38" deck opinions??
 

I have the 3 blade 38" deck on my 1977 Cub Cadet 1000. It does not cut very well, as the outer blades do not seem to cut the grass too well. Mule drive belt is tight, all spindles are lubricated, good secondary belt for the 2 smaller blades, blades are sharp, and idler pulley is lubricated and working properly. It seems as if the secondary belt is slipping, but it seems to have adequate tension on the pulley. I am also mowing in 1st gear with full throttle. I do NOT have a creeper gear, but wish I did. Any thoughts??

Are the nuts holding the blades on tight? I've had a blade nut work loose, causing the blade to "slack off" on cutting duty. I've come to use an impact wrench and 1-1/8 socket to remove and install blades.

You might check that the square keys for the outer pulleys are not sheared in half and the spindles are just being turned by friction with slippage. I know that would be a far cry for them both to shear at the same time but I cant think of anything else.

I have cut mega-tons of grass with your type of deck and never a problem. It will be interesting to see what you find. Good luck!

I hopefully found the issue. I checked the mule drive belt and it was only at 3 inches between the center of the pulley to the inner deck frame. I changed the belt with a new Cub Cadet belt and adjusted it to 3.5" as per the manual. I also checked the spindles, and found no issues with them. I relubricated all 3 of the spindle grease zerks, and removed the cover again to check the idler pulley. I was not happy with the spring tension on the idler, so I attempted to remove the pulley with a 1 1/8" socket. It "clicked" and seemed to free itself and then provide a LOT more tension on the secondary belt. I relubed the zerk on the idler pulley again too, and hopefully things will now be fine. I will know next time I mow.
Thanks all!!

might also want to check to make sure the baffles are still there as well.

i personally hate how the 38" deck cuts. i have a few and all of them have ended up in the scrap pile waiting for a crusher. do yourself a favor. find a nice 44" deck to fit underneath that 1000 and youll be much happier with the cut! imho...the 44" and 46" leave the nicest cut.

After mowing season is done, you may want to remove the deck and take the idler assembly apart. From your description of the "click, then a lot more tension on secondary belt" you may have a rough spot or some rust/crud built up on the pivot point.

When I cleaned up my 38a deck over last winter, I noticed that every spindle had different thickness of blade flat washers. Once I got those adjusted so that each blade was actually the same height and leveled the deck, quality of cut was greatly improved.

Thanks for the tips!! Once I get a new clutch assembly ordered and the engine reinstalled, I will let you know how it's working.