A few weeks ago I tried once again to attach the rough cut mower.
I had last dropped it on a pallet but when I tried to attach it again the first thing that happened is it fell off the pallet. This was a bad thing because it was forever trying to get it to a place I could try and attach it again.
For the next 4 hours I tried everything but it would not go that last inch so that I could close the lock. Finally I called the dealer who gave me some pointers over the phone and I tried for another hour with no luck. I called the dealer again in defeat and he said he could come out to me in a few days.
While I waited and fumed over how much I paid for this tractor, I calmed down enough to get out my callipers and found that one of the hooks on the attachment was bent. The bottom of one of the hooks on the implement was bent up about 1/2 inch.
Measuring the attachment pin on the tractor at 3/4", I got a 3/4" wood dowel rod and found sure enough that it would not fit in the bent pac-man like mouth of the attachment. Only one pac-man mouth was bent, the other was ok. So nothing I could have done in that 5 hours would ever have gotten the implement attached because it was impossible to attach.
When the dealer came, he looked everything over. He agreed that the hook was bent and took an air grinder to it and it was back on in a few minutes. I have no idea when this bent or how. My best guess is when it fell off the pallet. Somehow the cover to the pulley on the attachment was all bent up too. Don't know when that happened, but hey, a lot can happen in 5 hours of frustration.
He then demonstrated the attachment process to me. The only thing that I was really missing was the jiggle on the steering wheel just as the attachment gets close to being locked. I was doing it, but not at the much faster frequency that the dealer did it. I suppose this is to break the binding situation that happens.
The only implement I'm leaving on a pallet is the bucket and as pointed out earlier in this thread, paying attention to the orientation of the bucket so the attachment arms are in the best position. I put some electrical tape on the back of the bucket as markers where to leave it when taking it off.
Still not sure about the landscape rake. Its problem is the attachment arms float in a different way that the mower arms float. That and it is such a light implement. The dealer extended the wheels out in front further and he said that would make it easier to attach, but I haven't tried it since.
One final thing I've been doing is I bought 2 led lights that have magnets on them. When I go to hook up, I stick those lights on the cowl of the tractor and light up the hooks on the tractor so I can see them much better.
I do appreciate the responses to this thread. They have helped me!
