Cleaning up JD Z500 series mower deck.

[jbjlock26]

I have a Z545R that is a little over a year old. I mostly love the machine, how it operates and the ease of most maintenance. However, I am scratching my head over how to clean the top side of the mower deck. I'm talking after a routine day of mowing with grass clippings and dust all over everything.

What I have been doing is lowering the deck and removing the floor panel, blowing off the deck with compressed air. I'll flip up the plastic outboard belt guards. The problem is, if I hose it down with water, there is no way of clearing the water from the ribs in the cast aluminum spindle housings! It's a substantial amount of water and I don't think it's a good idea to just leave it there. Aside from removing the deck, which I'm not planning to do, is there a trick? Am I missing something? I know some of these machines may even live outside on open trailers. Let me know what you do! TIA!

 

[beenthere]

I just use compressor air to blow off the dust, grass, and debris after mowing (every time !).

Will not use water, as I don't want to put the deck away wet. Also do not have covers over the pulley/spindles to hide wet grass. Risk an occasional stick that gets under the belt and throws it off, but very seldom that happens.

 

[arto98607]

The grass clippings have moisture and if left there the deck will rust under the shields.

My solution on a different JD model was the leave the shields out and use backpack blower to clear out the debris after each mowing.

 

[bigtiller]

I have a Z545R that is a little over a year old. I mostly love the machine, how it operates and the ease of most maintenance. However, I am scratching my head over how to clean the top side of the mower deck. I'm talking after a routine day of mowing with grass clippings and dust all over everything.

What I have been doing is lowering the deck and removing the floor panel, blowing off the deck with compressed air. I'll flip up the plastic outboard belt guards. The problem is, if I hose it down with water, there is no way of clearing the water from the ribs in the cast aluminum spindle housings! It's a substantial amount of water and I don't think it's a good idea to just leave it there. Aside from removing the deck, which I'm not planning to do, is there a trick? Am I missing something? I know some of these machines may even live outside on open trailers. Let me know what you do! TIA!

I also have a Z545R that is 1 year old. It has a 60" deck.
I blow it off with compressed air just as you do.
Then I drive it into the tin shed and park it until the next mowing day.

I might be tempted to wipe a few dirty spots with a wet wipe like Tub-o-Towels but that's it. I never will power wash the deck.

It will take years before the deck rust damages it, and I will probably be wishing for a new mower by then...if I live that long.

 

[Racer4]

I have a small stihl handheld blower I use after each mowing. I pull up to the garage door, plug in the blower, and hit the whole machine. Takes less than a minute. It will clean the deck better than compressed air, and get debris from under the belt guards.

I scrape the bottom off about every 3-5 mowings.