Bought a pair of F725s

[TractorGuy]

I just bought a pair of F725 mowers so please let my stupid questions begin.

First the required pics. Haven't picked up the parts mower yet but it is complete as far as I could tell.

Here is the running mower after a bath.

The deck on the running mower has been repaired and the left rear gauge wheel is touching the tire. The parts mower deck looked to be unmolested with no visible holes. He says I will also get a third deck shell he bought but couldn't find it yesterday. Hopefully it will be the best of the three and I can go ahead and prep and paint it. I won't be using the mower until I change or correct the gauge wheel location.

My first question is on
Using Weight Transfer Control
The manual reads:

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M73396
Use the weight transfer control (A) to help improve traction.
To help transfer some of the mower weight to the drive wheels:
Check the position of the notch on the knob (B) with the plus (+) and minus (-) signs on the base.
Turn the control knob clockwise toward the plus (+) sign to help add weight to the drive wheels.
Turn the knob counterclockwise toward the minus (-) sign for less weight to the drive wheels.

To LIFT the mower when you come to an obstacle:
PULL KNOB UP: Mower will stay UP as long as you hold knob up.
RELEASE THE KNOB: Knob and mower will go back down.

I would interpret this description to mean turning the knob moves the deck closer to or away from the mower and to lift and lower you pull or push the knob. When the guy demonstrated the mower he did in fact pull up on the knob to raise the deck and pushed it to lower. The knob and shaft had been jury rigged and when I unloaded it off the trailer the shaft broke off where they had drilled through it and put a cotter pin in. I could not get the shaft to pull up and down. I can operate the clockwise/counter clockwise rotation with a pair of vise grips and when I do the deck just raises and lowers. Does rotating the knob raise and lower the deck or should it move forward or closer to the machine? Seems redundant to have two functions provide the same result.

 

[Kish318420]

That deck took a beating! Engine cover (right side) took some bashing also. Just some body work will straighten that out. Nice acquisition!

 

[TractorGuy]

Picked up the parts mower and spare deck today. The parts mower deck looks to be better than the running mower deck. The third deck is in awesome condition and made from heavier gauge steel but it isn't made for an F725. I might could cut and weld some brackets and make it work but I was hoping for plug and play compatibility.

 

[TractorGuy]

Took the new to me antique mower out in the rough stuff yesterday. It seems to handle the irregular ground as good or better than my little tractor and finish mower.

This is a 1996 model. Still planning to do some body and paint work on it. I might even invest in some new body parts since all the plastic stuff is broken. I bought some anti wear coating to put on the underside of the deck. The deck is a 10 gauge stamped unit off of a newer lawn tractor or zero turn. I had to cut all the mounts off and weld on the mounts for the F725 brackets and gear box.

The power steering is so easy to turn I find myself over steering. I think it's gonna make a good addition to the mower arsenal.