Deere X530 help for newbie

[moduckhunter]

I recently purchased a John Deere X530, which is the first riding mower/garden tractor I have ever owned or operated.

When I purchased the mower, I had to remove the 54 inch deck because the tractor would not fit on my trailer with the deck attached. Now I'm about to re-attach the deck, and when reading the manual, I noticed that I skipped a step when originally removing the deck. I did not lower the "cutting height" to the lowest level before removing the deck. In fact, the deck and four deck wheels were roughly 1 inch off the ground when we removed the deck. The hydraulic deck lift button was lowered as far as it would go, but the deck and deck wheels were still an inch or two off the ground. I believe the adjustment knob was turned to the "level" setting.

Now, I'm about to re-attach the deck, and the directions say to again lower the "cutting height" to the lowest level, but the cutting height adjustment knob will not turn......it is like it's locked into place.

Have I already screwed something up, or are you unable to adjust the cutting height knob when the deck is not attached? Also, I'm hoping I didn't mess something up without adjusting to the lowest cutting level before removing the deck. If the knob is unable to turn without the deck attached, then is it safe to re-attach the deck without adjusting the cutting height knob to the lowest level?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[josie]

I believe that if you start the tractor then raise the cutting level all the way up you can then turn the knob to the lowest level. Then lower the cutting level until you year it stop at the end of the stroke. There is too much pressure in the lowered position to make the adjustment. You have to release that pressure by raising it up first. I hope this helps.

 

[bruceatlam]

I believe that if you start the tractor then raise the cutting level all the way up you can then turn the knob to the lowest level. Then lower the cutting level until you year it stop at the end of the stroke. There is too much pressure in the lowered position to make the adjustment. You have to release that pressure by raising it up first. I hope this helps.

Precisely!!

The reason for lowering the deck to its lowest position before you remove it is to get it on its wheels and remove the tension from the pull pins that you pull to dismount it from its hangar under the tractor. Makes pulling the pins easier/or even possible. They're hard to pull with the weight of the deck hanging on them. Same goes for reattaching it ---- you slide the deck under the tractor and then you want to be able to get the hangars as low as possible so you can insert the hangar pins. If you don't get the hangar as low as possible via the hydraulics of the tractor, then you're going to have to lift the deck up somehow to get the hangar pins in ----

You haven't ruined anything as far as I can see; you're just doing it the hard way ----