CH4Ohio
Platinum Member
I have a B2910 with 72" MMM. It takes me 5 minutes to remove it. One lever up front, pull a pin on either side, reach under and slide the PTO shaft off, lower bucket to raise front wheels off ground, rolls right out the right side. Goes on just as easy except I do have to lay on my back to attach the mid-PTO.
That mower deck is really heavy duty and does a great job. However, the tractor is still heavy enough to tweak the deck or the blades or the hangers or the linkages if you get it hung up on something or catch the sides and twist it. One weak point is the cups that are mounted right above the blades on the spindle shafts underneath. They're just sheet metal and I've bent one of those before when I got a stick of firewood jammed under the deck in some high weeds.
Also, not sure if your setup is the same as mine, but my tractor doesn't have provisions to "pin it up". There are some hangers underneath that have provisions to "pin up" the deck hanger arms when the deck is off -- but they're NOT designed to carry the weight of the deck or hold it up. These hangers are actually pretty light and would get bent up.
I also think that trying to carry the mower deck up high would interfere with the 3-point hitch. Will your hitch still drop and raise through it's full range if you "pin" the deck up? If not, those linkages will end up bent.
Personally don't think it's worth the risk of tearing it up so I try to avoid tilling, significant loader work, pushing snow, 3-point implements, etc. with the deck on. I can remove the deck as as fast as I could strap it up anyway.
As far as storage, I have a 2" ratchet strap around a post in the barn and I just hang the deck upright against the post using the hinged front-mount. I use the loader to lift it up there and just hook the ratchet strap and give it a few cranks. That's my winter storage method.
FWIW, that's how I handle it . . . Don't bend your deck up.
That mower deck is really heavy duty and does a great job. However, the tractor is still heavy enough to tweak the deck or the blades or the hangers or the linkages if you get it hung up on something or catch the sides and twist it. One weak point is the cups that are mounted right above the blades on the spindle shafts underneath. They're just sheet metal and I've bent one of those before when I got a stick of firewood jammed under the deck in some high weeds.
Also, not sure if your setup is the same as mine, but my tractor doesn't have provisions to "pin it up". There are some hangers underneath that have provisions to "pin up" the deck hanger arms when the deck is off -- but they're NOT designed to carry the weight of the deck or hold it up. These hangers are actually pretty light and would get bent up.
I also think that trying to carry the mower deck up high would interfere with the 3-point hitch. Will your hitch still drop and raise through it's full range if you "pin" the deck up? If not, those linkages will end up bent.
Personally don't think it's worth the risk of tearing it up so I try to avoid tilling, significant loader work, pushing snow, 3-point implements, etc. with the deck on. I can remove the deck as as fast as I could strap it up anyway.
As far as storage, I have a 2" ratchet strap around a post in the barn and I just hang the deck upright against the post using the hinged front-mount. I use the loader to lift it up there and just hook the ratchet strap and give it a few cranks. That's my winter storage method.
FWIW, that's how I handle it . . . Don't bend your deck up.
