# cub 60" deck anomoly



## rbig (Sep 5, 2004)

Just had an experience with the 60" deck on my Cub 3205, and want to pass it along in case it might be of help to other users.

I have no idea if there are several 60" Cub garden tractor decks, or just the one my tractor has. I also don't know if the 54" is just a slightly smaller 60", or if there are substantial differences.

I work on a bunch of garden tractors as a volunteer at my church, American Legion, and Elks Lodge, taking care of their lawn eqpt. I also have a JD 400 and Roper RT-13 I restored, and a JD RX-75 rear engine rider.

I've done my share of struggling with cranky decks and replacing broken v belts.

I ran into something on this Cub I just bought that is interesting. The deck was cutting unevenly, on a side-to-side basis. It was visibly cocked to where the left deck side was lower than the right side.

Where my adventure started was in glibly deciding to "throw a wrench on it and get it level, again". Sounds good and looks good on paper. First problem was in finding a way to get to the doggone vertical lift rod adjustment (the adjustment is a locknut on the bottom of the lift rod). Turns out this thing is almost totally hidden and inaccessible with the deck full up. Once a friendly 3205 owner told me this, I dropped the deck down, and was then able to get to the nut to either tighten or loosen it.

Turns out I ran the darned nut all the way up on the rod, and still didn't have enough bite to get the deck up on an even keel. What to do. 

I carefully inspected everything, and found nothing bent, broken, or obviously mis-installed. So, I got a thick stack of 10 washers and put on the vertical lift rod, above the nut. Then, I was finally able to get the thing up even.

My next problem was in setting the rear rollers. The book says set the front casters to your cutting height of choice (mine is 3"). So I did. Then, it turns out the rear rollers were way high. In this case, the book says use the adjustment knob over on the left rear deck corner to reset the rear roller height.

Turns out my adjustment knob was stuck. I hosed it down with WD-40 all the way across, but it was still stuck. I found a way to pull the black plastic knob back away from the detent enough to get a wrench onto the flat spots on the adjuster shaft. Using the small wrench and a cheater, I was then able to get everything freed up enough to do the adjustment of the rear rollers as they should be adjusted, without undue effort.

Well, my deck is now just slightly raked down in front (as they should be), is level from side-to-side, and is sitting nicely on the wheels and rollers at 3" cutting height. It mows great.

What bothers me still is that I had to put the stack of washers in there to get the thing to come into plumb. Shouldn't have had to do that. Normally, that means something else is out of whack, somewhere. I'm going to leave it awhile and observe. It mows great, so far. And, I'm sure if I took the washer stack out I wouldn't be able to level the deck. 

Hope all this helps someone.


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Thank you for posting some VALUABLE feedback that I am sure one of our members in the near future will definitely benefit from. Sounds like this deck problem got you bound and determined to whip it!   Very creative solution!:thumbsup:


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## rbig (Sep 5, 2004)

Yeah, but it's a workaround; not a real fix. Not sure yet what to do to really fix the underlying cause. 

As long as it goes on mowing fine, I may not even fiddle with it any more.


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## Live Oak (Dec 22, 2003)

Almost sounds as if the adjustment rods are the wrong length, or perhaps installed on the wrong side, or missing some type of spacer bushing?


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## ducati996 (Dec 27, 2003)

> _Originally posted by rbig _
> *Just had an experience with the 60" deck on my Cub 3205, and want to pass it along in case it might be of help to other users.
> 
> I have no idea if there are several 60" Cub garden tractor decks, or just the one my tractor has. I also don't know if the 54" is just a slightly smaller 60", or if there are substantial differences.
> ...


You have basically 3 points for adjustment on the machine (and not counting the deck wheels). For left and right uneveness you look at the adjustment arm underneath the machine near the foot rests - its a simple lock nut (nut with plastic inside threads), and it only adjusts one side - you raise or lower it based on how the opposite side looks. The other part is the deck hanger bar that attaches to the front frame and locks in place. That brings the front deck angle up or down - all adjustments should be uniform between the two adjustment nuts. All the decks are mounted the same way - trust me I know I have most of them (44", 48", 50"). Once you find the settings, you can switch out decks or remove and replace them and they are pretty much unchanged. 
Keep in mind you acquired a used machine so going over the leveling correctly is a mandatory step that usually a dealer would do before hand on new machine sales. You should never have to use washers - that tells me something is missing, or bent. You need to look over the manual and compare the leveling bar underneath the machine to make sure ins not in the locked position or if everything is there....
Either way the water cooled version of the 3000 series is the best made - too bad they no longer make them. You have to move up to the 5000 series....

I forgot to add this - check your tire pressure on all tires, you will be surprised on how much that will effect your leveling. I tend to go soft but Im using 4 ply tires, and it gives me an even better cut then just leveling alone...

Duc


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## rbig (Sep 5, 2004)

You're so right about the tire pressure thing being correct prior to deck work. It is very important. 

Your presentation about 3 points of adjustment on the various decks is good info, too.

They don't tell you this, but that front adjustment (the one for front deck height) with the two nuts on the quick attaching bar/rod can be a slight source of side-to-side uneven problems. If that rod isn't loosened or tightened perfectly symmetrically, it can cock the deck, and cause levelling difficulties. This is one of those things that is probably intuitively obvious to most, but just thought I'd mention it.


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## rbig (Sep 5, 2004)

Ducati----I just caught this in your post:

}}} You need to look over the manual and compare the leveling bar underneath the machine to make sure ins not in the locked position or if everything is there....{{{

What is the levelling bar? I thought the only levelling adjustment is the vertical lift rod on the left side. 

Assuming that's the levelling bar you mention, what is "locked position"? How do I tell if it's in locked position?


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