• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

ZTR deck question

dzalphakilo

Banned
Last year looking for a ZTR, thanks in part to Brain here, ended up getting a Country Clipper.

Mowing tonight, at the "end", did our fenced in area for the dogs.

Since we got "Balto" (per my post on finding him in the pet section here on this forum) we had to use a steel cable chain to keep him away from the fence so he wouldn't dig to get out to get to our house).

We'll, I'm zipping along with the country clipper and STUPID me I forgot that the cable was laying next to the tree it was "hooked up" to.

Clunk...Oh crap, I'm on the cable.

Turn the blades off, the mower sheared the cable and not sure what is underneath.

Ride the mower up to the driveway and in less than 3 minutes lift the deck up and remove the remaining 2' of cable off the blades.

Easy to do, then kept mowing.

Made me wonder, this was something that I didn't look at (lifting the deck up) on a Scag mower that I was looking at.

Question I have is how hard (and time wise) is it to lift the deck up and do maintence on another mower?

Never thought of it until I wanted to keep mowing after this STUPID incident.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I knew what was coming when you said something about the dog cable. :eek:
I hate when that happens.

I'll take a stab at your question:
I have the Scag Wildcat. It's easy to raise the deck up 5" (or whatever the highest you can cut), but that is where the easy part ends. The Kubota Z had a crank up system that I've never seen on any other ZTR. It makes it simple for you to crank up the front and get a clear view of the deck.
I've thought if I needed to I'd hook onto the front of the Scag with my FEL and raise it up a bit. But I've never done it.
No easy way that I know of....but after seeing the kubota set up I thought one of those tall old car bumper jacks would probably lift it just fine. I wonder how hard those are to find now days?
 

dzalphakilo

Banned
That's what I was wondering about (the clearance).

I was thinking if I would of bought the Scag, what would I have to do to actually get "under it" to have full access to the blades.

Older picture I took, but gives you an idea of how the CC decks raise to get access.
 

Attachments

  • Deck Raised.JPG
    Deck Raised.JPG
    100.4 KB · Views: 42

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Showoff!!! :D I didn't know CC's did that.
Your right though, Scags do not have a built in solution to that problem.
 

dzalphakilo

Banned
Doc said:
Showoff!!! :D I didn't know CC's did that.
Your right though, Scags do not have a built in solution to that problem.

Apologies, not meaning to "show off", just thought this was a neat feature that I didn't see in some of the other mowers that I looked at.

Now that I had an actual "experience" where I needed to get under the deck, made me think how you atually do this with other mowers.

Figured there must be a way, just wasn't sure of the pain in the ass factor that would be involved:eek:
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
dzalphakilo said:
Question I have is how hard (and time wise) is it to lift the deck up and do maintence on another mower?

Never thought of it until I wanted to keep mowing after this STUPID incident.

On my Grasshopper mowers I use one finger to press a toggle switch that has a power lift for the 600 pound deck. I can adjust the mowing height or raise the deck straight up to clean under it, change blades etc., with the pressing of a button. :thumb:

Oh, it takes me about 2 seconds to change the mowing height and about 10 seconds to have the mower deck raised straight up to work under it using that nice little power button.
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Yep, the flip-up deck is very handy. I had mine up for deck cleaning and blade sharpening last week. 3 minutes is about right... if you're taking your sweet ole time.;)

Just make sure you put the pin in the height adjustment holes (under the lift arm) after you flip the deck up.:eek: I forgot this step last week as it was the first time it was up this year. Sure enough, it came crashing down a minute later .:pat: Luckily I was fast enough to get away from it. No damage done.
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Dargo said:
about 10 seconds to have the mower deck raised straight up to work under it using that nice little power button.
Dargo,

How high can it lift? Are you going to be laying on the ground to do deck maintenance?
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
Here is how high it lifts with the power lift. It's plenty high. Considering that the deck is made of hardened .269 inch steel (a bit heavier than 3 gauge), it would be a bitch to raise by hand. Sorry it's a bit dirty, but it's mowing day. This is my wife's unit. :thumb:
 

Attachments

  • hopper.jpg
    hopper.jpg
    31.1 KB · Views: 36
  • hopperup.jpg
    hopperup.jpg
    32.3 KB · Views: 36

dzalphakilo

Banned
Brian

You sure the pin goes under the lift arm?

I may be wrong, but before I took the mower home with me last year, had the guy SHOW me how to lift the deck up (my instruction reading can be lax at times) and I could of swore, which I still do, is lower the deck all the way down and then put the "set pin" in place over the lift arm and keep it that way until I lower the deck after I'm done working on it.

You have me a little worried, never had a problem doing it that way so far and seems rock solid as far as when the deck is raised.

I must admit though that last night I did forget to pull the tension lever to tighten the belt. Thought I might of had more problems until I thought of what I didn't do:eek:

Dargo, grasshpper would of been my first choice, but I'm still saving for a tractor!

Dirty?
 

Dargo

Like a bad penny...
GOLD Site Supporter
dzalphakilo said:
Dargo, grasshpper would of been my first choice, but I'm still saving for a tractor!

Sorry, I didn't mean my posts to come out like they may have. What I intended was to discretely comment on Scag. One of my first ZTR mowers was a Scag and, let's just say, I was less than pleased with most every aspect of it. A Scag may work well for some people, but for me, the one I owned was certainly not a pleasure to own. I think the CC ZTR mowers give you quite a bit for your money.
 

dzalphakilo

Banned
Actually, you had me seriously considering spending the extra money on one of those Grasshoppers last year. Problem was convincing the wife. Close second would of been a ZD-28, but then again, the wife factor.

Overall, $5,600 for a 25hp kawasaki with a 52" deck, can't complain, but you do have covetting (sp?) yet again:whistle:
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
dzalphakilo said:
Brian

You sure the pin goes under the lift arm?

I may be wrong, but before I took the mower home with me last year, had the guy SHOW me how to lift the deck up (my instruction reading can be lax at times) and I could of swore, which I still do, is lower the deck all the way down and then put the "set pin" in place over the lift arm and keep it that way until I lower the deck after I'm done working on it.

You have me a little worried, never had a problem doing it that way so far and seems rock solid as far as when the deck is raised.
OK, the directions you got do sound very familiar (and are in fact correct).

I haven't lifted the deck since last summer so I had forgotten. The way I did it does work but your directions are correct. I'm going to try it both ways next time. The way I did it, I don't think the deck can lower until you pull the pin. The correct way you posted, I believe the deck can be lowered (which may be an issue if it takes a hard hit when working on it).


Dargo - Sweet!!! I was thinking it was just a vertical lift of the deck that lifted the whole thing straight up 6" or something.
 

dzalphakilo

Banned
Honestly, really didn't go over the "directions" as per the book on raising the deck, that's why I had the owner of the shop show me, much easier:eek:

Sometimes "instructions" to me get confusing on the wording and "diagrams" and seems so much quicker and easier when you see it done with your own eyes before you do it (of course, if you do it this way and don't read the instructions, you may of forgot something and may realize it to late:eek: ).
 

bczoom

Super Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
dzalphakilo said:
(of course, if you do it this way and don't read the instructions, you may of forgot something and may realize it to late:eek: ).
Like I did last weekend when it came crashing down :pat:
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Nice Dargo. Guess you get what you pay for. Like Dz said, if I could have afforded the Grasshopper I'd have one in my pole building right now. That is sweet the way it raises. And having the deck way out front would be a huge plus. It's that darn price thing that got me.
I've had good luck with my Scag so far. I'd buy it again if spending the same amount for a ZTR. Strong dealer support weighs big in that opinion.
 

Kubota King

New member
I have the same Grasshopper as dargo, as I also have a couple exmarks & a couple hustler ZTR's. The grasshopper is by far the most well thought out engineered in my opinion! The hustler & exmark have some qualities over the grasshopper but not in the service dept.
 
Top