Mower Deck Drops on 108

[Kent Penney]

I have a 108 with a mower deck. See pictures of the undercarriage. The problem I have is that when I hit the smallest thing with the deck, one of the back pins comes loose and the deck drops. It appears that the u-shaped linkage points on the deck are bent out and that may be causing my problem.

My question is, has anyone else had this problem? Also, do you believe bending the linkage points back into position will fix the problem. Thanks for the help.

 

[PACub100]

Definitely appear that way to me, and yes, I'd say bending them back should remedy it.

 

[dschwandt]

Must have smacked something during a turn to bend it that far.

 

[wh cc guy]

A big hammer should fix it.

 

[Jay Fetters]

Yup, bend em back. And blow the pine needles off as well, your sheet metal, bearings, and belt will thank you.

 

[Kent Penney]

I appreciate the tips. I think this will fix my issue and help me care for this 50 year old cub much better than I have.

 

[rjruchti]

Yup, bend em back. And blow the pine needles off as well, your sheet metal, bearings, and belt will thank you.

Get rid of those pulley covers while your at it. Can see in the pic how they hold the debree on the deck and around the pulleys.

 

[RAllison]

Get rid of those pulley covers while your at it. Can see in the pic how they hold the debree on the deck and around the pulleys.

I know a guy who removed them and has a half finger to tell the story

 

[gary noblit]

What I have done with many of the pulley guards is cut about 3/4 ' notches a couple in. long so a hose can wash them out ..These new cutoff wheels are very handy..

 

[mgonitzke]

I'd only use compressed air and scraping to clean a mower deck. Water will get where it doesn't belong and rust the deck, and the presence of grass clippings will accelerate this process.

 

[rjruchti]

I know a guy who removed them and has a half finger to tell the story

Any one who sticks their finger in a belt driven rotating pulley has more serious issues ! Can't fix stupid.

 

[RAllison]

Any one who sticks their finger in a belt driven rotating pulley has more serious issues ! Can't fix stupid.

I was just sayin,that's all....I agree with you,it was stupid

 

[rjruchti]

I was just sayin,that's all....I agree with you,it was stupid

I understand. Have had guys say I don't want to get my toe caught in the belt, I wear sandals all the time ? ? ?

 

[hydroharry]

Hey Kent - did you get your deck fixed. I just saw your original post. I agree with the recommendation to bend them back BUT I don't agree about using a hammer.

Those U-shaped brackets are mounted to the deck with 3 bolts and if you bang on the bracket with a hammer you're likely to crack the deck skin where the bolts mount - which I believe is a common problem. I've had many decks where I've had a reinforcement plate welded on the bottom side of the deck so the U-bracket doesn't pull thru.

Hopefully you used some type of lever (3" pipe or so) to just bend the U-bracket back to vertical, or better yet, removed the U-bracket and straighten with a vice and lever.
(By the way, don't forget to plan on attending the annual Buffalo Round-up over in Custer State Park. Wish I could every year).

 

[Kent Penney]

I did get if fixed using a framing hammer. It did not take much to bend the brackets. The deck still seems very strong and intact but I will watch to see problems. I did not have any problems mowing or having the deck slip off.

Also I did get the deck blown off but put the covers back on. I like my fingers.

My wife and I did attend the buffalo round up two years ago. It was nice. Custer State Park just opened a new visitor center there so that will be a great addition. We will have to go back again after experiencing it only once.

 

[dfrisk]

MATT G. has the correct answer! Clean with compressed air and if you REALLY want to rot your mower deck out, go and spray water on it!
I've had 5 or 6 mower decks, all used to mow lots of yards, constant trimming along fences, concrete building foundations, and I've never had the "U" shaped brackets bend. Dad did replace those spring loaded latches on the 70's deck with long bolts double-nutted that would probably fix this problem of the deck falling off also.
If you want to see first hand why Matt and I say don't use water on a mower deck, take one apart. The housing is a thin steel stamping, or actually a deep drawn stamping. A 1/4" plate is stamped out with all the holes for all the bearing housings, mounting bolts, gage wheel brackets, belt tensioner. Very little paint between those two pieces, get them wet and they rust.

 

[Kent Penney]

Also to clean the debris, it was easy to remove the covers and blow out all the materials. I also was able to grease it up and like I said, it mowed very well with no problems.