Mowing 914A mower leveling

KYTurkey · May 10, 2005

Howdy folks! Sorry to jump in feet first with a question...I know that's bad manners. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif I am also a newbie to tractors in general, having drooled over them for some time but never owning one. Now, that's all changed and I'm the proud owner of a new TC24DA with the 914A MMM and a Rotomec sideshift tiller.

Anyway, here's my delimma. The tractor came delivered with the MMM in "transport" position and the tiller mounted to the 3-point hitch. After doing the tilling my wife required (that went great!), I removed the tiller and the lock pins for the mower, allowing it to drop into operating position with the lift.

My problem is that, no matter where I set my lift height (including all the way down), and no matter which cutting height I set with the wheel adjustments, the rear wheels never quite touch the ground. They're close, but I can spin them by hand with no trouble. The only way I can get the deck to hit "rock bottom" is to disconnect the lift arms. I checked the wheel heights to make sure I didn't get the wrong holes or something obvious like that; everything looks correct.

There is a "float spring" adjustment mentioned in the MMM manual, which I attempted. This is supposed to set the lift height so that the mower "floats" on the lift hydraulics when in operating position, allowing the hydraulics to bear part of the weight at all times. It specifically states that all 4 wheels should be on the ground at that point. As part of that adjustment, you are supposed to remove two back-to-back nuts from the float spring assembly. When you reinstall them, they should be "finger tight" according to the manual. But, mine were so tight that I couldn't break them loose with a 14" long wrench. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif As a matter of fact, I actually turned the rod they were threaded on, but never got the nuts to budge.

So, having said all of that, should I be concerned? The mower seems to cut fine, but I was worried that, with those back wheels off the ground, something may get in a bind or be otherwise damaged. Could the lift arms be set to a different height for the tiller, and I need to readjust them for the mower? Or am I barking up the wrong tree altogether?

Sorry for the long first post...I promise I'm not ALWAYS this chatty. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

thcri · May 10, 2005

Your deck is a floating deck. You should be able to get the wheels firmly on the ground but you never will want to mow that way. What I do normally is once I decide the height, I set the wheels front and back and then I set the tractor on a level concrete surface and I gradually lower the deck until the wheels just touch the concrete. This is where I set the draft gauge on the 3 point. If you let that mower totally run on the ground you will gouge your yard and you will also pre-maturelyl take out the bearings on the wheels. Again it is a floating deck and it will perform much better if floating. But if not mowing and on concrete you should be able to set the weight of the deck on the wheels by lowering your 3 point all the way down.

You may have to give your dealer a call and see what he says.

murph

hazmat · May 10, 2005

The "fixed" lift arm should be in the highest of the three settings, the adjustable (turnbuckle) arm should be even with the other.

If the fore/aft aligment is still out, adjust the length of the rod that is directly above the mower deck (as opposed to the one connected to the lift arms/springs). Take one side of the rod off by removing the pin in the U shaped clevis, then adjust the length.

To loosten the two nuts you want to use 2 wrenches. Hold whichever one is against something still, and try to free up the other one.

KYTurkey · May 11, 2005

Murph, your procedure for floating the deck is the last part of that adjustment procedure I mentioned...the only problem is that the rear wheels never reach the ground, no matter how low I let the draft go.

Hazmat, I'll check those points you mention; I'm not sure which setting the adjustable arm is on. That may be the whole problem. Regarding the two wrenches on two nuts, I did that already. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But I only had one long wrench, so I probably just need to get a little more "oomph" on it.

Thanks guys!

SacandagaBrad · May 13, 2005

We all had the same discussion when I bought mine about a year and a half ago. The decks are supposed to tilt forward slightly, different mechanics have different opinions as to how much. Here is the link (I hope) to that thread.

leveling 914A

KYTurkey · May 13, 2005

Thanks very much for that! I should have searched first and asked second... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

SacandagaBrad · May 13, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Thanks very much for that! I should have searched first and asked second... )</font>

No problem! You can always ask here. I just re-read my post and realized it might sound snotty, but I was on my way out the door for work and just wanted to add to the discussion. I get tired of searching sometimes, especially if I'm not sure of a key word or term to search.

How about that TC-24? I love mine and continue to be amazed at the power and versatility of a relatively small machine.

Brad

KYTurkey · May 14, 2005

Not snotty at all! I learned a lot by doing that search and reading all of the similar questions. I had also noticed the left/right level difference on dropping, too, so it was good to see that it's not uncommon.

The tractor has been WONDERFUL so far. The first thing I did with it was till my wife's garden. In the past we spent hours with a large walk-behind tiller, going over it at least twice each time...with the TC24 and tiller it took me about 45 minutes, and that's including getting the feel for operating the tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif As far as mowing, I've been mowing about 8 acres with a 44-inch Swisher trailcutter pulled behind an ATV (of all things /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif ), which took me 6+ hours to do. I can't go as fast with the tractor, but the extra cutting width, along with better maneuverability and the ability to go easily go backwards, has trimmed a lot of time off that too! Plus, my dealer is great and very helpful. He immediately offered to take a look at my mower problem, but he's an hour away so I tried to take care of it myself first to save us both some trouble. I've enjoyed figuring out how it all works, anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks again!