50" deck still ain't right
 

Last year, I had a problem with the deck cutting lower on the right when making a turn. This year I have the same problem and all my wife says is "You shouldn't have sold the Sears, it was a better tractor". Horse Ma-nour!!!! Here's what I've done: All 4 tires have 12 psi. I use the Sternh tool to level the deck. The concrete pad I park the tractor on to level the deck is level. My deck is level side to side set @ 2-1/2". the deck front to rear is 2-1/2" front and 3" rear. The front adjusters are all the way up. What the _ _ _ _ am I doing wrong. There doesn't appear to be any washers/spacers under the rear hangers either.
If ya need better pics of anything, let me know.
Thanks

some of it is when you turn the surface speed on that side when you turn expecily left turn and if your blades get real wore it get worst

According to the manual, with the center blade and one of the outer blades parrallel with the tractor, the front tip of the center blade should be level with the rear tip of the outer blade. You probably have way too much downward angle on the deck and could be causing your problem.

If it is downward angle, how do I correct it? Wheels are in the 3rd hole down. The wheels do not touch the concrete surface when the deck is lowered to the cutting height.

I didn't notice at first that your front eyelets are adjusted all the way. That's odd. Maybe where your eyelets ride on the lift arms, it's really worn there. You may need to weld up that area and then grind it down to specs. You could add some shims or washers between the rear hangers and the deck. That would drop the rear of the deck. I'd also check to see if anything is bent or damaged. Just remember when you have your deck at the desired cutting height, the gauge wheels should be set to about 1/2" off the ground. I think the manual calls for the rear tires to be at 10 psi. That would lower the rear of the deck a little bit but I think that's probably not the source of the problem.

I must have read something wrong. I have all 4 tires @ 12 PSI. I had the arms filled in, (welded) and ground even when I purchased as used hanger and mule drive. My drive had straight pullies. I have added the shims to the rear hangers. The deck is within 1/8" front to rear. We'll nsee what she does next mowing.
Thanks for all the help.

With my 50in deck I had found out that one of my spindles was original so I had to use two flat washer to make the blade the same height as the other newer spindles. Ive also accepted the fact that when I mow my mower tilts side to side based on what the ground is doing under my tires. Is it possible you have a shear pin that is broken. I run with my deck all the way up to get about 3in of grass height and my coil pin was broken but still allowed it to go up and down. Im having trouble with your pics, what is it doing to the grass?

Welcome to the weird deck
 

I am having the same problem with my 44 inch deck and can only imagine what another 6 inches does to the problem. I believe that the deck can be adjusted correctly to mow on flat ground but in turns or on hills the design is flawed as it stands. Look at the narrow force applied under the tractor. It is confined to less than 20 inches and that has to withstand the downward forces of a hill or the centrifugal forces of a turn. It just doesn't have the leverage to counter these forces. My temporary solution was to add short cables with turn buckles to keep the balance against any outside forces from tilting the deck. Although they look goofy they do work and they allow the deck to rise up if an object is encountered. I am working on a system that is attached to the mule arms so that I can raise and lower the deck without having to redo the cables. I mowed my yard today and after several passes I noticed that the discharge side was cutting a little lower so I reached down from my seat and turned the turnbuckle and took up about 1/4 inch. That was all I needed and I didn't have to leave my seat!

Cables seem to be a good idea. I'll get pics of the yard this afternoon. Grass has grown so the problems should really stick out.

Pics of both yards
 

Here ya go. The last 5 pics are of the neighbor's yard that I mow. It's basically level.

That's what I'm talking about
 

Your mower is doing the same thing that my mower was doing before I put the cables on it. The non discharge side was cutting low and the discharge side was cutting high. Then if I went the other way on a hill it would reverse the problem. On my mower it just seemed that the deck pivots too easily in either direction from outside forces. It is hanging on the mule evenly but it too sensetive to turning or hills. I bought a 3 foot square rod today at HD and I am going to attach it to the deck support so that I can raise and lower the deck without changing the cable tension. I'll post pictures as soon as I finish it.

You shouldn't needs any cables.

Looks pretty good. Is that just by leveling the deck front to back or did you have to jerry rig it?

Just wondering... Are you letting the deck float by locking the lift lever button?

The green machine did it too
 

I traded a JD 130 and some cash for my CC 1811 and one of the reasons was because it did the exact same thing. I guess it is the steep front hill I have in my yard that does it. I even had the same problem with an old Snapper that had gone from the outside chain deck supports to a central linked support. I figured that my JD only had deck wheels on two corners and the CC had four wheels that my problem would be solved. If you stop to think about it gravity has to come into play when the only stabilizing force is at the center of the deck and the weight has transferred to the lower side of the deck on a steep hill. On the JD I rigged up a hydraulic piston on one side of the deck support and could raise and lower it in small increments but found getting back to zero angle very difficult even though I added one of those RV leveling bubbles to the deck. One thing I do now to prevent scalps in turns is to turn the PTO off just before I turn and that works well but is one extra chore during a turn. I would say that I have an unleveled deck except that I have had this same problem with three different mowers without fiddling with all of them. I have been thinking about a small rod attached to the deck that is perpendicular to the deck sticking up through the tranny cover set at zero when the deck is on level ground and when I am off grade it will show which way left or right the deck is tilted. For now the cables work fine and for about ten dollars is an easy solution. I appreciate the help you guys are offering.

You shouldn't needs any cables. I agree, but I'm open to any and all suggestions before I get a new mower.

Just wondering... Are you letting the deck float by locking the lift lever button? Don't know anything about a lift lever button. I have hydraulics.

Looks pretty good. Is that just by leveling the deck front to back or did you have to jerry rig it? This is the bad mowing I was talking about. I haven't mowed since I leveled the deck.

I'm thinking of getting a smaller deck.

Wasn't familiar with the setup you have, being new to Cubs. Sorry I can't offer anything further, so I'll watch from the sideline.

:beerchug:

Under my deck
 

I was under my mower deck today looking for signs of maladjustment and noticed that by having only one pivot rod, the rod that goes on the fixed rod between the foot pedals, it makes the whole deck mechanism inherently unstable. There is almost no play in the deck if pushed from the discharge side where the pivot rod attaches but when you go to the other side the story changes. There is a lot of play caused by the one rod having to do duty all the way across to the other side. It is a poor design although on flat ground it seems to do well. I believe if I can add another pivot rod it might strengthen and stabilize the deck. I looked at it and it gets real messy in a hurry down there with very little room to add anything. I wonder why the elected to use only one pivot rod? Also, I was wondering if any of you had added a hole to left side frame to get at the steering column adjustment nut? It seems like such an easy thing to and it is something that should be done frequently to keep the wear down on the steering gear. One last question. Have any of you removed and left off the screen on the bottom of the mower? While I am working on my tractor it is real inconvenient to replace and the remove again after each adjustment

Is there a lot of wear on the footrest support rod that the 'pickle fork' part of the carriage rides on? That could be part of the problem.

That screen should be there, it keeps grass out of the flywheel screen. However, I don't think I've ever seen an intact one. None of my tractors have it anymore.

You should be able to get at that nut by removing the tunnel cover.
I have a 44c deck on my 782 cuts nice.It has guide wheels on it.
i have another deck and the PO added two wheels to the front and that cuts the grass pretty nice also.

I noticed the other day the support rod on my 784 is in extremely bad shape. Probably 1/2 worn thru or just a bit more. I will definitely need to do some welding this winter while doing PM's. But, I have to admit I have a very flat yard for the most part and don't experience the unstable deck issues some of you guys are having. My 44C deck also has gauge wheels front and back, but I have no center rollers. So far, it has not been an issue.

Good catch Matt !!! My rod is also worn 1/2 way thru. Matt, any repair ideas other than welding? I was thinking about cutting the rod and installing a collar with set screws to lock it it place, but I don't know if this will weaken the rod. May have to spread the fork some or cut the rod and add a section of rod and 2 collars. The footrests should be ok as the rod is welded to the frame and the footrests are on the outside of the frame. Any thoughts?

I was thinking 2 of the silver with a section of new 3/4" rod, a little wider than the fork. Or would the black type be better? These would also help keep the fork from shifting side to side.

The black one would be stronger, but the wear should be welded up. Cutting the footrest support may have some unintended consequences. Also, I'm not sure there's enough room on the right side for one of those locking collars.

Here are some other thoughts on this...

How well does the mule drive fit the tractor frame? If the QA is worn and sloppy, that'll allow the carriage to move around. Same if the pivot rod that connects the carriage to the mule drive is worn, or if the holes in either piece are worn. Have you checked to make sure the deck isn't warped or bent? I have not had a 50" deck that was perfectly straight when I got it, and I've had about 6 of them. The front gauge wheels help, too.

The other thing is that if your yard is really lumpy, a large deck will not cut as well because it doesn't conform to the terrain as easily as a smaller deck. I still think something is really worn out on your tractor or subframe, because I have a pretty rough, hilly yard and haven't had much for problems with the 50" decks I have fixed up.