425 54" front deck mount broke

[weathda]

First mow of the season, three laps in and my wife is mowing. Sounded like she hit a stump, but turned out to be the ear broke clear out of the deck. The mower got to chew on it a bit before discharging it. Luckily I found all the pieces. This deck seems to be a bit tired. Anyone ever had this happen?

 

[tomplum]

Occasionally. You should give the deck a good look over to check the other weldments and see if it is stout enough for repair. A real good way to buy more time is to cut the other side bracket off to duplicate the other bracket if it is too bad and weld both sides to a front support that can be stitched across the front of the deck. If that existing bracket is still secure , you could reinforce the LH bracket on a smaller scale. If it is solid, you could probably mow with just the one on the draft arm if you had to.

 

[weathda]

Thanks. The LH side looked solid. I took a plate and MIG welded the the plate to the back side of the deck and then welded the old bracket on front and back. I mowed a couple of hours and it seems like it's going to hold. Last year I did find a loose stud for the gear box mount. I had to weld the stud to the bottom of the deck. It did great all last season.

I noticed the 60" decks have a boxed in support on those ears - at least it looks that way from the parts diagram. I like your idea of welding a cross support on the front of the deck to connect the ears. I'll do that the next time it breaks.