Questions on 60-inch MMM on BX23

[Allen2]

Last night I took the mower deck off for the first time on my BX23. Given it was the first time it went pretty well. After disconnecting the drive shaft, I tried to turn it directly sideways to keep it out of the way while rolling the deck out from under the tractor. However, it won't go into that position. I could only get about a 45-degree angle. No big deal, it just made it a little harder to juggle the drive shaft around. After I got it off, I could see why it wouldn't go into that position. I attached a picture of the splined shaft from the gearbox and the yoke it goes into. Notice that the end of the splined shaft sticks out of the inside of the yoke a good bit, maybe about half-an-inch. If you try to move the driveshaft to the side, the ear from the other yoke hits it. For those of you with the 60-inch MMM's, are yours like this too? Looks like it would be easy enough to loosen the bolt on the yoke and move it out a little, but I don't know for sure what else that would affect. I also wonder about how close that universal joint is to the pulley just below it. They don't appear to touch, but they are very, very close. This is still a new mower deck and hasn't see action yet. Once the belt loosens up a little, that pulley should move further away, so I am not that concerned. I was just wonder what everyone else's deck was like. See my next post for another question.
Allen

 

[Allen2]

One more question about the mower deck. I had to really work at getting the front latch to release. This is the orange handle in the picture. Anyone else have that problem? After getting the mower off I noticed that this whole handle piece comes off. It was a really tight fit, so I gave it light coating of grease and it worked much better. Since it comes off relatively easily, it made me wonder if it should be removed when the mower deck is not mounted. The owners manual made no mention of this. I don't see any harm with it staying on either. What do the rest of you do with this?
Allen

 

[Mike_C]

I have the same deck, and yes, the same issue with not being able to swing the driveshaft 90 degrees. However, I have found that if I pull off the top half of the telescoping driveshaft (since half of it tends to fall of anyway after moving the deck around in the garage) that it's much easier to remove because the shaft is much shorter.

 

[Mike_C]

my release handle is also hard to swing down. I normally put a pipe wrench on the end of the handle to give me more leverage, and then it swings fairly easily. After removing the deck I swing it back up into position like when the deck is mounted. I leave it on that way all the time (rarely have the mower deck mounted) and I've never had any trouble with it trying to fall off or anything.

 

[JWE]

Allen2

I have a BX2200 and the front lever/latch works freely on my BX. When I am not using the mower I remove the lever and store it with the mower. However, I'm sure it doesn't hurt to leave it on.

The drive shaft on my 60 inch mmm will not rotate 90 degrees but it does rotate far enough to remove the mower. If I have the FEL on I use the FEL to lift the front end to give more clearance.

What I have a problem with is the rotation of the left rear antiscalp roller. There is not enough clearance between the tire and the roller to allow it to rotate freely. sometimes it is a struggle to get it rotated. The dealer told me that most BXs that are equipped with bar tires have that problem.

John

 

[Allen2]

John,
I had the same problem with the left rear wheel too. I was able to move the deck enough to get the wheel into position, but it was right against the tire. I guess your dealer is right. It occurred to me it might be the bar tires. I wonder if you can get the tire into a position so that the wheel fits inbetween the bars. I'll have to check that the next time I take it off.
Allen

 

[Allen2]

Mike,
Thanks for the reply. It is always good to know that these things are probably normal. I will probably keep the handle on as well, since that will make one less piece I need to keep track of. I get the feeling my mower is going to spend alot of time off as well.
Allen

 

[chucko]

"left rear antiscalp roller"

I have the same problem with my bx1800 and 60" deck with turf tires

I just move that wheel all the way up and drop the other three when removing the deck
sure would be nice if you could drive over these decks. maybe I will make something like a ramp out of angle iron that will allow me to drive over.

 

[DannyD]

I know the problem also, if you lower the unit as low as you can and keep the wheel just off the ground it will move around, but not all the way as in 360 degrees. I have bar tires, very little clearance, but enough.

My front latch handle is snug, not a problem, unless I pull a stunt and get my finger in the way........been there and done that...........

 

[Henro]

<font color="blue">After disconnecting the drive shaft, I tried to turn it directly sideways to keep it out of the way while rolling the deck out from under the tractor. However, it won't go into that position. I could only get about a 45-degree angle. </font>

Allen, mine is like yours and everyone else's it seems. I checked it today before I put my mower on the BX. It had been off for the winter.

Anyway, one thing I noticed is that like yours, the angle I could get was limited pretty much. Until, that is, I rotated the shaft a bit, probably 90 degrees. Then I could get more angle, and the max was not determined by the splined shaft, but rather by the U-joint yokes themselves.

So if you need a little more angle, you might get it by rotating the drive shaft a little and trying again...