B2620 mower position control problem

[CJBOTA]

I think this is common knowledge but I thought I would publish my experience anyway. I purchased a B2620 a couple years ago and I mow a lot. We now have 700 hours on the tractor. I am on my third mower position control assembly. Installed these assemblies run approximately $275. The B2620 has been a great tractor but the
inability to hold position control on the mower deck has been very disappointing. Actually, I have also experienced a few other minor problems with the mower deck as well. Both the front anti scalp wheels broke off. I had a good welder beef them up and I adjusted them up so they wouldn't touch the ground. The deck is breaking apart at the back of the deck on the right side in front of the rear wheel.
I now wish I would have selected a model with a ground engaging mower deck. I am hoping it will hold together for one more year then I will trade it for something better or buy a rear finish mower. The mechanic did tell me today, if I close the hydraulic valve once the mower is in the desired position, the hydraulics will hold the position without breaking any of the mechanical parts. I'll try that and see what happens. It seems to me if I took off the anemic parts and rebuilt it to stay in one solid position it might work better. I always mow at the same height anyway. Again, good tractor crappy deck.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I agree the mechanism to hold the mower at height is a pita. But I find the actual mower deck to be good.

If my son in law, who lives with us, had not purchased a zero turn mower I would try to figure a better way to adjust the mower deck height.

 

[kbplaza]

I had a B2620 the first year they came out and had the drive over mower deck. I had 550 hours on the machine with about 300 hours mowing. Never had a single problem as I mowed 5 acers every week. My machine height adjuster was a spinning knob that had 1/4" metal steps to lock the height. Never had a single problem. The deck was built very strong and never dented or broke any welds as I made my 5 acers of lawn from scratch out of abandond fields and over grown woods. I loved the drive over design and ease to take on and off in minutes. Don't think the hydros hold the deck at height but should be resting on the 1/4" adjuster. Maybe things are not lined up right. Maybe you got a bad deck? I highly recommend a B2620 with a mmm.

 

[GPintheMitten]

Mine has the same metal steps. They are extremely hard to change. Maybe mine needs adjustment
I like the drive over deck and find it to be strong and does a good job of mowing.

 

[CJBOTA]

We mow three separate yards a week that are just about 5 acres each. One of the yards (my son's) is a little rough in places. Yes, I also like the drive over deck. And most of the components on the deck seem substantial. But I stand by my comments on the position control. Even my dealer finally admitted it's not up to Kubota' normal standards. If they were going to make it so it would break so easily somewhere in the assembly they should have installed a cheap shear pin so at least it wouldn't cost so much to fix. Also, if the anti scalp wheel brackets won't hold up when the wheels touch the ground what is the sense to have them. I was able to fix that problem with home made brackets made out of 1/4" thick plate. Before we bought the B2620 we had a Cub 3000 series with a heavy ground engaging deck. The only problem we had was we went thu a lot of mower deck belts. We used it about 10 years before "upgrading" to the Kubota. If we had that Deck with a heavier belt mounted on the B2620 we would have the perfect combination. We could call it a Cubota. However the Cubs today are total junk.

 

[oldballs]

Have 280 hours on my B2620, probably 200 hours of which is mowing. I did break one front anti-scalp wheel weld when hitting a large concealed rock in my son's rough field. A neighbor welded the break and have had no further issues with the wheel mounts. The deck adjuster can be tricky to set or manipulate. I am changing it all the time when loading/unloading the rig on the trailer for clearance. Then I reset the height depending on the situation of the field or turf. My conclusion is that I have learned how to use the MMM and its adjustment works as designed. If I was to mow rough ground routinely, I'd buy a rear rotary cutter......but then I'd have to buy a longer trailer too.:2cents: And thanks for your experience in your case CJBOTA, as we all can learn from each other's rigs... and the position control has been mentioned by several members as a problem that Kubota might be improved. BTW, I don't use the drive over function, since I find that the slide under function is just as easy in my hands, even off a smooth concrete surface.

 

[Gator6x4]

We mow three separate yards a week that are just about 5 acres each. One of the yards (my son's) is a little rough in places. Yes, I also like the drive over deck. And most of the components on the deck seem substantial. But I stand by my comments on the position control. Even my dealer finally admitted it's not up to Kubota' normal standards. If they were going to make it so it would break so easily somewhere in the assembly they should have installed a cheap shear pin so at least it wouldn't cost so much to fix. Also, if the anti scalp wheel brackets won't hold up when the wheels touch the ground what is the sense to have them. I was able to fix that problem with home made brackets made out of 1/4" thick plate. Before we bought the B2620 we had a Cub 3000 series with a heavy ground engaging deck. The only problem we had was we went thu a lot of mower deck belts. We used it about 10 years before "upgrading" to the Kubota. If we had that Deck with a heavier belt mounted on the B2620 we would have the perfect combination. We could call it a Cubota. However the Cubs today are total junk.

It sounds like the mower deck is locked in a fixed position when you are mowing. You then go into a dip or depression in the yard, the anti-scalp wheels contacts the ground, the deck cannot move upwards forcing the anti-scalp wheels and mower deck to support the weight of the tractor, something the deck was not designed to do.

You need to set the deck at your favorite mowing height, turn the engine off and take a large stick or two by four and see if the deck can be forced upwards by lifting on each side. If the deck will not move upwards you need to determine why.

You may also go through a memory check list again. Raise mower to highest position, adjust height control knob to desired mowing height, then lower deck. The deck should remain at that height while you are mowing and also float upwards when the anti-scalp wheels touch the ground. If the mower deck will not stay up, check the mower deck height position control mechanism.

One last thing, mowing fifteen acres of grass a week would put a lot of stress, wear and tear on a tank. That equates to sixty acres a month or three hundred and sixty acres a year for a six month mowing season. That is a lot of mowing.

 

[prevent]

Mine has the same metal steps. They are extremely hard to change. Maybe mine needs adjustment
I like the drive over deck and find it to be strong and does a good job of mowing.

Mine had same problem when first got it thought it was normal. When it went in for 50/100hr service they said it was wrong and fixed it now it's like better. Only adjust height with deck up all the way

 

[jeff9366]

Limit Chains from the tractor to the mower may solve your problems.

LINK:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ta-b3300su-zerco-check-chains.html?highlight=

 

[kbplaza]

My adjuster turned hard too but remember to only adjust it with the deck up. And like stated above the deck should float when the anti scalp wheels engage the ground. The only time my wheels touched the ground is when I took the deck off or when the mower was going to scalp. You don't want to be running the four wheel with pressure on them while mowing, keep them up high so they run in the grass a turn but only touch the ground traversing unlevel terrain. The wheels on the deck are not designed to have pressure on them all the time. Looking at the adjuster the way it works is that it phisicaly stops the deck from lowering below the desired setting. So say you go from setting 1 to setting 2 the adjuster stop and engages the deck linkage earlier so it can't settle down any further. Hydraulics don't hold the deck in place at a set height, it's metal on metal locking the deck at height. Nothing should be locking the deck in place and the deck should be free to float up like a three point hitch set up.