62D gage wheel shafts breaking on 2520

jenkinsph · Apr 25, 2012

I don't have a 62D deck but I remember reading about these problems back in 2009 on TBN. Curious if these decks when in the down position are free to move upwards?

Do these decks have anti scalp front rollers or not? Those sxisting wheels look too small for the job, but I am curious if there is room for larger ones.

BigD9 · Apr 25, 2012

kb2520 said:
Sounds like some of you guys have been through this before. I caught the front left wheel (as you sit in the operators seat) on my 62D on the ramp as I was backing into our barn. When I parked, this is what I had. No loud thud, no forcing in my part. I back into the building at like 0.01 mph. Guess it just got on the wrong angle this time.

Anyone have any suggestions on bending it back? I have tried beating it with a hammer as well as apply heat plus the hammer, and I'm impressed with its stubborn inability to bend back. I bit the bullet and ordered another shaft from my dealer, but it would be nice to be able to at least keep this one as a spare for the future.

Did you come to my house and take those pictures? They look exactly like the wheel shafts on my 2320/62D deck and in fact I was just getting ready to call the dealer and order one. I attempted to bend a shaft back into position a long time ago. It broke. So, I just order new ones. So far in the last 5 years I have had to replace one front and two rear shafts.

beenthere · Apr 25, 2012

What is the diameter of these shafts that are bending?
1", or less than 1" ??

The appear to be less in the pic

Dutch445 · Apr 25, 2012

those adjuster holes are just too big to leave any
strength in the shaft so it doesn't take a ton
of pressure to bend them
i think they are an inch shaft though....

kb2520 · Apr 26, 2012

BigD9 said:
Did you come to my house and take those pictures? They look exactly like the wheel shafts on my 2320/62D deck and in fact I was just getting ready to call the dealer and order one. I attempted to bend a shaft back into position a long time ago. It broke. So, I just order new ones. So far in the last 5 years I have had to replace one front and two rear shafts.

Interesting, this is definitely a weak point in the design of the deck. I have kept the wheels about 1/4" off of the ground thus far & plan to move it up to about 1/2" after this. The way those adjuster holes are spaced though it may end up a little more than 1/2". The deck cuts beautifully, no scalping or anything of the like to this point.

I also plan to level up the ramp into my barn quite a bit more. I realize I caught it on the ramp in the first place, but it was at a speed of creeping. Some on this forum would probably be offended by the way I baby this machine. It was delivered June 2011 & there are 29 hours on it. I still even have the "Sold" tags from the dealer attached! If this shaft would bend with this treatment, I'm surprised a lot more people aren't having to get these shafts from Deere periodically.