# Cutting Height Issue - Need Help



## Fronzizzle (Apr 15, 2017)

Hello all,

I'm a newbie property owner/lawn tractor user. My wife and I bought 1.6 acres back in November, it is mostly lawn. My brother had a Craftsman 42" lawn tractor, Model 917.258543 that was just sitting in his garage. He bought it new years ago - in 2002 or 2003, I think - used it for one season and then parked it in his garage.

I put new tires on it, a new battery, changed the oil, took the carb apart and cleaned it and got it running when we moved in, then parked it until it was time to cut the grass.

Yesterday, I started it up to cut the grass and...well, it didn't go well. The mower started and ran fine, but as soon as I dropped the attachment and engaged it, the motor stopped. I restarted it, started moving and it stopped again. This continued for a few seconds, I finally got smart enough to turn and look at the grass and wow - it was almost bald. The blade was obviously too low. So, I turned the adjustment knob as far as it would go - I tried both directions - with no luck. Eventually, I had to put the attachment in the Up position and then I was able to cut the grass.

When I finished, I took the mower into the garage and got into a little bit, but I really have no idea what I'm looking at. A couple of things I did find:

* The attachment lift lever only has two positions, Up and Down. This isn't a model that has multiple positions like some of the newer ones.

* The adjustment knob - if turned too far one way or the other - will stop the lever from working. For example, if the deck is in the Up position and the knob is turned too far, then you can't move the lever to put the deck in the Down position. This might be normal but thought I should bring it up.

* When the deck is in the Up position and you turn the knob, you can see the deck move a up or down a bit (maybe an inch, total) and the knob has a lot of travel. However, when the deck is in the Down position and you turn the knob, you don't really see it move at all, and the knob only moves a little bit in either direction.

This tractor doesn't have a ton of adjustment, the owner's manual I managed to dig up online says you can cut from 1.5" to 4". However, as it is now I basically have one height I can cut at, when the deck is in the Up position (which I don't think is where you are supposed to have it when you cut).

Bottom line, something seems to be off to me but, again, I don't have any experience with these so I'm not sure what I should even look at or what I'm doing wrong. Any advice is appreciated. Thank you.


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## jhngardner367 (Apr 5, 2011)

Welcome to the forum !
This link should help.
http://www.searspartsdirect.com/mod...=modelSearch&q=917258543&searchTerm=917258543

There should be 2 lift arms that are adjustable,for deck height,and leveling( # 11,and 12,in the diagram).
Lower the deck and turn the knob to its lowest setting.
Then adjust the arm , using the nuts( # 32) on each arm,until the blade edge is 1.75 " off the ground.
(Do this on a level driveway.)
Then,adjust the FRONT arms( # 1 & # 15)until the FRONT of the deck is 1/4" lower than the back edge.
Once this is done the adjustment knob should be correct,when turned to each setting,( + or - 1/2").
Note: you will see a blue box saying owner's manual....DOWNLOAD IT TO DISC!


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## Fronzizzle (Apr 15, 2017)

Thanks for the response - I'll try doing this tomorrow!


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## Fronzizzle (Apr 15, 2017)

Okay, I went and tried to do this today and something is still not quite right.

First, just to clarify - the adjustment knob on this tractor doesn't have settings, it just turns left and right to lower/raise the deck. I attached a picture of it.

When I first checked, the deck was about 1" off the ground, and the lift arms weren't close to the nut - see the picture of that attached. I cranked both of them until the the deck was about 1.75" off the ground, this caused the nut to be almost at the end of the threads on the rod. I have attached a picture of that as well.

When done, I found that the lift lever wouldn't go all the way in the up position any more. I could move the deck up a little, but not far enough to get the lift lever to engage in the high position. 

I also tried to crank the knob to adjust the deck height, I was only able to raise it to about 2" off the ground, only giving me a total of roughly 1/4" cut height adjustment - obviously not enough or correct.


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## jhngardner367 (Apr 5, 2011)

Back the arm nuts off,until there is about 1/2" of threads showing at the end.
Then, loosen the knob adjustment locknut( #23)and turn the knob counter-clockwise,to allow more slack in # 30 actuator pin.
This system,is a very different one than most,in that the knob adjustment holds it in a preset position,and if not adjusted correctly,you get the problems you're having now.
Play with the adjustments,until it lifts from lowest,to highest, easily.
By the way,as with my JD, You have to pull on the lift lever,as you turn the adjustment knob, when you're changing from one height,to another.


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