4310 Mid-mount deck cannot be raised

[Tim640]

I just picked up a 4310. It's in nice shape, with one glitch: I cannot get the mid-mount deck to raise or lower. It just sits on the ground.

The cylinder is attached via pin to a slot in the Lift Arm Weldment:

When I activate the hydraulic lift, I can see that the cylinder fully activates. As the cylinder activates, the pin travels the entire length of the slot in the Lift Arm Weldment, but that's all that happens.

Here is a bigger picture of the whole shootin' match. The offending pin, in the Lift Weldment, is just above the green Draft Arm, to the left of the filter:

I'm not sure how the lift system actually works beyond that though. It's not clear what purpose the pin sliding back and forth in the slot actually accomplishes, since it's front-to-back travel (no vertical travel, so what activates lift??)

Is anyone familiar with this problem? Any obvious troubleshooting steps?

The deck was already attached to the tractor when I loaded it up. My next step would be to remove the deck, and re-install from the beginning to make sure everything is connected the way it should be.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

[sriddle1ny]

Tim640, Not sure this will help, I went through the same thing when I tried to lift my 790 mid-mount belly mower after bringing it home. After an hour I discovered the rockshaft control lever was completely closed. Having not looked if there was any cylinder movement below, perhaps that doesn't apply.

 

[John_in_TN]

Are the lift links hooked to the deck? I can't see them in you photos, but they may just be hidden behind that green guide-link arm. If they are attached, maybe they are adjusted too long.

Purpose of the slotted bracket: the depth-stop adjustment knob is at the front end of that heavy rod connected to the slotted bracket. As that bracket tilts backward it rotates the deck rockshaft (which should be connected to the deck with two lift links) lowering the deck until that depth-rod stops the travel - based on how the depth-knob is adjusted. That pin in the slot is connected to the hydraulic cylinder that raised the deck by pushing the bracket forward. As the cylinder moves backward the deck will drop to the set depth limit - the slot allows the cylinder to continue to its fully retracted position while the deck remains at the level set by the depth-knob. Sorry about the convoluted explanation, but hopefully it makes sense to you as you look at your setup.

 

[Wvanatti]

I have a 2305 - first time I put the deck on after taking it off to do work with the loader, I spent 4 hours trying to figure out why the deck wouldnt lift. (mid mount) I had put a ballast box on the back 3 point hitch, It wasn't as wide as the travel bar that came with the tractor and the lift bar on the 3 point was missing it due to width. There is a bar that connects between the deck and 3 point on the 2305. Don't know anything about your machine or if it even has this. If it does , might look at it. William

 

[ced]

Try adjusting the cutting height control knob in front of the brake pedals. It may be set to either the extreme high or low end of cut. This would be a good place to start.

 

[BRBurns]

Try adjusting the cutting height control knob in front of the brake pedals. It may be set to either the extreme high or low end of cut. This would be a good place to start.

That or the knob is missing alltogether. I'm pretty sure that you problem lies in the height adjustment knob.

 

[Tim640]

Are the lift links hooked to the deck? I can't see them in you photos, but they may just be hidden behind that green guide-link arm. If they are attached, maybe they are adjusted too long.

Purpose of the slotted bracket: the depth-stop adjustment knob is at the front end of that heavy rod connected to the slotted bracket. As that bracket tilts backward it rotates the deck rockshaft (which should be connected to the deck with two lift links) lowering the deck until that depth-rod stops the travel - based on how the depth-knob is adjusted. That pin in the slot is connected to the hydraulic cylinder that raised the deck by pushing the bracket forward. As the cylinder moves backward the deck will drop to the set depth limit - the slot allows the cylinder to continue to its fully retracted position while the deck remains at the level set by the depth-knob. Sorry about the convoluted explanation, but hopefully it makes sense to you as you look at your setup.

John, thanks for the explanation. I think I get it, kind of. Here is my grasp of it:

The adjusting knob controls to a fine degree how far back the Link Weldment will rotate. The degree of rotation of the Link Weldment controls the up/down movement of the arms to which the lift linkages on the back of the deck are attached. Tightening that knob down pulls the shaft in tighter, elevating the rear of the deck in relation to the front?

Or does it control the height of the entire deck?

I do have an adjusting knob. It's pretty frozen up -- takes a lot of effort to twist it. I'll have to see to that. In the meantime I did back that knob off quite a ways - I exposed almost a half-inch of thread just to see if it made any difference. It doesn't at least not so far.

And yes, the lift links were connected. I piddled around with it for quite a while, still couldn't figure out what was wrong. So I took the mower deck off, just to see if the lift mechanism itself was moving. It's not.

The cylinder seems to do the opposite of what I expect, but that could be because I just can't get my head around how it works yet. When I push the lever DOWN, the cylinder RETRACTS, so the pin slides to the BACK of the slot. Then when I pull the lever UP, the cylinder EXTENDS, and the pin slides to the front of the slot.

So far as I can see, that's the only thing that's happening - just the pin sliding back and forth in the slot and no other movement, anywhere.

I'll go study it some more, see if something is locking it down somehow.

 

[Tim640]

I have a 2305 - first time I put the deck on after taking it off to do work with the loader, I spent 4 hours trying to figure out why the deck wouldnt lift. (mid mount) I had put a ballast box on the back 3 point hitch, It wasn't as wide as the travel bar that came with the tractor and the lift bar on the 3 point was missing it due to width. There is a bar that connects between the deck and 3 point on the 2305. Don't know anything about your machine or if it even has this. If it does , might look at it. William

I'll take a look, thanks.

 

[Tim640]

Try adjusting the cutting height control knob in front of the brake pedals. It may be set to either the extreme high or low end of cut. This would be a good place to start.

I have an adjustment knob on the left side of the tractor, nothing beneath the pedals which are on the right side.

 

[beenthere]

Tom
Are all these parts there? A stop by the Deere dealer to get a deck manual if you don't have one (with the installation/setup instructions) may be very helpful. I too suspect the height control knob but also suspect some missing part/parts.

This is for DECK SN M04260X, -M04272X so may not be for your particular deck. See jdparts for further breakdown of your particular deck.