Jump to content

Unofficial Home of Old Simplicity & Allis-Chalmers Garden Tractors

Mower Deck Solutions?


MrSteele

Recommended Posts

My 65 Landlord is a fine toy, but so far, every time I use it, something breaks and has to be fixed. While that is not a problem, more fun than trouble, I do have a couple of questions for those of you that have used the tractors for several years. One question is the mower. It is to be rebuilt this winter, as is the Briggs engine. I intend to use the mower and have a specific reason to want in good condition. The deck, however leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth when trying to cut either heavy or dead grass. The belts are in good shape, all new this summer, in fact, and all are Simplicity belts, now. I put cheaper belts on it while I was making it work, as the cost differences made the cheaper blades easier on the pocketbook while I was deciding whether the tractor was worth the amount of money I knew I would be spending on it. That said, I have a question. The belt from the PTO to the deck seems to ride on the back of the deck, not only rubbing the paint off the deck, but also prematurely aging the belt. IS there anything to be done to change this situation? I know I could lower the blade setting, but that is not a solution, as I have other toys for moving dirt, and a lawnmower blade scalp is not what I am looking for in my yard! Also, has anyone ever experimented with a 2 gang pulley system on the PTO at the higher speed pulley, to the deck spindle? The deck seems to clog easily due to the fact that the PTO belt slips easily under heavy loading. A two gang belt system usually alleviates such slippage, but I wonder if the belt riding on the deck is a part of the problem, creating additional drag on the belt.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

after replacing a few belts on my 64 LL, I noticed that the pulleys seem to have a little tilt in them on the pto. I was surprized at how much the shafts and pto frame where egg shaped. a little welding and they are as good as new!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you have the tensioning lever under the left rear axle pulled back to apply proper tension to the center PTO?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haven't checked the height. It may or may not be 1/2", but the front is higher than the rear. I learned that trick on my Dixon early on, and stopped having mower clogging problems. I wish the Dixon was as easy to adjust as the Simplicity!!! The tension on the PTO seems to be correct, but I have not checked the mounting shafts themselves. Thanks..will try that this week!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rob, thanks. Got deck level and 1/2" higher in front per instructions. At my cutting height of approx 2-3/4" front is only like 1/4" higher but I'm guessing that's normal. Manual refers to the 1/2" at lowest setting. Deck is made from best parts of 2 salvaged ones and they not identical. Blade belt idler had spring tension on newer deck so it's now on older deck which had the better spindles and no cracks in deck. I'll mow this afternoon and see if this also helped my problem with the PTO not completely disengaging especially with deck in the raised position. I poured over the PTO adjustment in Landlord 101 book and puttered a bit but still not happy with that. We'll see... Jim
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...