Cub Cadet 48-inch, 54-inch, 60-inch, 72-inch service manual F. Deck leveling Procedure

F. Deck leveling Procedure

1.Park the mower on a flat paved surface, engage the parking brake, shut off the engine, remove the key from the ignition switch, disconnect the spark plug wires and using the transport lever, lower the mowing deck into the 4" height of cut position. (The 4" height of cut position is recom- mended in order for one to see and obtain a measurement. Any height of cut position is acceptable as long as a proper measurement can be taken.)

2.Check the right and left front tire pressure. Adjust as necessary to 20-25 psi. Tire pressure can affect blade height by as much as a 1/4”.

3.Check the right and left rear Drive tire pressure. Adjust as necessary to 8-10 psi.

4.Measure blade-to-ground height at the front tip of the right blade. To obtain an accurate mea- sure, align blades in parallel with mower center- line, (i.e. front to back).

5.Measure blade-to-ground height at the front tip of the left blade. Be sure to measure at the blade tip with the blades arranged in proper position.

6.To level the deck, adjust the eyebolt at the left front of the deck (Point B) so that the blade-to- ground height at the right front blade tip matches that of the left front blade tip. This is done by loosening the jam nuts on the eyebolt and tightening the upper nut to raise the deck and loosening the nut to lower the deck. The right front blade tip height is fixed so you must adjust the left front tip to match it.

7.Measure the blade-to-ground height at the right rear blade tip. Again be sure to measure at the blade tip at the rear of the right blade when

aligned along the mower centerline. The blade- to-ground height at the rear of the blade tip should be 1/8" to 1/4” higher than the front tip. This is referred to as blade pitch. The sam height difference should be true for the left blade, measured front and back.

8.To adjust the blade pitch the deck pitch must be adjusted. Loosen the inner jam nuts at the rear of the horizontal threaded rods. Start at Point C to raise the rear of the deck, tighten the rear outer jam nut to raise the deck pitch. Adjust the rear jam nut at Point D to take the “slack out of the threaded rod.

9.The final adjustment would be to take the “slack” out of the left rear linkage (Point D) by adjusting the jam nuts on the eyebolt. Loosen the jam nuts and tighten the upper nut to remove “slack”.

10.In many cases it will be necessary to adjust deck height using both eyebolt adjustments and pitch adjustment to achieve the correct blade-to- ground heights. If you remember that the front right blade tip adjustment is fixed and you level to that height, adjusting the decks will be simpli- fied.

11.Once the deck is level one may find that the height of cut does not match the height of cut indicator. A final adjustment may be made by lowering or raising the height of cut link accord- ingly. To raise the deck: remove the shoulder bolt mounting the height of cut link to the lift han- dle and reassemble the shoulder bolt in the low- est of the three holes. To lower the deck: remove the shoulder bolts mounting the height of cut link, flip the height of cut link around and reas- semble the shoulder bolts in the top of the set of three holes and the bottom hole. (see Fig. 12)

Height of Cut LInk

Eyebolt

Point B

Eyebolt

Point A

Point D

Figure. 12

Jam Nuts

Point C

28