[Who's on first]

What's the good, bad, and ugly with the flex decks you mount as an attachment to your existing decks? Is quality of cut still okay, power demands, maintenance requirements, longevity, overall performance, brands available?

We cut all large properties and the concept sounds good.

 

[gravedigger5]

Good: heavy duty commercial quality unit

Bad: Does require you to cut and modify your existing mower deck

Ugly: My unit is painted black and my mower is red. Wife says it is not color coordinated

Quality of cut: can't really tell a difference between the flex deck cut and the cut of my Toro 36"

Maint. Requirements: Sharpen blades and grease same as main deck on mower. (Flex deck easier to change blades/ flip deck up)

Longevity: Only had mine a year. Comes with warranty/spare parts

Overall Performance: Cut my trim time by about 25%. My setup mows 54" but fits thru gates around 37". And saved the day when my 62" z broke a belt, cause I was able to finish up mowing.

Brands available: I have Flex-Deck brand, probably the only add on brand (also carried by Dixie Chopper) and I think Howard Price Turf Equipment makes one that is permanently attached to their deck and only available in a 80" Z version

 

[PaulJ]

check www. flex-deck.com and call Brad.

 

[padude2004]

after speaking with a scag mower mechanic and flex-deck mechanic i have some questions about the longevity of the mower deck and the unit itself. the idea was brought to my attention which was," would cutting a hole on the left side of the mower enable the mower deck to worp on a fixed deck compared to a floating deck." i ask this question because i cant decide to put it on the 36" fixed deck scag or the 52" floating deck scag.

 

[padude2004]

secondly, does cutting a hole in the deck of my brand new mower void the 3 year warranty on the deck????

 

[gravedigger5]

padude2004 after speaking with a scag mower mechanic and flex-deck mechanic i have some questions about the longevity of the mower deck and the unit itself. the idea was brought to my attention which was," would cutting a hole on the left side of the mower enable the mower deck to worp on a fixed deck compared to a floating deck." i ask this question because i cant decide to put it on the 36" fixed deck scag or the 52" floating deck scag.

The bracket I welded on the mower deck after I cut the hole in it was as heavy as the deck material itself. I belive after welding it on, the deck is as strong or stronger than before.

secondly, does cutting a hole in the deck of my brand new mower void the 3 year warranty on the deck????

My dealer did not seem to have a problem with it, cause he will want any warrenty work he can get and wants to keep my business. (Dropped about $14,000 last 1 1/2 years there) Ask your dealer what he'll do for you.
Marc

 

[padude2004]

thanks gravedigger. how is the quality of cut and what do you use your flex deck on. as i mentioned before i have scag walk behinds.

 

[gravedigger5]

Quality of cut of the flex deck is as good as the main deck of my Toro it is mounted to. There is a little bit of a learning curve to the flex deck, the more you use it the more you learn to maximize it trimming potential. the first swath you mow around a yard, forget you have a large mower and just concentrate on the flex deck as if it were a 21" mower working it in and out of all the nooks and crannies (I realize my set up, 54", is bigger than a 21", but I am always amazed where I can actually get my mower to fit) after the 1st swath is done then resume mowing like it is a regular larger mower and you've already made (in my case) a 54" swath around the yard. My setup, the flexdeck folded up allows me to fit thru gates and tight places where my old 48" wb and 62" z would not fit and would have to use my 21" push With the FD on my 36" wb I have almost completely eliminated the need for my 21" mower Don't get me wrong, I am as lazy (or more) than the next guy and prefer to use my 62" Zmaster everywhere I can, probably about 65% of my mowing. but I figured up after I started using the FD on the 36" wb I have save (gained) appx 5hrs a week on a 25hr week route over what I was doing when I relied on the 21" and 48" for my smaller yards. And for the money, the flex deck has been one of better investments as far time and profits go. Marc

 

[padude2004]

how is the installation process? it sound a bit complicated especially trying to get it level with the other blades. once installed any maintanence involved like fixing welds or painting, rusting, or bending?

 

[gravedigger5]

Installation isn't bad, just take your time and make sure everything is level. I am not the words greatest welder, but I grew up on a farm doing quite a bit of maintenance and fabrication type welding, so tackling this project did not bother me. If you are not confortable with your own welding capabilities, get someone who is good at welding to help you. It only took me about 4 hours, taking my time and double checking everything as I went. You will need to at least paint the welds, I decided to paint the whole mounting bracket to match my mower. If you mount the flex deck on a good commercial quality deck such as your Scag, I would not think you would have any problem with bending or flexing. Marc

 

[padude2004]

thanks for the input marc. as far as other folks, its seems like you are the only person on this site that has a flex deck marc. is there anyone else out there that has seen or used one????

 

[PaulJ]

Originally posted by padude2004
thanks for the input marc. as far as other folks, its seems like you are the only person on this site that has a flex deck marc. is there anyone else out there that has seen or used one????

There are or were others but they got blasted and flamed whenever they mentioned the flex-deck. The manufacturer even used to be a sponsor here with his own forum. You might find some info with a search but most of it got lost when the sponsor forum was closed. The possibility of adding one of these in the future is one reason I got the hustler 23hp walkbehind.

here's a pic from the website I found
www.flex-deck.com

 

[weve]

I've used a Flex-Deck for two years now on my Dixie XWD2600-60 and have about 410 hours on the Flex-Deck. I have about 950 hours on the Dixie so use the Flex-Deck about half the time. I use the Flex-Deck on most jobs but on some jobs don't use it at all. On some jobs I just use it for trimming and then take it off. On some jobs I mow everything with it. It all depends on the lay of the ground, the thickness of the grass, the moisture in the grass, etc. I can put the Flex-Deck on or take it off in less than a minute. It's not for all jobs but I'd miss it if I didn't have it.

Here's a pic of striping using my Flex-Deck:

 

[padude2004]

thanks for the input gentlemen.

 

[dobehap]

I got me a flex-deck over the winter, I will post my review after I get some grass under it.

 

[gravedigger5]

dobehap, how did your installation go? just wait till you get to use it. Trimming around stuff takes just a little practice to learn what all the flex deck is capable of. The first place I took mine was right outside the shop where I had this metal swing set. was able to mow everything under and around with only a few blades of grass left around the legs. Good luck and enjoy, Marc

 

[dobehap]

Instalation went fine, if you can weld you can do it.
Dont worry about the deck warping, I think the deck is stronger with the bracket then it was without one.
The deck is definetely heavy duty. I cant wait to get some grass on it.

 

[Meg-Mo]

We put a flex deck on our Bad Boy yesterday. We have used these for 7 years on our mowers and there has been no damage to our deck. On Bad Boy there is no cutting on the deck at all.

 

[DLCS]

Looks good, that thing is a monster. I assume that is a 72" deck?

 

[Meg-Mo]

Yes that is a 72" deck on the Bad Boy mower. This is picture of 36" Exmark with 22 hp engine.