# JD 717A grass deflector



## pikewrench (Apr 10, 2020)

Having 6 different people use the equipment I find that the plastic grass deflector takes a beating and I see that the current replacement is 80 bucks. I had bought a Ferris mower to help and noticed that their deflector is a slab of rubber belt like material. Taking that thought, i bought 3 Hillman 5/16” ID spacers and 1/8”X1”X48 inch metal from tractor supply. Cut three pieces of the metal 3” long and welded the 3 spacers on the end. Bent the remaining pice of metal to match the discharge opening on the deck. Weld the 3 piece with the spacer on to the bent piece make sure to use the rod that holds the chute to keep the hole aligned. Had just replaced the rear tires, took one and cut 26 1/2” piece of the tread, leaving the curved shoulder on one side and flat on the other. Attached the rubber to the metal using self tapping lath screws. Trim rubber to fit. Ground the screw end down. The rubber will bend more than the plastic.


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## pikewrench (Apr 10, 2020)

Over a year later and more than a hundred hours the only problem was someone hit something in the front of the rubber and put a small bend on the flat steel nose piece. Bent it back up by hand. The two bolts sticking up are for a vacuum yard rake attachment. There is also no need for the spring to be put back on


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