[John M]

A couple a months ago, I bougt a JD L110 from my brother. Heres a short history: He boguht it new in 2006 I think it was, but shortly after maybe the next year, he hit something hard enough that not only did it warp the spindle, the sllightly bent the deck. It didnt cut too bad, so he just used it like it was. A couple of months ago, he bought a new deck for it, and before he could get it on, he came across a deal on a new zero turn, so he bought it, and I bought the JD and deck from him. I bought new blades, spindles, pulleys belt and blades. Cut great, and my oldest son really likes this mower. Last time he cut with it, the longer he would cut, the worse the yard looked, as in it looked like one blade had gotten bent, but theres nothing in the yard he coul;d have hit. So yesterday I boought new blades, but its cuts just as bad. I made an attempt at leveling the deck, but that just made it worse, so I set it back the way it was, and thats where Im at now. This deck is built different than the original, but Mother Deere included the new hangers in the kit so thats not a problem, I dont think. Anybody have any experience with these?

 

[BigDaveinKY]

Not a J.D. but I replaced both spindles on a mower deck years ago. Bought them both at the same time and place.
When I mowed I noticed one cutting just a bit lower than the other. Checked and the blades were O.K.
Then measured the spindles and found a 1/8" difference in length from a level surface. Deck wasn't damaged.
Pulled them off and sure enough one spindle was longer than the other from where they mounted on the deck, to the blade mount.
Shimmed up one spindle 1/8", and everything still works great.

 

[John M]

Ya know, I thought about that, but it was cutting great once I put it all back together with the new deck. In fact, it cut and looked better than my Cub Cadet zero turn, just takes longer. My first thought was my son hit something, but theres nothing in the yard he could have hit to damage anything, if he had been in the back yard, then I would be convinced he did, but not the front yard. In fact, the first 5 or 6 times around the yard it looked good, then as he continued it got worse, as in uneven between the blades, and it continued to get worse the more he used it, and I adjusted it. I put it back to where it was, and didnt get any worse, so I pulled the blades, and one did look slightly bent, but I compared it to the new ones, and they look bent too, and my brother says thats the way they look, and they all have the same "bend" so they must be OK, but when I put the new blades on, they cut even more out of whack. I did call the dealer and ask them, and he was saying something about you dont level the deck, you level the blades on this mower.

 

[BigDaveinKY]

The manual for my mower says to use a rule to level the blades on a flat surface, not the deck.
Because the deck is just a bit longer opposite of the discharge side to create the air flow to discharge clippings. Makes sense.
Try leveling the blades. I'm sure you checked the blades end to end to make sure that they were even under the deck.
Other than that check the new spindles for wobble, may have got one with a bad bearing, or sloppy seat that showed up after running just a bit.

 

[John M]

Thats what Im going to do next. A buddy says he thinks he still has one of those special "tools" to check the blades, which is also what can be used to level it via the blades, so if that doesnt work, I know Ive got other problems.....Thanks Dave!