Front of exmark deck bent in, how to fix?

[lasher66]

Hi,
I bought this mower a week ago and the front nose of the deck is bent about an 1 1/2 inches down which caused the sides to crease in slightly also. The guy I bought it off of says the mower cuts with no probs so I tested everything out and everything looks ok from underneath. The problem I am seeing is when I drop the deck down into the cutting position at 3" or so, the nose is less than an inch off the ground versus the rest of the deck which is about 2 1/2 to 3". I think this is going to cause scalping on any small uneven spots in the grass. In the picture its hard to tell how bad it is, but that is why the front anti scalp wheel is missing on one side becasue it wont fit without riding the ground the whole time. Someone must have hit something really hard for that to bend down. Anyways just wondering if there are any ideas on how to pull it back up? Thanks

Jason

[IA_James]

Did they tweak the whole deck? You might want to get a straight edge and check that thing out. If you can get the front edge of the deck straightened out, it should bring that wheel bracket up a little so you can use a wheel there, it looks like it got sucked down a little with that dent.

[grass disaster]

a good machinist may be able to fix that. take it to a machine shop

[Raven386]

wow, that thing took quite a hit apparently. Could it have caused any damage to the spindles? just from the impact that thing must have taken it couldve loosened something or knocked something out of line.. just a thought...

[IA_James]

a good machinist may be able to fix that. take it to a machine shop

Yeah, you're going to need some heavy duty equipment, and a healthy dose of caution to not make it worse. Check your yellow pages.:)

[nosparkplugs]

That took some force to bend that deck like that. Can you get your money back, you said "the guy says it cuts with no problems" I would think you would have test mowed with it before the transaction. Did you also get a great deal. Why I never purchase used ZTRS ever

[lasher66]

I did run the blades and everything seemed fine, but there was no grass growing yet so I couldnt test it. I checked the rest of the deck for any probs and there were none noticeable. The rest of the deck appeared to be level also, after checking it on my garage floor. There is a small crease on top about 3" back from the nose where it creased down a little. I would like to think I got a good deal, it has only 650 hrs on it and paid less than half of what one would cost new. Does anyone know what the deck frame would cost to order a new one? I am sure it is not cheap. Any more ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Jason

[nosparkplugs]

I'm not tying to be negative, but a new 60" deck is going to start at 2,500 and go up. A new 7-iron 60" for example is 3,000K. Get your money back. The cost to repalce the damaged deck is a nice down payment on a new mower IMO

[MowerMedic77]

I use this tool, the link is for Harbor Freight and its down right cheap from them I got mine from MAC tools 10 yrs ago and know I paid alot more then that and it looks exactly the same except mine is red(and says MAC on the case:hammerhead:). I use mine to bend back almost all of the decks that come in with the front lip tucked in.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44899

[Johan Sweden]

I would simply heat it up with gas and knock and bend it back to form. That works fine on JD 7-iron decks anyhow.

[Jason Pallas]

Take it to a welding shop _ they'll do it right and easily.

[kayeproperties]

Hey I saw a barnd new deck shell on ebay which the guy said was a display model and never used. It is a shell only but u have the rest. He wanted like 7 -800 for it but I bet youd get it for less and youd have a like new machine without any uncertanty of a repair working or not. It couldnt take an hour or two to move all the stuff from 1 deck to the other. Good luck! I wonder what the hell that dude hit to do that damage???

[mowermankevin]

If you don't have access to a torch with a Rosebud tip,take it to someone who does, I call it the heat and beat treatment, have had to do it on one of our 60" Exmarks that went over a 5' retaining wall and flipped the mower upside down,anyway just pull the deck and haul it to a shop,if you have the mulch kit on your deck, you might take it off to make access to the underside easier.

[lasher66]

Hey I saw a barnd new deck shell on ebay which the guy said was a display model and never used. It is a shell only but u have the rest. He wanted like 7 -800 for it but I bet youd get it for less and youd have a like new machine without any uncertanty of a repair working or not. It couldnt take an hour or two to move all the stuff from 1 deck to the other. Good luck! I wonder what the hell that dude hit to do that damage???

I did a search and could not find it, do you know the link by chance?
Thanks

Jason

[jkingrph]

Straighten by whatever means works best.
weld some heavy angle iron at lower edge (inside ok if blades will not hit, otherwise on outside of deck) then try not to hit anything that hard to bend again.

[ed2hess]

Take it to a welding shop _ they'll do it right and easily.

Exactly....simply take the deck off the mower and they make it look almost like new.

[smokediver]

I'd chain that sucker to a telephone pole, and hook a come-a-long from the edge of the deck to the trailer hitch on my truck and cold bend that baby right back out?
I have done it with the tractor, but the control is not as precise as the come-a-long. (AKA cable puller or hand wench for you more upity fellers)
It might not be "perfect" but it'll be pretty close, and a cheap fix.

[PEVO]

If it was my mower, i'd fix it with a purpose-built prybar the can grab the lower leading edge of the deck & give you leverage to bend it back!

[lasher66]

Nice idea with the prybar but the nose is actually pushed down a little too. I dont think I would be able to budge the thick steel, even with a prybar. I think I am going to take it to a weld shop and see what they say. Thanks for all the ideas.

Jason

[PEVO]

Nice idea with the prybar but the nose is actually pushed down a little too. I dont think I would be able to budge the thick steel, even with a prybar. I think I am going to take it to a weld shop and see what they say. Thanks for all the ideas.

Jason

The nose should come back up with the bending back of the lower leading edge. If not then a welding shop will most likey have to cut the center line (where to two angles of the deck meet inbetween the anti-scalp wheels) & bend out the leading edge with a ALOT of heat. After both sides are straightend out then they will weld up the seam. I'd venture to say that this will be at least a 1/2 day job...lets say 5hrs @ 75$ per hr.=$375.00 + now the deck needs a automotive grade paint job(cheap paint does not last long at all) ...hmmm$50-150 Now you looking a $500+ to get it back like it should be. Thats why i suggested a prybar made of scrap steel(laying around any welding shop) to try first.

[lasher66]

I got the deck off and looked underneath really good. No other problems except the front airflow chamber is a little closer now. When I lay the deck flat on the floor, the front of the deck is held up by the nose since the nose is bent down about 2inches. I wonder if I take a good sledge hammer and beat it right were the crease is on top of the deck. I can lay a piece of scrap metal over it so it dont leave dents all over. But I guess this might raise it up a bit, but it probably will not pull out were the dent is in the front. I will probably take it to a shop first and see what they recommend, then if it cost to much then I will try other options.
The pry bar option sounds good, I was just saying by the looks of the thickness of steel, I dont think there will be any way that I will be able to budge it.

Jason

[Downunder Bob]

I'd chain that sucker to a telephone pole, and hook a come-a-long from the edge of the deck to the trailer hitch on my truck and cold bend that baby right back out?
I have done it with the tractor, but the control is not as precise as the come-a-long. (AKA cable puller or hand wench for you more upity fellers)
It might not be "perfect" but it'll be pretty close, and a cheap fix.

You said it. Cold bend it back is the way to go. Usually can get things back to near perfect. Might have to go past straight because of spring back.
And if you haven't a come along or a block and tackle, use your truck with you or your buddy watching how far to go.

[jdogg399]

if not missing with cut quailty or blades are not rubbing or hitting anything (just leave it and mow) is it triton or ultra cut deck think either one around 1000 new just for the shell

[lasher66]

Took it to a local welding shop, they said they can fix it in about 1hr. It will cost $60 he said. I said its yours, go ahead. I think this is a steal of a price. So hopefully I get it back in like new condition.

Jason

[johnp900]

Take it to a auto body shop. We have a straightener that we built like a body shop uses to straighten bumpers. It's a prybar with hooks welded on to attach a chain to. Chain goes on front of the deck, prybar sets on the crease. Have fixed many a bent deck with it.