John Deere MX6 adjustments

[PTW3320]

Just curious about the top link slack adjuster thingy for the mower to follow contours. Are there supposed to be rollers on the bushings? Mine has none, never came with any. As I'm mowing, if I come across a slight depression or bump, the slack arm binds up and when the weight of the mower takes over, it drops with a bang. My back and neck are getting sore from jerking from checking to see if I hit something.

 

[arlen4720]

That's the way they are. Lube it up good, and it will begin to loosen up. Also, look in the op manual for instructions on how to adjust the top link for the proper slack.

 

[PTW3320]

Funny you say it will loosen up, worked a very rough 10 acre field today and it jammed up solid. I took it apart and the spacers/bushings are warped and misshapen. This happened a couple of months ago too and it sheared the slot bolt in half (a 19mm 10.8)! so I replaced it with a 3/4" grade 8. I thought it was fixed, but I guess it's off to JD to get a couple more spacers/bushings. Strange that all my JD's are made in the US, shipped to Canada, but all bolts and nuts are metric...
I followed the op man for the slack adj on the top link, and it worked darn near perfectly (till I found the hidden badger hole(s)).

 

[PTW3320]

Well the first trip to the dealership resulted in getting 2 larger diameter bushings, took them back home, installed them and thought it was fixed. The next day I picked up a quick 2 acre job and about 5 minutes in...hopelessly jammed up again. So I finished it off, (property owner didn't care about the "wavy pattern" and he felt bad about all of the hidden rubble I hit) loaded up and went straight back to the dealer. My salesman, service manager and machinery builder came out to see exactly what was binding up. Here it wasn't the slotted bushing, it was the top one! The service manager and builder both agreed to just take the top one out and run it on the slotted one only. What a simple fix! Not only does it work, it can be adjusted for as much flotation as I want, from 0" to 7"! Even threw in a few more grade 8 bolts/nuts/bushings for spares. Just kinda wish I had it fixed this good at the start of the season and not the end.....