[spferdil]

I've had 2 of the 3 lift set-ups and had problems with both. Started with the mechanical lift, had the problem mentioned above of the gap not staying the same, could set it up and it would work for awhile and then wouldn't go into lock position.

So had the dealer install the independent lift (hydraulic with the switch). Won't go into all the initial problems with it, but the current one is, if the tractor sets for awhile without using the lift, you can push the switch from now on and nothing happens. Must be electrical, right? No such luck, voltage is there but solenoid won't switch till I drive the tractor around for a while, then it will start working and work the rest of the day. It's like the solenoid is sticking inside till it warms up. :dunno::banghead::nunu:

 

[dhabes]

1025R 60D MMM Adjustments

Hey everyone! I got my 1025R last fall and have been a member here ever since. An awesome site with tons of info.

Anyways, I have a few potential mow deck issues I am looking for a little validation on. First, let me acknowledge that I was lazy a few weeks ago and left the mow deck on while using my FEL to move some honeysuckle I had just cut down. I accidentally drove over a stump that definitely hit the mower deck housing. Blades weren't running so no issue there. No noticeable damage to the deck or any of the attachment points that I can see. Safe to say that I learned my lesson. Also, note that I have not had a chance to use the mower yet. Here are my questions:

1. The deck does not raise and lower very uniformly/smoothly. One side will start raising or lowering before the other and then the other side. Is this normal? I tried to grab a video but it's kinda hard to see exactly what's happening. If you watch the far side of the video around the :12/:13 second mark, you can see the far side hits its low spot while the closer side is still lowering.

2. Possibly related to #1 or maybe something separate, the deck is level when lowered but not when raised. The left side (as I am sitting on the mower) sits lower than the right. Is this normal? I have mentioned the blade height when lowered and then also threw a level across it both lowered and raised.
3. The lever to adjust the deck height is not centered within the circle. It sits pretty far off to the left. This makes it hard to see exactly which setting it is on.

There may be a single answer to all of these or not sure if there are multiple issues here or maybe I am just overly worried about my still new to me toy. My biggest fear is that I screwed something up within the mower deck and/or attachments when I hit the honeysuckle stump. Any help or insight is appreciated!

 

[kylew]

Sorry I can't see what's happening in the video. Have you looked for bent linkage? Front draft arm/brackets, mid lift arms, etc. You might have someone run the controls while you look under the tractor (be careful!). I'd try that, then take the deck off and look again under the tractor for any damage. You can get a closer look at the height adjustment too. Might find something related to the knob being off center.

Fyi...my deck lifts and lowers pretty uniformly. Don't remember it doing what you describe.

 

[Brianjc]

2017 1025R 60D Problem Fixed!

Don't know if this is a unique problem or not. Because of all the great info I've gotten here I thought I should share.

My year old tractor/ mmm deck has never connected or disconnected right from day one. I literally had to pry it on and off with a 2x4 against the tire. Just lived with it last summer due to the hassle of taking it back to the dealer. This year I decided I'm going to figure this out myself. Using dieselshadow's great info I started going through the adjustments. After disconnecting the lift links and realizing how easy it was to remove the lift assy. the light bulb lit up! Let's see if the lift assy. will go on the deck off the tractor. I immediately found the problem.
The gap on the right ear that is welded to the deck was 1/32" smaller then the left. The long bar that locks into the ears would not slide in.

Interesting side note: This past Monday I was going to take a grinder and fix it. At nine that morning totally out of the blue I got a call from the service manager at my J.D. dealer. The dealership had been bought out this past Jan. and he was following up on a online survey I had filled out.
He said I understand your having a problem with your auto connect mower and I would like to come pick-up your tractor and fix it. They picked it up the next morning and delivered it back this morning all at no cost to me. Kudos to the new dealer and their customer service, they even washed my tractor and fixed a couple of other minor problems that I was not even aware of! I did nothing to damage the deck, it came out of the factory with a bent ear. I have not had a chance to test it but I'm sure it is fixed. Will post a update after I try it.

 

[Brianjc]

Update, 2017 1025R 60D Problem Fixed

Auto Connect deck now works like advertised! :thumbup1gif:

 

[trryhin]

Sorry about that, I don't know why some pictures show up as attachments and others inline, I uploaded them all the same way. I'll try making them a little smaller here, maybe it's a size thing.

Pics in this order: My initial bad gap, my finished good gap, my strap installed wrong, my strap re-installed right, and a screen grab from a manual posted in another thread here showing this strap installed correctly. Here's a link to that thread with the manual but it is an attachment also of a PDF file so don't know if you will be able to see it or not.

http://www.greentractortalk.com/forums/sub-compact-utility-tractors-scut/13713-more-deck-problems-2.html#post132653

Could someone verify if this is correct strap orientation for 2018's also? Just got my tractor, was reading through the manual and starting to adjust the deck and saw mine is mounted on the outside.

 

[gvstone]

Hate to start this again, but ....

I've read and read... also have several hours in adjustments and yard still looks bad!!!! One thing I haven't read about that mine does is that I can level the deck not sitting on mowing stop and get real close to perfect, mower lifts good and square seems solid! Then I set the stop to somewhere close to 3 inches and the deck sags on the right as much as .75 inches!!! Then I start leveling based on sitting on the mowing stop and the deck lifts wonky and seems to want to sag and twist... Terribly frustrating. Dealer has tried more than once to make it better to no avail....

HELP!!
Greg

 

[martincom]

I've read and read... also have several hours in adjustments and yard still looks bad!!!! One thing I haven't read about that mine does is that I can level the deck not sitting on mowing stop and get real close to perfect, mower lifts good and square seems solid! Then I set the stop to somewhere close to 3 inches and the deck sags on the right as much as .75 inches!!! Then I start leveling based on sitting on the mowing stop and the deck lifts wonky and seems to want to sag and twist... Terribly frustrating. Dealer has tried more than once to make it better to no avail....

HELP!!
Greg

Greg,

How old is your tractor and what model? I'm wondering if you have the earlier lift arm/rod that is prone to failure. Your symptoms sure sound like it. See Post #92 in the following thread for a side-by-side comparison of an old, defective, lift arm/rod and the new and improved version.

http://www.greentractortalk.com/forums/sub-compact-utility-tractors-scut/18593-broken-mid-mount-mower-lift-mechanism-10.html

 

[gvstone]

Thanks!!

That is not it though, mine is last year's model and seems to have the newer bracket! I appreciate having something to check !! It is a 1025R.
Thanks again!!
Greg

 

[so2315]

Sorry about that, I don't know why some pictures show up as attachments and others inline, I uploaded them all the same way. I'll try making them a little smaller here, maybe it's a size thing.

Pics in this order: My initial bad gap, my finished good gap, my strap installed wrong, my strap re-installed right, and a screen grab from a manual posted in another thread here showing this strap installed correctly. Here's a link to that thread with the manual but it is an attachment also of a PDF file so don't know if you will be able to see it or not.

http://www.greentractortalk.com/forums/sub-compact-utility-tractors-scut/13713-more-deck-problems-2.html#post132653

So is this the correct way to install the strap? In looking at JD Parts diagram, they show it installed the incorrect way in the parts listing.

 

[spferdil]

So is this the correct way to install the strap? In looking at JD Parts diagram, they show it installed the incorrect way in the parts listing.
View attachment 626762

Interesting, that's the way mine was installed when delivered. But when doing all the adjustments on mine someone posted a picture from the service manual that showed it the other way so I changed it. I now have the service manual and it shows it to be the other way.

So I don't think anyone really knows how it's supposed to be, and honestly I could never tell that it made any difference on mine. I had the same problems with it installed either way. Finally gave up and went to the independent lift.

 

[so2315]

Well quick update on my experience. My mower height knob would not go past 3.25", no where near 4" or the lock. Looking at the cam it was getting bound up. Had dealer stop over and he was starting to mess with the everything except what he should have been doing. I stop him, bring out the laptop and pull up the PDF file in this thread for mounting mid mount lifting hardware.
Get the lift strap adjusted so there is a gap with deck off, and almost locks with deck on. We discuss the lift strap position with bend inside or outside. He said they come from factory already installed on the tractor. In looking at it I really don't see how it would make a difference in any adjustments as the strap is not obstructed in either mounting position. I thank him for stopping over and pull the big boy in the garage in a nice level spot.

Now, here is where this gets interesting and I see no mention of this in the thread and it maybe should be added. When putting the height adjuster to install, and dropping the deck to the bottom I noticed that I could not remove the pins from the turnbuckles without lifting the deck up off the floor by hand. Obviously the turnbuckles were still supporting the weight of the deck. I recalled that the hardware installation manual said to turn the bolt in the turnbuckle at least half way. Mine were screwed up towards the top with only 5-8 threads showing.

What I decided to do was this: I already had my gap between the turnbuckle and height cam set to about 1/4" without the deck on. I lowered the deck all the way to floor with the guide wheels up. The stamped steel was resting on the cement. I then proceeded to turn the turnbuckles out until the hole for the pin lined up with the hole in the draft bars. They were different on each side, but the deck was fully resting on the cement floor. Once I got the turnbuckles adjusted I replaced the pins, raised the deck and guess what happened? The height adjustment knob went into lock with no issues with about a 1/8" gap. I could then lower the deck into the locked position. I then raised it slightly and the knob rotated freely with no issues.

So now I go to level the deck. Since the cement floor is level I was less than 1/4" off from side to side. One and a half turns on the buckle that was low and it is perfectly level. Front to rear was good and needed no adjusting.

In conclusion I suspect that the tractor had the lift strap on from the factory. The dealer installed the deck, and used the turnbuckles to level the deck without fine tuning it. I suspect a vast majority of people who are having issues with the gap after the strap is adjusted and the deck is on is due to the turnbuckles being screwed in too far. It does state somewhere that if you cannot get to the lock position after the strap is adjusted then the turnbuckles need adjusting. Laying it flat on the ground and adjusting the buckle to the hole may save you from a lot of aggravation and doing this multiple times.\

I did adjust the guide wheels to spec on the garage floor, and the seem to roll constantly on the grass and sometimes support the weight of the deck in uneven spots. But man this thing mowed just as good or better than the 455 I had. No more uneven spots, almost looks stripped. Very happy for this thread and it is worth taking the time to dial it in. I hope my advice on the turnbuckle adjustment makes it in the original post, as it sure did help me.

 

[Gooch]

Well quick update on my experience. My mower height knob would not go past 3.25", no where near 4" or the lock. Looking at the cam it was getting bound up. Had dealer stop over and he was starting to mess with the everything except what he should have been doing. I stop him, bring out the laptop and pull up the PDF file in this thread for mounting mid mount lifting hardware.
Get the lift strap adjusted so there is a gap with deck off, and almost locks with deck on. We discuss the lift strap position with bend inside or outside. He said they come from factory already installed on the tractor. In looking at it I really don't see how it would make a difference in any adjustments as the strap is not obstructed in either mounting position. I thank him for stopping over and pull the big boy in the garage in a nice level spot.

Now, here is where this gets interesting and I see no mention of this in the thread and it maybe should be added. When putting the height adjuster to install, and dropping the deck to the bottom I noticed that I could not remove the pins from the turnbuckles without lifting the deck up off the floor by hand. Obviously the turnbuckles were still supporting the weight of the deck. I recalled that the hardware installation manual said to turn the bolt in the turnbuckle at least half way. Mine were screwed up towards the top with only 5-8 threads showing.

What I decided to do was this: I already had my gap between the turnbuckle and height cam set to about 1/4" without the deck on. I lowered the deck all the way to floor with the guide wheels up. The stamped steel was resting on the cement. I then proceeded to turn the turnbuckles out until the hole for the pin lined up with the hole in the draft bars. They were different on each side, but the deck was fully resting on the cement floor. Once I got the turnbuckles adjusted I replaced the pins, raised the deck and guess what happened? The height adjustment knob went into lock with no issues with about a 1/8" gap. I could then lower the deck into the locked position. I then raised it slightly and the knob rotated freely with no issues.

So now I go to level the deck. Since the cement floor is level I was less than 1/4" off from side to side. One and a half turns on the buckle that was low and it is perfectly level. Front to rear was good and needed no adjusting.

In conclusion I suspect that the tractor had the lift strap on from the factory. The dealer installed the deck, and used the turnbuckles to level the deck without fine tuning it. I suspect a vast majority of people who are having issues with the gap after the strap is adjusted and the deck is on is due to the turnbuckles being screwed in too far. It does state somewhere that if you cannot get to the lock position after the strap is adjusted then the turnbuckles need adjusting. Laying it flat on the ground and adjusting the buckle to the hole may save you from a lot of aggravation and doing this multiple times.\

I did adjust the guide wheels to spec on the garage floor, and the seem to roll constantly on the grass and sometimes support the weight of the deck in uneven spots. But man this thing mowed just as good or better than the 455 I had. No more uneven spots, almost looks stripped. Very happy for this thread and it is worth taking the time to dial it in. I hope my advice on the turnbuckle adjustment makes it in the original post, as it sure did help me.

I understand you can adjust the deck left to right by using the turnbuckles. However, How do you adjust the height of the blades front to back? Should the deck be perfectly level front to back?

Thanks is advance

 

[martincom]

I understand you can adjust the deck left to right by using the turnbuckles. However, How do you adjust the height of the blades front to back? Should the deck be perfectly level front to back?

Thanks is advance

The front to back height adjustment is made with the large nuts, on the front of the front draft arm, at the front of the tractor.

 

[martincom]

Well quick update on my experience. My mower height knob would not go past 3.25", no where near 4" or the lock. Looking at the cam it was getting bound up. Had dealer stop over and he was starting to mess with the everything except what he should have been doing. I stop him, bring out the laptop and pull up the PDF file in this thread for mounting mid mount lifting hardware.
Get the lift strap adjusted so there is a gap with deck off, and almost locks with deck on. We discuss the lift strap position with bend inside or outside. He said they come from factory already installed on the tractor. In looking at it I really don't see how it would make a difference in any adjustments as the strap is not obstructed in either mounting position. I thank him for stopping over and pull the big boy in the garage in a nice level spot.

Now, here is where this gets interesting and I see no mention of this in the thread and it maybe should be added. When putting the height adjuster to install, and dropping the deck to the bottom I noticed that I could not remove the pins from the turnbuckles without lifting the deck up off the floor by hand. Obviously the turnbuckles were still supporting the weight of the deck. I recalled that the hardware installation manual said to turn the bolt in the turnbuckle at least half way. Mine were screwed up towards the top with only 5-8 threads showing.

What I decided to do was this: I already had my gap between the turnbuckle and height cam set to about 1/4" without the deck on. I lowered the deck all the way to floor with the guide wheels up. The stamped steel was resting on the cement. I then proceeded to turn the turnbuckles out until the hole for the pin lined up with the hole in the draft bars. They were different on each side, but the deck was fully resting on the cement floor. Once I got the turnbuckles adjusted I replaced the pins, raised the deck and guess what happened? The height adjustment knob went into lock with no issues with about a 1/8" gap. I could then lower the deck into the locked position. I then raised it slightly and the knob rotated freely with no issues.

So now I go to level the deck. Since the cement floor is level I was less than 1/4" off from side to side. One and a half turns on the buckle that was low and it is perfectly level. Front to rear was good and needed no adjusting.

In conclusion I suspect that the tractor had the lift strap on from the factory. The dealer installed the deck, and used the turnbuckles to level the deck without fine tuning it. I suspect a vast majority of people who are having issues with the gap after the strap is adjusted and the deck is on is due to the turnbuckles being screwed in too far. It does state somewhere that if you cannot get to the lock position after the strap is adjusted then the turnbuckles need adjusting. Laying it flat on the ground and adjusting the buckle to the hole may save you from a lot of aggravation and doing this multiple times.\

I did adjust the guide wheels to spec on the garage floor, and the seem to roll constantly on the grass and sometimes support the weight of the deck in uneven spots. But man this thing mowed just as good or better than the 455 I had. No more uneven spots, almost looks stripped. Very happy for this thread and it is worth taking the time to dial it in. I hope my advice on the turnbuckle adjustment makes it in the original post, as it sure did help me.

I would think altering the length of the strap between the rock shafts would have still allowed the deck to rest on the ground, without any weight being carried by the lift linkage. I added jam nuts to threaded rods, that mate with the forks, on both side (to prevent the adjustment from being upset). I have mine set with little thread showing so the deck will be as high as possible when in the "locked" position. I have no issues with them being loose when the deck is in the "install" position. I do have "Independent Lift", but I wouldn't think this would make any difference from "Mechanical Lift".

Now, I do have the thickness of the jam nut, which does set the forks lower on threaded rod. This may equate to what you ultimately set yours for.

 

[Gooch]

The front to back height adjustment is made with the large nuts, on the front of the front draft arm, at the front of the tractor.

Do you have a pic of what nuts you are referring to?

 

[kylew]

Do you have a pic of what nuts you are referring to?

Martin is referring to the draft link assy, on the front of the mower deck. The part that engages in the front of the tractor. The nuts are #1 in the picture. Be sure to maintain about 1/8" gap between the back of the pin #6, and the draft brackets on the tractor, or else you'll have issues getting the mower deck to latch and unlatch in the rear. Don't worry about the deck being level front to back, as much as having the front tip of the blade, when pointing front to back, lower than the rear tip...1/4" to 3/8" in general.

See also this thread, post #43 by Jeff B. It might help.

https://www.greentractortalk.com/fo...autoconnect-mower-1025r-not-connecting-3.html

 

[martincom]

Thank you for the assist kylew.

I add a 3/8 fine thread nut, as a jam nut, to the threaded loop, reference item #8 in the exploded view, below:

I'm away from home at this time, but I'll post a photo when I return. I also label each fork, left or right, with a permanent marker, so I don't interchange them and upset the mower deck height adjustments. Here, in snow country, all that lift linkage in the exploded view has to be removed to install the front PTO shaft required for the snow blower.

 

[so2315]

I would think altering the length of the strap between the rock shafts would have still allowed the deck to rest on the ground, without any weight being carried by the lift linkage.

It would, if the lift linkage was not used by the dealer to level the deck before the strap was adjusted. The problem is the dealers are just slapping the decks on these machines and leveling the deck without taking the time to make all of the adjustments that are needed beforehand.

 

[tareece]

My adjustment staircase