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"Float" the mower deck on a C?

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Creek Jenkins View Drop Down
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Joined: 14 Sep 2009
Location: Northern Minn
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Creek Jenkins Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: "Float" the mower deck on a C?
    Posted: 06 Jan 2012 at 1:42pm

I have a C with a 5' Sunmastr mower deck under it.  From what I gather, this deck mounts about the same as a Woods deck, a bar bolted to the deck in two places goes back to the finals on each side.  A shoulder bolt or bolt thru a bushing allows the deck to move up and down on an arc.  I mow a field around my shop that used to be a hayfield, at one time it was plowed and then disked but they did a poor job of leveling it and it has hump or really waves in it.  My deck originally came as a skid deck with no wheels, so I made a set of wheels for the front and took the skids off.  The problem is the deck can only move up and down in an arc around the arms off the finals, it cannot really "float" and follow the ground contours.  When the rear wheels are on the hump, the deck is in the valley and the front deck wheels are on the next hump, so the valleys don't really get mowed well and the humps get kind of scalped a bit.  So I was thinking if I take the rearmost bolt out of the arm that is bolted to the deck, it could move up and down and also "rock" front to back.  If I put wheels on the rear outside corners of the deck, and rollers on the back of the deck like on my Wheel Horse mower, I am thinking it would follow the ground contours pretty well.  My neighbor thinks the main drive belt would pop off when it dropped down too far, so I was thinking I could limit the vertical travel (if necessary) with a piece of chain.  The hyd lift should still work.

Someone must have tried this already?  Or is there a Woods or other deck that already has something like this?
 
I know it is the deed of winter but we have squat for snow here and my snowblower fleet is all in the nick of readiness so I am looking for another project.
cheers,
Creek
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Dakota Dave View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dakota Dave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jan 2012 at 2:01pm
A woods deck has a center pivot at the middle of the deck. the deck can pivot left to right and up and down. two equalizer bars maintain proper positio. when you change the rear mount points which you must do every time you change the cutting height. you must adjust the drop pulleys to keep the belts running correctly.  you can go to woodsequipment and down load the manul and see how they are put together.
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mdtractormechanic View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mdtractormechanic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jan 2012 at 2:32pm
Originally posted by Creek Jenkins Creek Jenkins wrote:

  So I was thinking if I take the rearmost bolt out of the arm that is bolted to the deck, it could move up and down and also "rock" front to back. 
I've made similar modifications in the past but instead of just removing the rear most bolt I removed the bars, welded in a pivot bushing to the bar for the front bolt and a greasable bushing to the other end of the bar where it attaches to the finals. This helped prevent excessive right and left sway of the deck especially after the bolts and holes would wear. You may also have to change the lift point on the deck toward the rear to keep te deck from folding in the middle at the new pivot point. I also found that belt slipping was more of an issue than the belt jumping off the pulley. You may want to add a spring loaded idler pulley to the deck.
Hope this helps, Joe
Joe's 1939 Model WC, 1940 Model RC, 1944 & 1950 Model C's, B-125 PU
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steve(ill) View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote steve(ill) Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jan 2012 at 5:14pm
The center pivot to rock side to side is a good idea. The reason for having arms front to back is to keep the belt in line. If you look at it, the  arm pivots are close to the rear pulleys (front to back). As you raise or lower the deck, the belts are still in line with the front pulleys on the deck, they just roll a little further around the rear pulleys.
Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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steve(ill) View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote steve(ill) Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jan 2012 at 5:19pm
Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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steve(ill) View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote steve(ill) Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jan 2012 at 5:21pm
rereading you post i see you want it to pivot front to back, not side to side... your buddy is right, the belt will pop off if you do that.
Like them all, but love the "B"s.
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mdtractormechanic View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mdtractormechanic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 Jan 2012 at 6:01pm
Creek, Here is a pic of a C mounted Sunmaster (courtesy of MNLonnie). Is this mower the same as yours? If so, there is room for an idler pulley to either push the belt in or pull it out if needed. 
 
Joe's 1939 Model WC, 1940 Model RC, 1944 & 1950 Model C's, B-125 PU
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Creek Jenkins View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Creek Jenkins Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jan 2012 at 10:28am
Steve / Joe -
Yes, that is the same mower as mine.  Lonnie has his mounted on a B.  I bought my C from MNLonnie last year and was lucky enough to find a Sunmastr for sale on the way down to pick up the tractor.  Lonnies mower has an added belt guide  - that was not original, but I think it would be a good way to keep the belt on if I let the deck float.  I don't think I would need an idler pulley, I might try it without first, I can always add it later.  If you look at the pic, the rear set of bolts on the mount arms would come out, I would add rear wheels to the deck and maybe some anti scalping rollers front and back in the center area.  I would probably have to change the lifting arrangement or hoisting it would just lift the front.  Maybe put a stop bracket on it so it would only tilt so far.  Prob could make it part of the belt guide.
cheers,
Creek
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