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blade height adjustment survey


mroman59

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Im in the process of installing new rollers and roller bars on my 7117 deck. While I have it apart I found that I can make some fairly easy modifications that will give me a higher max blade height with out raising the min blade height too much. According to the booklet the min. is 1 5/8" and the max is 3 1/8", diff of 1 1/2". I can create a 2" difference between min and max. setting, however the min end and max settings I choose in my design may depend on the results of this survey. Question: What is the preferred blade setting height in inches that you use to cut your grass? Please give a reason why, for example, best look to grass or high enough that it does not dry out grass or low enough so you dont have to cut so often. Thanks, MR
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I would love to cut as close to 4 inches as possible. The sandy soil on long island lets the water just run right thru it. I have to water every night in the summer otherwise it starts to wilt.
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I cut about 2-1/2" inch in the spring, raise it to maximum in July and August, and cut as short as I can in October (2"?) to make leaf cleanup easier. I'd go close to 4" in August if I could.
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I cut mine about 2 inches. Tall grass needs cutting more often to look good, and it also builds up much more thatch. Guess I am lazy, but my tractors are around to save me from work, not make more for me.:D
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I like 4" all the time. My grass dies in august regardless so I just leave it up. I was never happy with how short my simplicities cut so I shortened the deck lift cable 3/4" and adjusted the clevises on the front of the deck to keep it up. I would still like it to go alittle higher in the spring since the high spots bog the motor some, instead im just repowering to a 16hp.
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I believe that the max. setting that I can achieve without raising the min setting to high is 4 - 4/18" Therefore, my min. setting will be around 2". I don't ever remember setting my blades down to 1 5/8" (like the book indicates) on any of my tractors over the years. It would dry out my grass. I wonder if they thought these 7117's would be used on a golf course fairway at one time? MR
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I mow with a 616 yeoman. The rollers are pretty tired, and I leave it at its highest all the time, and wish I could get a bit more. Going to redo the rollers maybe this summer and see what I get. If it doesn't get much higher, I may also raise the thing some. I have never used the lowest setting on any mower I have ever used. Steve
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I mow commercial lawns full time for the past 10 years, totaling 25 acres a week. A lot of my accounts are large commercial yards so 3 1/2" is perfect for most all my yards. There are a few little old lady's that like it shorter. The shortest I will go is 2 1/2" only when asked. I was doing the Court House lawn and had about everyone that walked in the Court House thought the grass should be mowed like there house 2" or less. It did look better at 2 1/2" I guess, But the 2 Parks I did was cut at 3 1/2" as well as all other accounts. A 3 1/2 tall cut will, hold up over the stresses of dry a wet weather, hide dead cut clipping if rainy and behind in mowing. hold down weed from over taking the grass if grass is stressed. What your doing is what I proposed (and did) here years ago. About 8 years ago I got a account to mow abandoned property for the City. At the time I was using Simplicity and Allis. I re power a B110 to 16hp and found some Gator blades and raised the back of the deck up to mow 15 and 20" grass/weeds. So the normal height setting of the B110 was never going to cut it. I added (welded) a peace of steel to the back rollers to get my deck as high as it would go before hitting the PTO pulley. What a mowing machine, its is great cut and did me well for years till I up graded to a Dixie Chopper. None of my competition can compete with the abandoned property as I have. I'm still doing these types of yards again this years. I have keep the old B110, now B116 for a back up mower but have not used it in years. It has made me enough money to afford some of the best mowers made today. The book on my B10 gave the height cut at 3 1/8 if I remember right, but as the deck wears it is impossible to get even 3" set as high as it would go unmodified. I have 3 basic height setting 2 1/2, 3 1/2 and 4 1/4. I am soon in the process to do a deck lift on my newest edition for 2011 equipment. To raise the deck on my 4140 Powermax (hoping to get it up to 3 1/2 as well).
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I would love to cut my grass higher than the '3 1/8", that turns into sub-3" as deck wears' as well. Anyone successful with this and making a tutorial / how-to would be greatly appreciated!
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3 1/8 in the fall, about 2 1/2 in spring so if I can't get out there for a day or two I am not bailing hay:D It actually does look better cut at about 2 1/2. Other thing is I have gator blades so it may be a little shorter then my guestimate.
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The only problem i ran into after shortening the lift cable for my deck was the front of the deck would hit the frame when mowing on a slope sideways limiting the decks ability to level itself with the front axel. I think putting taller tires on would be the easiest way to raise the max cutting height without affecting the float of the deck, but its not very cost effective.
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Well I was going to take photos and post the project, but I guess I cant do that because I am a registered member only. I will try to explain without them. I currently have the roller shaft bar assembly and opposite roller bar off the deck in order to replace with new deck rollers, which should restore my cutting range to the original 1 5/8" to 3 1/8" factory specifications. I wish to achieve a 2" range with my highest setting near 4". Modification Steps 1. Use the roller bar (the one with 5/8" hole in it for 5/8" round bar) as a template. There will be two of them. The 5/8" x 39" (42" deck) round bar will be welded to one of them. 2. Purchase some flat bar 3/8" X 1 1/4" (about two feet). Cut the flat bar 1" longer that the original Simplicity specifications. Drill and tap threads in exact positions as the original. Drill the 5/8" hole for the round roller bar one inch lower than the original specification or in same position as the original from the end of the bar. Basically giving you the same bar, just one inch longer. The 1" extra length should raise the deck and give you a cutting range of 2 5/8" to 4 1/8". 3. The 2 5/8" length (low end cut) will be too high of a cut for many, so the next step is to extend the bracket slot 1/2" to allow for the adjusting bolt to lower the deck another 4/8". This will allow the lowest setting to be 2 1/8" but will not affect the high end setting. My gator blades will bring the low cut setting to 2". I plan to extend my slots using drill bits and then clean them out using carbide tip cutting tool (forget the name of it). 4. Weld the 5/8" round roller bar (39" on 42" deck) to the NEW roller bar. Attach and slide on new yates boat rollers or other deck rollers. There are two brackets with slots to extend. There is no room or need to extend the bracket slots on the bottom. The roller bar extension took care of the high side of the cut for you. There is only room to extend the slot on the top side anyways. If you notice, when the deck is in its highest setting the bolts that slide through the slots will be at the very bottom and when the deck is at its lowest setting the bolts will be at the top of the slot. You may wish to extend the roller bar only 3/4" instead of 1" and drill out the slot on the bracket less than 1/2". Whatever will achiever you desired cutting heights and not compromise the strength of the deck. Without photos, this is probably hard to follow but you can use your deck diagrams for parts lists. When I get my parts ready, I will take photos and display on forum if anyone is interested. MR
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