Late last year, I bought a Husqvarna TS354XD lawn tractor to replace my 30 year old John Deere LX178. The JD was still running fine but the deck had been patched twice and was getting thin all over. Gave it to my grandson and it'll probably run another 10 years if he takes decent care of it.

Main reasons for going with the Husky is that it's steel in places where JDs are plastic, it has a welded deck out of thicker steel than the stamped decks JD uses and mostly JD is out of their goddamned minds on prices. The equivalent JD would have been around $3000 more.

The downside of the welded deck is that it builds up a LOT of grass residue under the deck. The thought of all that wet, acidic, decomposing grass stuck to the underside of the deck and eating away at it is more than I can bear, so I scrape it after mowing. Usually about half a 5 gallon bucket worth, more if it was damp when I was mowing.

This involves laying on my belly like a snake and reaching up under the deck with a paint scraper. Less than fun, especially for an old fart like me. I priced mower lifts, cringed and decided I could build my own. Which, as far as it went was true but after a couple of uses I came to three conclusions:

1. It was a pain in the ass to use.
2. It didn't lift the mower high enough.
3. It was more than a bit sketchy even with jackstands under the front bumper.

So today I stuck a crowbar in my wallet and pried it open far enough to get an actual mower lift. Got a MoJack 550 from Tractor Supply. A bit spendy at around $320 after sales tax, but it's easy to use, lifts the mower WAY up there for easy access and is MUCH safer.

How much does your Husky weigh?
I’ve been thinking about one for my JD X739, but it weighs about 1275 lbs with a 54” deck. I don’t have a way of weighing just the front end.

I bought a lift about 12 years ago for my Husqvarna tractor; it was expensive, but well worth the money.
Makes it easy to just lay on the garage floor next the mower and scrape the underside of the deck.

Does yours have a washout port?
I found that running the mower for a few minutes with the hose attached after mowing removes most of the built-up grass so I usually only have to do the scraping twice a year.

quote:

Originally posted by Muddflap:
How much does your Husky weigh?
I’ve been thinking about one for my JD X739, but it weighs about 1275 lbs with a 54” deck. I don’t have a way of weighing just the front end.

The internet says 671 pounds. The 550 lifts the front effortlessly.

quote:

Does yours have a washout port? I found that running the mower for a few minutes with the hose attached after mowing removes most of the built-up grass so I usually only have to do the scraping twice a year.

It does but I don't use it. There's a school of thought that using the washout port A)doesn't work all that well and B) forces water into the spindles. Can't verify either of those claims, but I'm good with scraping.

Mine has a washout port, but I removed it. Didn’t really like it, and with the mulching baffles in, it would only get 1 blade out of 3.

It has the drive over deck, so it’s pretty easy to remove, but once you get it off, it’s still 250 lbs. I have used a deck dolly for years, and that helped a lot, but I have recently acquired a back problem so I can’t stand it up after I get it off.

I've also noticed that stamped decks don't accumulate grass as much as fabricated ones. Deere has the capacity to stamp heavier decks than most manufacturers of tractors and lawn equipment. Most have to weld the decks from flat pieces.
My Ferris has a fabricated deck and after mowing wet grass I sometimes run it up on car ramps to get under and scrape it, also to change blades.

You guys are making me feel like the most negligent tractor owner on earth. I clean my Husky's deck at the end of the season whether it needs it or not. If I had to do it every week, the lawn would never get cut.

None of these lawn tractors have a garden hose connection on the deck to flush the deck out? My X350 does and it’s effective.

Don't you have a bucket on you tractor ?

Spray the underside of the deck with Woolwax and it helps substantially at keeping the clippings from sticking to the deck.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Spray the underside of the deck with Woolwax and it helps substantially at keeping the clippings from sticking to the deck.

I seem to remember hearing something similar. I'll give it a shot.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
None of these lawn tractors have a garden hose connection on the deck to flush the deck out? My X350 does and it’s effective.

My Deere X500 does and it seems kinda effective to me, certainly better than nothing.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Don't you have a bucket on you tractor ?

On the Cabota yes, on the lawn tractor, no.

If I were you I would buy the pressure washer attachment used to clean underneath cars (it has spray nozzles facing up, some with rollers). You would probably not even need to put it on the lift to clean it upon after mowing, but you would have to fire up the pressure washer.

https://www.sportystoolshop.co...pEAQYAyABEgLBjfD_BwE

Got these for $40. Work great. Needs dirt/grass or they slide. Easy to store and get the mower up high enough for scrapping and blade change.

Shirley the cabota can lift the mower 4 feet or so.
Done deal

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by bendable:
On the Cabota yes, on the lawn tractor, no.

So use the Kubota to lift the mower!

Roll the mower partway into the bucket, and hoist it. Add jack stands for safety.

Also might consider using a power washer instead of scraping.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:

Shirley the cabota can lift the mower 4 feet or so.

Don't call me Shirley.

I just use my gantry hoist to pick up the front end of my mower, throw a couple of jack stands for added safety.

If you leave the grass on there it insulates the deck from future grass. It's basically irresponsible to clean it off.