62D MMM Creating Divots with Front Wheels

[Nuru]

kwolfe, have you tried it out yet?

 

[unit40]

I think the best and easiest thing to do in this case is to cut the front anti-scalp wheels off. Brackets and all. Then order an anti-scalp wheel kit from John deere that bolts onto their GS75 54" walk behind mowers. We purchased this kit years ago for our machine. The wheels are height adjustable, with a wrench. They have grease fittings on them. The wheels are heavy-duty and very rounded. If i remember, we had to drill a couple of holes for them. If anyone is intersted, I will take a pic.

 

[RollTideRam]

Does anyone know why the front wheels swivel on our 62d's? I have had three Deere mowers before this tractor. A couple of them had wheels that unlocked, so you could swivel them to pull the deck out from under them. None had wheels that would swivel all the time. JC

 

[kwolfe]

kwolfe, have you tried it out yet?

I own a Kubota BX1500, so no. It seems to me like it might help, not to mention, it is a cheap potential fix, so even if it does not you may have only wasted $3.

 

[papaw]

I think the best and easiest thing to do in this case is to cut the front anti-scalp wheels off. Brackets and all. Then order an anti-scalp wheel kit from John deere that bolts onto their GS75 54" walk behind mowers. We purchased this kit years ago for our machine. The wheels are height adjustable, with a wrench. They have grease fittings on them. The wheels are heavy-duty and very rounded. If i remember, we had to drill a couple of holes for them. If anyone is intersted, I will take a pic.

Yes, please post a photo. I am the one who started this thread and I am still looking for a solution. The grass will need cutting in about a month in this part of the country.

 

[unit40]

Papaw, Just sent the pics!

 

[papaw]

Send the 62D back to the dealer, I'm returning my deck for a refund . I've only have had my new 2520 less than two weeks (16 hrs on meter) and only used it less than one hour for mowing. Very disappointed with their new deck design. I have wasted one afternoon setting the deck up correctly(deck pitch was 1" high in the rear from dealer) reset to 1/4" and mowed. Reset it again to 1/8" and mowed some more. Same result: stragglers (multiple grass blades uncut) left across the entire mowed swath. Tried doulble cutting and same result. (Note to readers this is my third JD in the past 10 years (455, 4100 & new 2520)). Also deck is leaving debris trails behind each blade while mowing ;along with the divot damage on the lawn.
My 60" MMM's worked flawlessly for over 1,000 hours without any of the above issues (++lift linkage isssues I had in less than 1 hour mowing++).
FINAL THOUGHTS: 62d - 60mmm Now looking for a slightly used commercial ZTR as a replacement.

Toybarn,

How did you come out trying to get Deere to buy back your 62D deck? Its spring again and my deck is back to creating divots as strong as ever. I am tired of it and would like to get Deere to buy mine back as well.

 

[Chris2520]

Fella's , I could fix this problem in 30 min.
from the pictures that have been posted. the wheel is rideing right under the pin it is suppose to swivel on. and thats not going to work very well at all.
it is going to drag when you turn, instead of swiveling like it should. it needs to be set up like a caster on a grocery cart. the wheel needs to be offset of the swivel point. All that needs to be done. is have the pin cut off the wheel bracket. and slid to one side and reweld it. if there is not enough room. add a 2 inch peace of 1/4 flat band on one side and reweld the pin to it. and it will never dig your yard again. it needs about at least 2 to 3 inches off center. it needs to look like the wheels on the front of a 0 turn mover like a ZTrack. the wheel need to be offset of the piviot point.
I know i use to repair these wheels on tractor mowers for years.
this was just a design mistake. but its a simple fix...

 

[Chris2520]

I just saw a better picture. it is offset a tad. but no where near enough. it needs more to work right. Three inch offset. and it will never hurt your yard. trust me...

 

[ORCM]

I should get my tractor, and deck next week.. Has anyone just bought a new deck recently? If so has it come from the factory with any "fix" installed on it, or are they the same as they were a year ago??

I want to know, so I can get on my dealer to install some sort of fix on it before I get the deck...

 

[RollTideRam]

When you get it, check to see if the front wheels on the mower are rounded or still have the squared edges. This will be your first clue if anything has changed. JC

 

[chevy]

Does anyone have a part number for the rounded wheels?

 

[RollTideRam]

I don't have a part number for the wheels. I just kept telling my dealer how unhappy I was with the mower. Finally they did a dtac on my tractor and Deere sent me the wheels. They have bearings just are not drilled for the zerk fitting. I installed zerks on the shaft and that makes the wheel swivel much better. Supposedly Deere has done this for others, but not me. JC

 

[nails_n_glue]

This might not help the situation but my 62 MMM does have offset wheels. Is this the new model or something. I purchased it in January. I dont have the divit problem described in this thread, although I do find it a knuckle busting experience getting front bracket to attach to 2520 tractor. IS there a fix for this problem?

 

[chevy]

This might not help the situation but my 62 MMM does have offset wheels. Is this the new model or something. I purchased it in January. I dont have the divit problem described in this thread, although I do find it a knuckle busting experience getting front bracket to attach to 2520 tractor. IS there a fix for this problem?

Your mower is just like mine. If your lawn is flat you will not have the divot problem. My lawn is not flat.
I have not had a problem attaching the front bracket on my 2320.

 

[LBrown59]

I had managed to fix this problem with my mechanical lift kit by setting the wheels just right, when I had the hydraulic lift kit installed they were back and I had just assumed it was because the mower deck was set a little lower. After seeing your other post about the lift kit being too jerky (yes, it is hard to move the joystick slowly enough to avoid a large bang) I'm beginning to wonder if there's another issue at work.

I'm traveling again so I'm away from my tractor, but I'll have to check when I get home how the linkage works that sets the mower deck height. The one tied to the three point simply had the mower bracket resting on the three point arms, allowing it to rise higher as needed. It's possible that the independent lift kit locks it at the set height, making the wheels next to useless since they'll never be able to lift the mower. Is there freedom of movement upwards when the mower's at cutting height?

Have you tried mowing with the deck set a notch higher than where you normally have it set when mowing?

 

[jdbower]

Have you tried mowing with the deck set a notch higher than where you normally have it set when mowing?

Wow, this thread really goes back - I forgot I had participated in it I've had quite some time with my 62D since then, now the scalping is much better after getting the height to where I wanted it. I still get it when mowing around my trees (there is a mound around each tree so I'm on an angle - putting a foot or two of mulch around the trees should fix this). I also get some scalping from the MCS impeller mount, re-leveling the mower from side-to-side may help this - the dealer will be doing this for me next week during a routine service. The MCS scalping isn't caused by the wheels directly, but I may try rounding the wheels and then lowering them so the MCS hardware doesn't hit the ground.

 

[LBrown59]

No matter how I set the anti-scalp wheels on the new 62D MMM on my JD 2520 CUT, the front ones keep digging into the yard and creating big divots. They get turned sideways and then when backing or going forward they do not straighten up with the mower and dig into the yard.

Has anybody came up with a solution? Previous decks, such as the 60" on my JD 445, had a spring to keep the wheel heased with the deck.

This problem can happen when your lawn is not as flat as a football field.
Perhaps you need to do some leveling and smoothing of the yard.

 

[LBrown59]

Send the 62D back to the dealer, I'm returning my deck for a refund . I've only have had my new 2520 less than two weeks (16 hrs on meter) and only used it less than one hour for mowing. Very disappointed with their new deck design. I have wasted one afternoon setting the deck up correctly(deck pitch was 1" high in the rear from dealer) reset to 1/4" and mowed. Reset it again to 1/8" and mowed some more. Same result: stragglers (multiple grass blades uncut) left across the entire mowed swath. Tried doulble cutting and same result. (Note to readers
1*this is my third JD in the past 10 years (455, 4100 & new 2520)). Also deck is leaving debris trails behind each blade while mowing ;along with the divot damage on the lawn.
My 60" MMM's worked flawlessly for over 1,000 hours without any of the above issues (++lift linkage isssues I had in less than 1 hour mowing++).
FINAL THOUGHTS: 62d - 60mmm
2*Now looking for a slightly used commercial ZTR as a replacement.

1*You shoulda kept the JD 455[a real sweat machine] for mowing and got the 2550 without a mower.
I almost wish I hadn't gotten the mower with my BX23 ; almost but not quite cause I like mowing my 2.33 acres with the BX23 60 '' mower and my wife mowing at the same time with the CC GT2554 with the 54'' mower. Using both tractors at once cuts the mowing time about in half.
2*The big disadvantage with a ztr for me is price and there limited versatility.
That's why I went with A new CC GT2554 .

 

[LBrown59]

It's all a clever ploy by JD to make us all want to buy tillers and box blades to level out our yards!

Kubota didn't do that to us BX23 orange guys.
Sorry but I couldn't resist funin you greenies a bit.