Mowing Installation of mower deck

Gfsimon · Apr 11, 2001

Ok, the grass is getting green and base on all the rain we've had, I suspect I'll be mowing in a week or so. Based on other threads in this forum, I think I decided on a 72" belly mount mower for my 2910. Questions:

What's involved in installing the deck for the first time? Does something have to be attached to the frame? What's used to raise and lower the deck? Will I need to cut the shaft as mentioned in other threads?

Thanks for any comments.

Jerry
SE Minnesota

Mikemas · Apr 11, 2001

Jerry,
I assume you are thinking about hanging a Kubota mid-mount deck under your B2910. The factory deck will come as a kit with all the brackets and sub-frame to mount it to the tractor. The mower deck is raised and lowered by way of arms and linkages that are attached to the lower lift arms of your three point hitch and run forward to the top of the mower deck. The driveshaft for the mower needs no modification and slides on to the mid pto on the front of the transmission case. I have a B2710 with a 60" mid-mount that I am pleased with and gives an excellent cut, but going with the 72" (if you have the room) is the way to go.

Mike

Gfsimon · Apr 11, 2001

Thanks Mike, Yup, I'm planning on the Kubota deck. I'm not mechanically challenged, but have no experiance working on the tractor (and also don't have a whole lot of patience sometimes /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif). I can however follow a set of directions pretty good...so, are the directions for installation good (and complete)? Any special tools required?

Jerry
SE Minnesota

skent · Apr 11, 2001

My mid mount mower came installed, but the manual (that came with it) showed detailed how-to's and where to's. Lot a nuts and bolts, but shouldn't bee too bad. Remember to re-torque all bolts after first use!

Steve
(There are three kinds of people. . . .those who can count. . . and those who can't!)

Mikemas · Apr 11, 2001

I had mine installed before delivery, however I have enough experience disassembling and reassembling to qualify an
answer. To try and make a long story short, I had a problem with my mower deck not lifting evenly when I raised it with the three point lever. This made it extremely difficult to "pin" the mower in the up position.(there are two pins with clips to hold the deck in the highest possible position up against the frame for added clearance when you are not mowing) My
dealer apparently didn't notice that one of the lift rods was longer than the other. (one was from a 72" deck) This in turn bent the lift arms, the lift backets, and linkages. They replaced all the damaged parts and I reassembled everything as per the installation instructions in the owners' manual. The manual is pretty specific and I don't think it would be very difficult from scratch other than wrestling the weight of the 72" deck.
Good luck.

Mike

Gfsimon · Apr 12, 2001

Thanks for the responses.

As a followup, I called my dealer yesterday to order the 72" MM Kuobta deck. After talking to him, I decided to let them install it. The dealer said it wouldn't be somthing that he'd do, and I trust him. The price he gave me seemed fair for the deck, labor (6 hours /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif), and pickup & delivery of the tractor. Heck, I figure if it'd take a Kubota mechanic 6 hours to install it, I'd be looking at a couple days /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif.

Jerry
SE Minnesota

skent · Apr 12, 2001

Good decision Jerry,

Figure all the bolts, nuts, washers, then there's the lift rods and brackets that have to be set and checked, then being sure the dech and all hardware work, I'd say you did the right thing. This way he can't come back (in the event of a problem) saying you assembled it wrong. When you consider the price of just the deck being more than most people pay for a whole garden tractor. . . . it's worth the peace of mind.

Steve
"Give me Anbiguity, or give me. . . . . . . .something else"

Mikemas · Apr 12, 2001

I think you're saving yourself some aggravation and scraped knuckles. Another point about the mid-mount; I use the loader to raise the tractor when installing or removing the deck. It is much easier to reinstall the loader than wrestle with the deck. Although with the 72" I think the manual recommends driving up and over the deck.

Mike