Legacy XL deck on early Legacy/Agco?

[country 0]

Didn't find much help searching, but expect someone has asked this question before. Can a person turn the gear box 180deg. on an XL deck and use it on an early model Legacy/Agco? I also see the deck height adjustment mounts to the gearbox, and may have to be repositioned as well.

[country 0]

Well, picked up the deck. It's a massey ferguson deck, dated 2003. In great condition, only used a couple times and then taken off and stored. The tractor was used as a loader tractor. I spent a good half hour comparing this deck to a 60" from a Legacy that was also there, but not for sale but it goes with a tractor. Figured out how I could make it work.

Once I go home, and turned the gear box around, rotated the deck height adjustment motor and reinstalled it. Slid it under the tractor, and figured out how to shorten the hitch. Making a new lift chain attachment point is not really an issue.

Pulled the deck back out, and then thought about the final thing to check: the rotation of the blades when the gear box is rotated.

Darn the Luck! Ofcourse I never thought to check this at first, and has my luck has it, the blades turn backwards when thee gear box is rotated. The difference between the front pto and rear pto for mower deck drive.....

Anyone have an almost like new 60 deck for the early Legacy and want to trade for an almost like new XL deck that is massey ferguson red??!

[Talntedmrgreen 1,978]

I wish I did...sorry for the luck!

[country 0]

Don't know if it's visible in the pic but the Legacy XL deck I have has counter rotating blades. The left two turn cw and the right by the grass chute ccw. Note there is a deflector for the right blade mounted to the baffle above it. I haven't looked at a parts diagram and don't know if it's factory.Wonder if it would work if I changed the left two blades to cut ccw and right cw, remove the baffle over the right blade, and spun it backwards on my Agco?

[Talntedmrgreen 1,978]

The legacy and maybe even late Sunstar decks work in the same manner...counter rotating blade.

I don't think the opposite rotation would work, because the left hand blades would be driving the flow into the lower left corner of the deck, as pictured above, rather than up and over, and toward the exit path cleared by the counter-rotating blade.

[country 0]

Ok, so figured out I can modify the gearbox and make this work. Question for gearheads, literally. What is the best way to check the backlash and make sure the bevel gears in the mower deck gear box are properly set/installed again after I remove them?

[country 0]

Addition to my question about reassembling the gearbox. As sloppy as the holes are in the mounting plates it may not matter than much?

[Kenh 37]

Check the backlash in the box as you have it now. Just turn the shaft back and forth and watch/measure how much one shaft moves before the other one moves. Just duplicate that backlash after you mod the box. I don't know if that box uses shims or what to move the gears back and forth to adjust the backlash but it will become obvious when you disassemble it.

Ken

[country 0]

Thanks Ken, that's what I ended up doing. I have to double check it all tomorrow, but looks like it's going to work.