X540 with 54" Deck Cuts Very Badly

Welcome to the site DaBear.

What year is your tractor? Did it cut this horrible when it was brand new or did it start later?

With the JD cutting height tool it would be fairly easy to tell if you have a bent spindle or blade. Once you know the deck is level you can measure both sides of the end of the blades and they should be the same height. Continue to spin the blade around and keep measuring. If they are different at any point, you found the problem.

Are you still under warranty? If it was like this from the dealer I would be calling them and asking for it to be corrected!

I never have been satisfied with the cut. I bought the mower new in November 2009 and it is still under warranty. I guess I never thought of leveling the deck with the built in tool, THEN, using the blade leveling tool to check the blades to see if they are all flying at the same height. That would be the test for sure and I will measure that this afternoon. Thanks.

Before I do that what I am expecting is one spindle is sitting a little cockeyed on the deck. If so a very small difference will be multiplied by the length of the blade.

I corrected a neighbors Simplicity a couple of years ago. She complained it cut funny. Turns out the metal is so thin that when she hit something in the yard it bent the deck. She stalled her tractor completely. The way I discovered it was I aligned the blades end to end mounted in the deck. The blade tips weren't on the same plane. I fixed it by removing the spindle shaft from the bearings and inserting a long pipe in them. I then pulled on the pipe until the deck was bent back to were the blades matched up. She said it is now the best cut she ever had. Did you hit something with the blades?

X540 w/54" deck

I have a new x540 that cannot cut level when on a slope! It cuts ok on level ground but not on slopes. When cutting across the slope, the lower side of the deck always cuts lower, so you can see each pass has a sloped cut. If I put the anti scalp when down touching the ground, 2 holes different from lower slopes side to the higher slope side it cuts fine. This would force cutting the same direction on on slope cuts.
If dealer is unable to correct this week, I will return tractor.
Anyone has advice?
Unit has been returned to dealer once already, technician said deck was level. Nothing to repair!

BryanD said:

I have a new x540 that cannot cut level when on a slope! It cuts ok on level ground but not on slopes. When cutting across the slope, the lower side of the deck always cuts lower, so you can see each pass has a sloped cut. If I put the anti scalp when down touching the ground, 2 holes different from lower slopes side to the higher slope side it cuts fine. This would force cutting the same direction on on slope cuts.
If dealer is unable to correct this week, I will return tractor.
Anyone has advice?
Unit has been returned to dealer once already, technician said deck was level. Nothing to repair!

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I have a X540 amd love it. The right side of the deck does seem a little hever than the left, I cut at 4" and have my gage wheels set with 3 holes showing out the top. I recomend finding out what setting works for you on the low side wheels and doing the same on the other side. sounds like what ever way you are mowing the low side wheels will be touching the ground. Hope this helps/:drinks:

X540 cut issues

dieselshadow said:

Too low of tire pressure in the rear tires will also allow the tractor to lean more on slopes.

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Dealer actually lowered pressure in tires, I was running them at 16 psi to eliminate sidewalk flex.
What is the max slope that I can expect to cut and maintain a level cut? I am cutting across slopes of about 20 degrees. Thanks