Do Not Buy A New Riding Mower With This Deck! You WILL Regret It!

[@carolscott6644]

Yeah, pulley guards are just grass collectors. I took them off my badboy ZT, way easier to clean! Also, most spindles have sealed bearings so the grease fitting is just a "feel good" feature.....Al Scott P.S. the Briggs Vanguard is a great engine.

[@IndRepair]

They sure are! I love my Vanguard, just see a lot of hate towards these engines for some reason. Thanks for watching!

[@johnrose3169]

Good advice on cleaning the mower deck and explaining how the grass holds moisture against the deck causing rust. Same thing applies to vehicles in regards to cleaning dirt out of rocker panels and wheel wells - especially on pickup beds. I’ve noticed the rust on most stamped steel decks whether it is Deere, MTD, or AYP. Much of it depends on the level of care the mower receives.

[@IndRepair]

This is so true! I have a guy with a low end White Outdoor riding mower guy brings in for a tune up every year (low end MTD). This is from 97 he says but it has the Briggs opposed twin on it without a drop of oil or spec of rust anywhere on it. This design makes it difficult for a consumer to clean/service so it gets neglected even more. Thanks for watching!

[@philliphall5198]

I’ve drilled 3/4 holes in covers to help with blowing the grass out, works great and easy to help keep deck clean on the cheap decks 😊

[@IndRepair]

Definitely a great tip!

[@CharlesCurran-m9p]

I don’t think most owners will,see their deck rust since they don’t even change the oil.

[@IndRepair]

Many do because they have someone service it once a year and think that will make it last. This is halfway true, but they need more attention than an oil change once a year, especially when they leave them outside! Crazy!

[@eosjoe565]

Easy problem to fix. I removed the covers on my X500 within days of purchasing it. Since then the spindle area has stayed clean and debris free. What little debris collects on top of the deck is easy removed with the leaf blower.

[@IndRepair]

It has the edge 54 " or 48" correct? Any of these with an electric PTO clutch the cover can be removed easily and cause no issues (other than safety they say). Thanks for watching

[@eosjoe565]

@@IndRepair Correct, Edge 48-inch.

[@IndRepair]

Yeah, I would take them off for sure

[@Mike-su8si]

Check your brackets.

[@IndRepair]

For sure

[@steveriggenbach90]

My covers aren’t as bad. When mower was out of warranty, I created a small air gap between deck and cover. Cut short tubes from pex tubing. Placed bolts thru them. Just enough gap to allow leaf blower to clean

[@IndRepair]

That is a great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[@steveriggenbach90]

@@IndRepair no charge this time. Lol. Hope it helps someone.

[@norduferhandel4512]

Years ago a friends dad had a JD 120 that needed a new deck, JD wanted over $1k for a new stripped deck, the owner didn't even pay that new for the whole tractor. I ended up welding all the cracks and wrlding in patch plates as needed, still running 25 yrs later.

[@IndRepair]

Definitely! A good design, quality and some good welding go a long way! Thanks for sharing!

[@alb12345672]

Going to hold on to my old Murray. Deck is almost new after 20+ years. Opposed runs great too.

[@philliphall5198]

No matter what keep it and put your money back in to it Can’t buy anything else worth the money and 30 years of service 😊

[@philliphall5198]

I’ve had customers have me fix everything on them and even new engines ❤ They don’t want to buy new mower every 3/5 years

[@IndRepair]

Definitely!

[@IndRepair]

That's a great idea! Make it last!

[@alb12345672]

@@philliphall5198 Maintenance is king. Every 30 hours, quality Pennzoil platinum 5W30, cheap at Walmart. Oil looks great when drained. Deck is blown off and clean with an air compressor nozzle. Graphite dry lube, and red grease where needed. I ceramic coat too. Don't take much time, better than a 3 grand mower every few years. Only thing it needed were cheap safety switches (I have spares), batteries, and 2 or 3 deck belts.

[@robertcheslock9636]

I've service deck every spring off the machine, spot paint any place the paint has pealed, drilled a couple 1" holes in both plastic guards, one to access the grease fitting. Use these holes to keep debris out from around the spindles. Also pulled the inner seals off both spindle bearings to allow grease to get to them. Now seven years old and have only replaced the PTO cable, last fall for the first time. No other problems, no cracks in the deck, no rust through either.

[@IndRepair]

Maintenance and convenience is the key! Great ideas, thanks for sharing!

[@Jeffrey-t8g]

The reason John Deere uses powder coating is to eliminate VOC (volatile organic compound's) from solvent based painting. The reason it peals off of their "Box Store" grade mowers is probably not getting the surface cleaned and prepared properly. All that matters is it's bright and yellow when SOLD.

[@IndRepair]

@@Jeffrey-t8g Thank you for the information! You are right there, worst rusted decks out there I see!

[@Mike-su8si]

Which ever one you use the most you should check the brackets that hold the front part of the transmission up to the mowers frame look good and feel around on them

[@IndRepair]

They break often

[@lopincol]

I never keep these safety guards on my decks so it's very easy to clean them. I'm in Canada, we have a very tough climate for lawn equipment. Great video

[@IndRepair]

Definitely a hard knock life for a mower in Canada! The design on this one let's the belt flip off each time if you remove the guards. Had someone who left it like that and he had a process for engaging/disengaging to keep it from happening as often but he would just put it back on if it flopped off. Would only need a couple simple keeper's on each side instead of the cover to keep that from happening. Thanks for watching!

[@eosjoe565]

@@IndRepair That's a bummer. I never realized that some decks required the covers to be installed to keep the belts in place. Definitely a poor design.

[@IndRepair]

@@eosjoe565 Just anything with a manual PTO. If it has the electric clutch it will stay on fine

[@eosjoe565]

@@IndRepair Interesting, I did not know that. Learned something! :-)

[@kevinj2412]

I still have a John Deere Sabre with a 38" deck I bought new in 97. It has been a fantastic mower and the deck on it was the same design as their STX 38. I like the design of the deck because it will bag grass without a blower and if the grass isn't to heavy, it will even bag grass with the mulch blades on.

[@IndRepair]

That deck was before these I believe but that I'd awesome it has lasted that long. I am sure you take great care of it!

[@onlineconsumer4796]

I have a Toro zero turn and I removed the pulley cover that is under the mower and on the one the sticks out, I cut windows in the cover so I can use my blower to blow off the deck after each use. It has a stamped deck and has worn and rusted thru in a few spots that needed welding. My next mower will have a fabricated deck.

[@IndRepair]

That is a great idea! Thanks for sharing and for watching!

[@kennethlowe6337]

What's amazing is the number of broken down John Deere mowers in your shop compared to others. The first thing I do when I get a mower is chunk the guards in the trash so I can take my blower and clean

[@IndRepair]

The crazy thing is that most of those are gone and we have even more John Deere mowers here now. Kind of crazy. Definitely chuck em if you have an electric PTO. Thanks for watching!

[@fixtritephil7712]

What good does it actually do to grease those sealed spindle bearings?

[@IndRepair]

I will be doing a video on this in the near future...little to none

[@barrygrant2907]

Step one, remove covers. Step Two, throw away covers.

[@IndRepair]

If you do, the belt will come off on this version, unfortunately. You could make a couple keepers...Thanks for watching!

[@Mike-su8si]

I knew it was a john deere deck before the video started because i have a problem one myself that im unable to weld onto because the metal thickness is to thin But it had a broke pulley in 2021 and i stopped riding it then because i have plenty of others to use so i fixed that then the belt kept coming off and getting shredded up i fixed it from getting shredded by leveling the deck because my model use to have a pulley clutch on the shaft someone else put a none electrical clutch on it and the clutch one i believe held the belt lower anyways keeping the deck on 3 made the belt level and it not rub against other metal on the deck so i fixed that small problem and then the belt still kept popping off its the right size belt for the deck its not stretched out because the deck belts new so i said what hell and parked it and was looking over all the pulleys and seen it can use another small pulley to tighten the belt and a bar or something to keep the belt in place on the decks pulley i may try working on that sometime soon thats all thats stopping me from using my john deere and its cheap deck

[@IndRepair]

It sure is! Sorry you are having so much trouble that is no good

[@Mike-su8si]

@@IndRepair that mower if i can't fix the deck im gonna break it down and save the parts off it but sense its a John deere and the sst18 w/48c is its front axle will fit onto the sst18 w/48c mower but then it wont no longer be a zero turn anymore

[@Mike-su8si]

@@IndRepair that mower did cut grass good though until Kohlers carburetor bowl float kept messing up and then its deck messing up so on the Kohler carb i am gonna try a different carb on it one that doesn't go to the Kohler because their bowls aren't made right and i think that'll fix that little problem ive been having for 5 years

[@IndRepair]

For sure

[@Mike-su8si]

Oh yeah on most of those mowers with the same or similar transmissions the brackets that help hold up the front part of the transmission are usually cracked in half because they make the brackets metal to thin and it rusts out and breaks lot of times its not even noticeable Unless you know to check that stuff i know to from working on tons of different mowers and seen it alot on all different models and different brands And i rewelded my bracket both of them cause they were both cracked in half now On mowers with the same transmission and the shifter in the middle down from the seat when those brackets are broken in half and the person doesn't know they are on the front of the transmission it can cause bad damage inside the transmission and outside of it to the shifter itsself as ive seen and tested how some of the transmissions broke and they did from just the 2 brackets on the side of the transmission what helps hold the front of the transmission up in place So without those brackets the front of the transmission slacks down you can damage it to if it hits something while your using the mower mine was broken on the 100 series the oem replacement part all that i could find for it cost $75 for a L bracket i wasn't gonna waste my money on those which would just break again

[@IndRepair]

They break on many different models with this design for sure

[@sneak6654]

Great video and thanks for the info. Could you make a video on the best and worst walk behind mowers to buy. Thanks and take care.

[@IndRepair]

That is a great idea, on the list. Thanks for watching and for the idea!

[@fartsackjack7081]

almost 11k subs ....thats bad ass man....u tube famous ....! see ya soon bossman

[@IndRepair]

Haha far from there but sounds good buddy look forward to it!!

[@philliphall5198]

He is well worth watching even if you’re a small engine mechanic most of your life 😊

[@joehead1294]

And here I thought you were going to talk about the mulching deck with the counter rotating blades and cog drive belt between the two blades. Oh well, that's a lot of JD mowers you got there...

[@IndRepair]

Haha, that is tied for the worst deck ever! I hope they aren't still selling that deck..."Freedom" was the name? We always look like a John Deere dealership for the first 3 weeks of the season seems like. Thanks for watching!

[@lenmacproperties5577]

I have cub cadet xt1, kohler 5400 that makes this wierd rattling noise that dealer says keep running til it blows. Well anyway to the deck. Each season I remove, wash down to metal rust or paint. Then spray with rust oleum rust converter paint. It is amazing that rust seems to love these decks. Now I do run a mulch plug, gator g5 blades, fescue grass, always cut at 1” of growth. The mulched grass clippings are from a slurry to 1/4 inch. Can’t find them on the ground. So keeping the rust down is pretty difficult. Any ideas?

[@donaldbracciano832]

I have a 22year old Cub Cadet with a 38” deck. I keep it greases up where rust is staring every year. Deck still in good condition. I do not use paint as it will come off and grease spread thinly at rust areas is very cheap and I GUARANTEE it will not rust. I do this at the end of the season after I blow the deck clean. Moisture does not affect the grease film.

[@IndRepair]

They make some paint on products and other type things but I do not think they work well. Only one I saw that never got rusted was a guy who says he sprays pam on his mower after every cleaning... Keeping it clean is the key, sounds like you are already doing this!

[@IndRepair]

Now that is an idea!

[@bizboomer]

It's a shame all those pesky safety shields cause so many problems. I believe Simplicity is owned by Briggs & Stratton and is no longer being made, along with Snapper. A common sense on the part of the machinery owners would go a long way.

[@IndRepair]

I agree there! Briggs & Stratton is in some real trouble with the debt they have added. Another bankruptcy or splitting up of the company may happen again soon, from what I understand. Simplicity is still being sold and are available to order from any dealer. I do not see any reason this part of the company would not continue. Thanks for watching!

[@JohannZ100]

The 54 inch mower deck on my pro Z100 cub cadet is better made than the edge 54 by John Deere. Ive seen toro stamped decks cave in. The residential stamped decks on cub cadet equipment is horrendeous. I believe fabricated decks are better.

[@IndRepair]

Fabricated decks are much better than stamped decks. Thanks for watching!

[@IndRepair]

The Cub Cadet fabricated deck is a good one

[@francislang5075]

i dont like john deer decks ether. You dont see many that the decks are rusted out and the seats all beat up

[@IndRepair]

It seems everyone around here thinks the name signifies quality. Some of their implements are hard to beat. The lower end stuff is no better (if not worse) than the MTD or AYP stuff out there. Skip it and buy something worth the money that will last! Thanks for watching!