Mowing 2305 mower deck

camillit · May 19, 2009

Hard to explain here. When i raise my mower deck, sometimes the thick black L shaped piece of steel slips past the black arm that it attempts to raise. I know i am explaining very poorly. The following has you behind the tractor, looking at the rear of the tractor.
I have the shaft spacer installed correctly, on the right hand side, the spacer goes on the round steel shaft, it keeps the round shaft from sliding to the left, cause if it slides to the left, again, the black L shaped piece of steel slips past the black arm that it attempts to raise.
Somebody please help me with my lame and moronic description above!!!!

kennyd · May 20, 2009

Do you have the spacer bar or a I-Match quick hitch installed on the 3PH(three point hitch)? The 3PH arms must be held at the proper spacing to operate the MMM lift.

B8FISH · May 20, 2009

Like KennyD said--I think that you need to have something installed on the 3PH arms to keep them separated--if they can swing together (at the ball ends) then the deck will not get lifted by that L shaped piece. Keep in mind that the arms may seem to be in teh right place, but that they tend to want to come together as they raise. I believe that JD sells (or delivers as part of the mower deck package) a bar to be installed on the arms--did you get one?

orlo · May 20, 2009

Hi:

In addition to the spacer as suggested, you need to make sure your arm adjusters are tight
and adjusted so the lift bar stays over the 3pt arm. Even with the space if they adjusters are sloppy both arms can shift and the bracket will fall off.

camillit · May 20, 2009

Do you have the spacer bar or a I-Match quick hitch installed on the 3PH(three point hitch)? The 3PH arms must be held at the proper spacing to operate the MMM lift.

No I do not have this bar on the tractor. The dealer took off the right hand part of the 3 point hitch (along with the bar and 2 pins) when he installed the 3 bag grass collector. I do not know why they took it off. I know what you mean regarding keeping the 2 arms together so that the left hand arm doesn't move or swing side to side.

orlo · May 20, 2009

camillit said:
Do you have the spacer bar or a I-Match quick hitch installed on the 3PH(three point hitch)? The 3PH arms must be held at the proper spacing to operate the MMM lift.

No I do not have this bar on the tractor. The dealer took off the right hand part of the 3 point hitch (along with the bar and 2 pins) when he installed the 3 bag grass collector. I do not know why they took it off. I know what you mean regarding keeping the 2 arms together so that the left hand arm doesn't move or swing side to side.

Camillit:

If you have the 3 bag power flow bag kit then your bolt broke. There should be a hole in the little L-shaped bracket that rides on the 3 pt arm and a hole in the arm. (The dealer would have drilled this hole in both as part of the installation) There is a small bolt (Maybe a #12, I don't think it's even 1/4") that holds the two together. It breaks easily. If you see the holes, just put another bolt in them and you'll be fine. The bolt holds the L bracket tight to the lift arm so it won't fall off.

I have a 3 pt bag and when I used to use that the bolt snapped more than once. I really don't like that setup. All it takes is a little stress on the bolt (From lifting too high for example) and the two pieces will separate.

camillit · May 20, 2009

Thanks very much! I will look for what you described.....stay tuned!

camillit · May 25, 2009

I saw the 2 holes you refer to. I can't get a bolt through, the L shaped steel piece is at an angle, almost 30' I would guess to the other steel piece. I also note that even if this would work, if I install the steel bar that ties the 2, 3 point hitch arms, that bar would then hit the 3 grass bags when you attempt to lift the deck.....breaking your bolt you refer to.

orlo · May 25, 2009

Camilt:

You don't use both arms, that's the point of the bolt. You can just use the left arm with the Power flow kit, no right arm, and no joiner bar.

You should be able to get a bolt there if you find the right (right to left) position for the left arm.

stuarth · May 26, 2009

I had that setup before going Orange and I am sorry to say this on this forum but what a mistake I made going green first. With the bagger setup on the JD you use one arm with the bolt, bolting the 鏑 bracket to the left three point arm. Without the bagger you use the spreader bar between the two three point arms so the left arm does not slip past the 鏑 bracket while lifting it up. This is of my main reasons for going Orange (very poor design). Also keep in mind having to drill a hole in the left three point arm for a bolt I would think would some how weakens the left three point arm. It all seemed to me like an after-thought on an expensive piece of equipment, kind of like how the grass catcher it self mounts to the tractor, reminds me of bolting my reese hitch to my truck (afternoon project) but each time with the grass catcher??? The Kubota grass catcher mounts on with the four point just like the backhoe, in a few minutes each time.
But the most important thing to watch on this 2305 JD is to NOT over adjust the lifting height of the mower deck because you can bend the adjustment bolt and not even know it.