height guage is cheap and works great.) In the lock up position, mine will mow at 5 to 6 inches. The next notch down is about 3-1/2" and this where I usually mow because I have rough lawns. The next notch will drop it to about 2-3/4" which I occassionally use. After that it's too short for my lawn but it will eventually go down to golf green height. On a flat surface, even the lowest position keeps the frame just off the ground. You have to go to the install position to get it to touch the ground.

Look at where the uplimit tab is when the deck is locked up. If it is just 1/8" or so from the frame, you should get the full range of adjustment.

My wheels pivot and turn fine but I since I mow high, they don't hit the ground much.

Not sure what the stringy grass problem is. I sometimes bull through stuff I've let go too long and it does pretty well. I used the original JD blades for three years and they cut well but would leave a lot of cuttings when I cut the longer grass. I switched to Gator blades this year and they don't make the clippings go away but did reduce them somewhat. The cut seemed to be a little smoother.

 

[bbackyard]

Hi KennyG,
Thank you for your help! I use the 3pt hitch. The bolt is fully threaded into the turnbuckle (part 3B in diagram MP41636) in that the bolt bottoms out into the lifting arm (part 6). The casters if I pin them up so the that are only about 1/2 inch lower than the bottom of the mowing deck. Next, height dial is at the highest mark. I lower the mowing deck. The bottom of the mower is only about 1 inch off the ground. You are correct. I have already purchased 4 new wheels. Can you take a couple of pictures of your mower mounted to the tractor and post it? Again, I greatly appreciate your help. It is very stressful knowing that I'm going to have to kept purchasing wheels after mowing for about one month.

 

[Hammsman]

If the 3 point is lifting the deck up as far as it should, you should be able to spin the height adjustment knob all the way around without hitting any stops when the deck is in the full up position. We had to adjust the rod that comes from the 3 point hitch to the lifting mechanism so the knob would spin without hitting anything.