I recently got a BX 23S and I have learned so much from this forum that i want to give back a little bit. I have the 60" mower deck (not the drive over version) and after having attached and detached it a bunch of times, i have a few tips for people just getting the hang of it. If anybody disagrees with these thoughts, or has additional tips, i'd love to learn more.
1. if possible, attach/detach it on a concrete floor. This makes it easy to slide the deck out from under the tractor without bothering to re-orient the anti-scalp wheels. I stand straddling the deck and lift and pull with both hands gripping the front and rear edges.
2. when installing/removing the deck, turn the steering wheel all the way to the right. This gives much more clearance to pull the deck out towards the left. It's easiest to turn the wheel with the tractor running.
3. add or remove the deck by sliding it in/out from the left side of the tractor; this avoids having to work around the exhaust chute of the deck, which makes it easier to grab/slide it.
4. Make sure the drive shaft of the mower deck is lubricated, especially where the splines connect to the power take off (PTO) shaft of the tractor.
5. Although you can begin attaching the deck by hooking up the PTO shaft and drive shaft, this connection can be hard to make if the deck is not accurately positioned side-to-side under the tractor. I have found that it's easier to hook up (or at least carefully align) the two pins that descend with the three-point-hitch control to grab the rear of the deck. As a result, i like to hook up those two pins before connecting the drive shaft.
6. Be aware that the drive shaft of the mower deck is in two pieces, and the segment that actually connects to the PTO is loose on the shaft. if you tilt the mower deck, or pull on the shaft, the segment of the shaft will come right off. (ask me how i know).
7. If the loose piece of your drive shaft comes off of the rest of the drive shaft, then putting it on is as simple as sliding it back on, BUT the splines on the shaft must be aligned at a specific point. Two of the splines have a "weld point" between them which is essentially a tiny bump. That weld point is just big enough to force the shaft to mate with the rest of the drive shaft in only one orientation. You can try to feel for the weld point with your fingers, but i find it easier to just gently try to slide the shaft together, then rotate about 2degrees, then try again; repeat until it slides on. Easy to do as long as you are aware that you need to search for the right orientation.
8. I find it easier to install the drive shaft to the PTO by lying on the ground on the right side of the mower deck (laying at they rear of the mower deck, feet towards the back, arm reaching under) because I'm right handed.
9. when installing the drive shaft to the PTO, you can partially connect the two without pulling back on the spring-loaded coupler on the end of the drive shaft. But once the two parts are partially connected like that, you must simultaneously pull back on the spring loaded coupler (pull it towards front of the tractor) and push the entire shaft the rest of the way onto the PTO (towards the rear). This sounds a lot more complicated than it is, but it's essential to do this or you could damage the drive shaft or the PTO when the gears/splines don't properly mesh and/or fall off.
10. once you think you have the drive shaft properly mounted on the PTO, give it a good tug towards the front of the tractor to make sure it's stuck on (do NOT tug on the spring loaded coupler when you do this or you will disconnect the whole thing!). A simple tug is all you need.
11. when mounting the rear pins of the deck to the tractor, you need to lower the connecting linkage from the tractor to meet the pins. A few things to know about this: (a) do NOT lower the linkage until the deck is slid underneath the tractor and somewhat aligned. (b) you can lower the linkage without turning on the tractor. (c) if the linkage does not descend then you may have the resistance turned up too high; there's a knob under the seat that controls the ease with which the linkage descends, you can turn this to make it easier; i found when the tractor was brand new even after loosening the knob, i had to "help" the linkage to drop by gently pulling it down as i released the lever; after a few tries it now goes up and down fine on its own; don't pinch your fingers doing this. (d) There is also a knob to set the mower deck cutting height; when you want to attach the deck, you should turn this knob all the way to zero so the linkage descends all the way; if you forget to do this you can spend a long time trying to get the linkage to connect and go down, but it won't go down because it's set to remain higher (again, ask me how i know). (e) when the mower deck is detached, it's best to set that knob to the "top" setting so that the linkage stays up and out of the way when you are doing other work.
12. when attaching the linkage to the rear pins, remember to pull out the spring loaded pins in the linkage; the linkage arms have detents to lock them in the "open" position during this process.
13. Because the linkage arms descend from the tractor in a sort of curve or diagonal, be aware that you may need to move the mower deck slightly forward or backward to get a good alignment. Once you are close, release both pins from their detents and if they don't immediately seat in the mower deck rear pins, jiggle the mower deck a little until you hear or see them click into place.
14. When you have the rear pins connected to the linkage, attach the drive shaft if you haven't done so already. Then attach the front mounting bracket.
15. The front mounting bracket on my machine came with very snug fitting pieces, which i attribute to there being a lot of paint. But after a few on and off cycles it's much easier.
16. Make sure that the spring loaded locking pin on the front bracket is properly seated after you raise the bracket up and into position. if that pin is not all the way in, you can drop the whole front bracket while mowing (AMHIK).
17. Once you have drive shaft, rear pins, and front bracket all attached, remember to set the mowing height to whatever number you prefer (typically 2 or 2.5") using the dial under the seat.
18. If you change mowing height much, you will want to adjust the height of all of the anti-scalp wheels on the mower deck. the manual has a table showing exactly which holes to use in the wheel axles in order to match various heights.
19. Before mowing, it's good to check the tightness of the hand screws that hold on the covers of the pulleys (big black plastic wingnuts). the vibration of mowing easily loosens these and they then fall off.
I hope these tips are helpful. For what it's worth after learning all these little bits I know attach my deck in about 10 minutes, and detach it much more quickly than that. I expect i will get more efficient with more practice, though mowing season is almost over. At least now i'll be able to consult my own post next spring when i've forgotten all of this.
happy mowing.
1. if possible, attach/detach it on a concrete floor. This makes it easy to slide the deck out from under the tractor without bothering to re-orient the anti-scalp wheels. I stand straddling the deck and lift and pull with both hands gripping the front and rear edges.
2. when installing/removing the deck, turn the steering wheel all the way to the right. This gives much more clearance to pull the deck out towards the left. It's easiest to turn the wheel with the tractor running.
3. add or remove the deck by sliding it in/out from the left side of the tractor; this avoids having to work around the exhaust chute of the deck, which makes it easier to grab/slide it.
4. Make sure the drive shaft of the mower deck is lubricated, especially where the splines connect to the power take off (PTO) shaft of the tractor.
5. Although you can begin attaching the deck by hooking up the PTO shaft and drive shaft, this connection can be hard to make if the deck is not accurately positioned side-to-side under the tractor. I have found that it's easier to hook up (or at least carefully align) the two pins that descend with the three-point-hitch control to grab the rear of the deck. As a result, i like to hook up those two pins before connecting the drive shaft.
6. Be aware that the drive shaft of the mower deck is in two pieces, and the segment that actually connects to the PTO is loose on the shaft. if you tilt the mower deck, or pull on the shaft, the segment of the shaft will come right off. (ask me how i know).
7. If the loose piece of your drive shaft comes off of the rest of the drive shaft, then putting it on is as simple as sliding it back on, BUT the splines on the shaft must be aligned at a specific point. Two of the splines have a "weld point" between them which is essentially a tiny bump. That weld point is just big enough to force the shaft to mate with the rest of the drive shaft in only one orientation. You can try to feel for the weld point with your fingers, but i find it easier to just gently try to slide the shaft together, then rotate about 2degrees, then try again; repeat until it slides on. Easy to do as long as you are aware that you need to search for the right orientation.
8. I find it easier to install the drive shaft to the PTO by lying on the ground on the right side of the mower deck (laying at they rear of the mower deck, feet towards the back, arm reaching under) because I'm right handed.
9. when installing the drive shaft to the PTO, you can partially connect the two without pulling back on the spring-loaded coupler on the end of the drive shaft. But once the two parts are partially connected like that, you must simultaneously pull back on the spring loaded coupler (pull it towards front of the tractor) and push the entire shaft the rest of the way onto the PTO (towards the rear). This sounds a lot more complicated than it is, but it's essential to do this or you could damage the drive shaft or the PTO when the gears/splines don't properly mesh and/or fall off.
10. once you think you have the drive shaft properly mounted on the PTO, give it a good tug towards the front of the tractor to make sure it's stuck on (do NOT tug on the spring loaded coupler when you do this or you will disconnect the whole thing!). A simple tug is all you need.
11. when mounting the rear pins of the deck to the tractor, you need to lower the connecting linkage from the tractor to meet the pins. A few things to know about this: (a) do NOT lower the linkage until the deck is slid underneath the tractor and somewhat aligned. (b) you can lower the linkage without turning on the tractor. (c) if the linkage does not descend then you may have the resistance turned up too high; there's a knob under the seat that controls the ease with which the linkage descends, you can turn this to make it easier; i found when the tractor was brand new even after loosening the knob, i had to "help" the linkage to drop by gently pulling it down as i released the lever; after a few tries it now goes up and down fine on its own; don't pinch your fingers doing this. (d) There is also a knob to set the mower deck cutting height; when you want to attach the deck, you should turn this knob all the way to zero so the linkage descends all the way; if you forget to do this you can spend a long time trying to get the linkage to connect and go down, but it won't go down because it's set to remain higher (again, ask me how i know). (e) when the mower deck is detached, it's best to set that knob to the "top" setting so that the linkage stays up and out of the way when you are doing other work.
12. when attaching the linkage to the rear pins, remember to pull out the spring loaded pins in the linkage; the linkage arms have detents to lock them in the "open" position during this process.
13. Because the linkage arms descend from the tractor in a sort of curve or diagonal, be aware that you may need to move the mower deck slightly forward or backward to get a good alignment. Once you are close, release both pins from their detents and if they don't immediately seat in the mower deck rear pins, jiggle the mower deck a little until you hear or see them click into place.
14. When you have the rear pins connected to the linkage, attach the drive shaft if you haven't done so already. Then attach the front mounting bracket.
15. The front mounting bracket on my machine came with very snug fitting pieces, which i attribute to there being a lot of paint. But after a few on and off cycles it's much easier.
16. Make sure that the spring loaded locking pin on the front bracket is properly seated after you raise the bracket up and into position. if that pin is not all the way in, you can drop the whole front bracket while mowing (AMHIK).
17. Once you have drive shaft, rear pins, and front bracket all attached, remember to set the mowing height to whatever number you prefer (typically 2 or 2.5") using the dial under the seat.
18. If you change mowing height much, you will want to adjust the height of all of the anti-scalp wheels on the mower deck. the manual has a table showing exactly which holes to use in the wheel axles in order to match various heights.
19. Before mowing, it's good to check the tightness of the hand screws that hold on the covers of the pulleys (big black plastic wingnuts). the vibration of mowing easily loosens these and they then fall off.
I hope these tips are helpful. For what it's worth after learning all these little bits I know attach my deck in about 10 minutes, and detach it much more quickly than that. I expect i will get more efficient with more practice, though mowing season is almost over. At least now i'll be able to consult my own post next spring when i've forgotten all of this.
happy mowing.
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