JD 2210 with middle mower lift issues

Thepan · Jul 28, 2011

well not so much lift issues, but lowering to the varrious heights on the lift scale. For instance , it lifts all the way and lowers all the way but the settings inbetween, for 2 -3-4 inch does not seem to "catch" I can't figure out how the cog system works, mine spins freely 360 degrees, any advice or serivce adjustments

thatguy · Jul 28, 2011

Just to clarify - do you have that knob in the middle of the floorboard with Lock/Hi/Med/Low on the dial? Do you have mechanical or hydraulic lift kit?

Brian

Thepan · Jul 29, 2011

I have the hydraulic lift, and the knob has inch increments from 1 -5 - it is in the middle of the floor board

I was thinking of taking off the floorboard, how exactly is that done, all i see are 4 bolts thorugh the top , gottta be more to it??

ovrszd · Jul 29, 2011

I'm thinking if your knob spins freely, all the way around, it's probably sheared the pin that holds the adjuster to the knob shaft, or maybe sheared the knob pin that holds it to the shaft. I'm guessing it's been very difficult to turn for quite a while and finally just spins??

If you remove the deck and get under the tractor you can see the assembly. I've never tried to take mine apart but I'm guessing it all unbolts from the bottom.

Removing the floorpan might be an option but is probably complex.

Each year when I service my machine I put it up on the auto hoist without the deck so I can see everything. One of the things I service is the adjuster. I spray it with teflon lubricant. It doesn't collect dust and makes the adjuster work like a champ. Without servicing the adjuster it will get very hard to turn. I bought my machine used and had to use pliers to turn the knob the first time. I knew that wasn't going to last long so investigated lubricating it.

Good luck with your issue and let us know what you find and how you fix it. Sorry I couldn't help more.

Edit: One last comment. Should never try to turn the adjuster with the weight of the deck on it. I always lift my deck to make changes.

North Country · Jul 29, 2011

The knob will spin "freely" (ok, with just a little friction) 360 degrees when it is in correct operating order *and* when the mowing deck is fully lifted. You don't have to remove the floorboards to service it.

Is your knob perpendicular to the deck, or is it at a slight angle? Many people have had the mounting bracket for the knob come loose and this can cause the problems you describe. If should come straight out of the floorboards and not ahve any side-to-side wobble.

Thepan · Jul 29, 2011

it will spin freely without stop , I think it is straight but will double check. sounds like I need to remove mower , get her up on ramps and take a good look, thanks for the information!

ovrszd · Jul 30, 2011

Thepan said:
it will spin freely without stop ,

That indicates a problem. If you look at my picture below you see a picture of a padlock in the 5 oclock position. That position is how you lock the deck at the highest position. That position is also a stop, turn around the other direction to the install position, which sets the deck at the lowest position and you hit that same stop. If you can turn your knob without stop something is wrong. Also with the deck lifted when I turn my knob I feel detents, probably twenty in a complete revolution.

North Country · Jul 30, 2011

IMHO, it's not a stop. If the deck is adjusted properly, you can spin it 360 *without* hitting a stop. If you hit a stop at the lock position, your deck can go higher.

You can confirm this by crawling underneath with the deck off and having someone spin the knob while you move the lift arms.

Look at the pattern of adjustments on the cam from underneath and this should make more sense.

thatguy · Jul 30, 2011

This is correct.. It should spin 360 degrees

On my 62D I finally got knob adjusted correctly BUT there arent many positions that are actually useful..

The knob controls a cam that has 'steps' on it.. At the widest part of the cam is the LOCK position. The first position down from Lock gives me about a mowing height of 4" - the second step down from Lock gives me 3".. 4" is where i normally mow but the 3" gives a much cleaner look.. I am trying to figure out how to get a 3.5" position.

brian

North Country said:
IMHO, it's not a stop. If the deck is adjusted properly, you can spin it 360 *without* hitting a stop. If you hit a stop at the lock position, your deck can go higher.

You can confirm this by crawling underneath with the deck off and having someone spin the knob while you move the lift arms.

Lock at the pattern of adjustments on the cam from underneath and this should make more sense.

Thepan · Jul 30, 2011

thanks gang, looked closer today and it seems the cog on mine is worn some and the shaft has some play, hard to access without removing a buncha stuff, so still looking and scratching my head...

North Country · Jul 30, 2011

I'm pretty sure if your wrists aren't too bad you can access it for removal by just removing the mowing deck. Removing the floorboards shouldn't be required. A six pack of beer and a bucket full of 4-letter words may prove useful.

megotatractor · Jul 30, 2011

with the deck lowered you shouldn't be able to turn the knob at all, but will turn freely when raised until it hits the lock stop.(though sometimes the stop can miss if the lift is lifted tight to the upstop) Something must be wrong underneath with the cam mechanism.

megotatractor · Jul 30, 2011

North Country said:
I'm pretty sure if your wrists aren't too bad you can access it for removal by just removing the mowing deck. Removing the floorboards shouldn't be required. A six pack of beer and a bucket full of 4-letter words may prove useful.

I looked at removing the platform when I was having issues with the twin touch pedals mechanisms, not worth it. To remove the platform requires removing the rear fenders.

But yes, doesn't everything require at least a bucket full of 4 letter words? LOL

ovrszd · Jul 31, 2011

megotatractor said:
with the deck lowered you shouldn't be able to turn the knob at all, but will turn freely when raised until it hits the lock stop.(though sometimes the stop can miss if the lift is lifted tight to the upstop) Something must be wrong underneath with the cam mechanism.

Yeah, that's how I saw it too. I used the manual to adjust mine so the numbers somewhat matched the cut height and when I did that the built in stop correctly prohibited turning the knob 360.

It's actually a pretty good mechanism that works great when properly lubricated and maintained.

A worn mechanism would indicate someone has man handled the knob, adjusting it with deck weight on it. If it's always adjusted with no deck weight there shouldn't be any wear on the cam at all.

thatguy · Jul 31, 2011

IF your knob will not turn 360 degrees all the way around - it means you can NOT utilize the 'lock' position to hold up the deck at its highest position.. That is ASSUMING that the cam (Part #5) under the tractor is still spinning when the knob is turned from up top.

Tractor off, mmm off, 3pt UP - climb under it and look at the cam set up.. you will see the 'ear' (the metal tab between parts #11 and #12) that hits the cam - when it doesn't turn freely this ear is actually hitting the cam at the 1st (highest mowing) setting.

By raising the MMM up a tad more (mine needed approx .25") you can utilize the lock position as it was designed (at the widest part of the cam).. I am not sure how you adjust a hydraulic lift

I have attached a pic of the lift mechanism for the mechanical lift - I am assuming the knob set up is the same though

Thepan · Jul 31, 2011

the picture is great, no time to get in there today , plus 96 on the thermometer. LOL on the beer idea, was a good thing to do today ...the beer thing that is.

i will dive into it tomorrow and let you know what I find

ovrszd · Aug 1, 2011

thatguy said:
IF your knob will not turn 360 degrees all the way around - it means you can NOT utilize the 'lock' position to hold up the deck at its highest position.. That is ASSUMING that the cam (Part #5) under the tractor is still spinning when the knob is turned from up top.

Tractor off, mmm off, 3pt UP - climb under it and look at the cam set up.. you will see the 'ear' (the metal tab between parts #11 and #12) that hits the cam - when it doesn't turn freely this ear is actually hitting the cam at the 1st (highest mowing) setting.

By raising the MMM up a tad more (mine needed approx .25") you can utilize the lock position as it was designed (at the widest part of the cam).. I am not sure how you adjust a hydraulic lift

I have attached a pic of the lift mechanism for the mechanical lift - I am assuming the knob set up is the same though

Awww yes,, I see what you are saying. Hmmmmm.... I have my lift adjusted so that the tractor arms that attach to the deck are up against the metal stops on the tractor frame when lifted all the way. With that said, I still can't turn my knob around and around without hitting a stop. I took it that the highest setting tab on part #5 was a stop rather than an additional setting.

Would that mean that I have the vertical adjusters that attach to those arms adjusted to the wrong length?? I changed them in an attempt to make sense out of the numbers on the knob template.

I guess in the end it doesn't matter since I've got my tractor arms up against the frame stops, can't raise the deck any higher than that anyway can I??

Reason I'm asking is I sometimes do tractor work with the deck on and want it carried in the lock position as high as possible.

Thanks for attaching the drawing, that'll help the OP tremendously in understanding what's going on under there. Since he's saying it doesn't matter where he turns the knob his deck still drops to the ground when lowered I'm thinking when he turns the knob he is not turning the cam.

North Country · Aug 1, 2011

ovrszd said:
I guess in the end it doesn't matter since I've got my tractor arms up against the frame stops, can't raise the deck any higher than that anyway can I??

There's "works as designed" and "works for me." If it works for you - it works for you. I wouldn't bother changing it. I only spent a lot of time under there the first time I mounted the arms & deck, and haven't been back under since. Since I didn't know what would work for me at the time, I aimed for "works as designed."

thatguy · Aug 1, 2011

North Country said:
There's "works as designed" and "works for me." If it works for you - it works for you. I wouldn't bother changing it. I only spent a lot of time under there the first time I mounted the arms & deck, and haven't been back under since. Since I didn't know what would work for me at the time, I aimed for "works as designed."

I have had my tractor for 4 yrs and until a few months ago I was at the 'works for me' point - then I decided to try and make it work correctly..

the 2320 maybe different than the 2305/2210 - in the front of the 62D MMM i have a piece of solid angle iron that runs across the deck - THAT is the upstop limiter for the 2320 - the limiter should be just a few MM's below the tractor frame when the the 3pt is fully lifted..

On a mechanical lift (i realize the OP has hydraulic) you can adjust the part #23/21 to shorten the rod and raise the deck.. I dont know about the lift arms though

Brian

megotatractor · Aug 2, 2011

adjust those hangars too short and you bend the push rod. A "little bit" tight lets the knob sometimes hop over the stop. hangers too long and it doesn't lift all the way up. I believe the owner's manual specs the exact length the push rod should be adjusted and the space the arms should be from the tractor frame when all the way up. Properly adjusted it works, but the numbers were never meant to correlate to anything.