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Cleaning Mower Deck, What's easy?

vgkg Z-7 Va
10 years ago

Hi there!
I own a Craftsman 42" cut yard tractor mower and was wondering if any of you have a special way to keep the mower deck clean after big cuts? For years now I've just raised the deck high to notch #6 and get on my hands and knees with a hand trowel and scrape away the thatch from under both blade sides, a real pain the older one gets. The water hose attachment seems like a joke to me if a pre-scraping isn't done first. Cleaning the deck is a must when using a grass catcher. Any ideas to share is greatly appreciated, Thanks!

Comments (4)

  • tomplum
    10 years ago

    The best tool you can have for this is a Mojack. The basic ones are around for ~$200. Quick and easy to lift the mower so you can really do a good job and make it much easier on yourself. Or these decks take about 3 minutes to pull off so that you can clean the top and bottom which is necessary which is best all around way to go. Once you successfully RnR the deck a couple of times- it won't intimidate you when the need arises.

  • vgkg Z-7 Va
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks Tom, I did a u-tube on the mojack and it seems like a similar amount of work to clean the deck, perhaps a bit easier on the back having the deck raised higher at an angle for easier access but time consuming to get all it set up (yeah I know I'm picky....and lazy :). I might try to safely put together a very sturdy homemade ramp which could do a similar job of deck exposure for easier one step drive-up & cleaning. $50 worth of lumber beats $200 plus eliminating the mojack set up time and labor. Still open to ideas here. Thanks again Tom.

  • grass1950
    10 years ago

    I've tried jacking up the tractor and using ramps---I've found RnR is by far the easiest and most efficeint way.

  • rcmoser
    10 years ago

    Another method if you don't want to take the deck off and you are mechanical minded to know what's safe and what's not . My old LT4000 has easy on off decks with few connections. Some later year models you can hardly see between the deck and bottom of the mower..

    You can cable or chain come-a-long or elect. hoist to tree limb (BIG TREE LIMB and not rotten or soft wood!) wrap chain around the front end where it won't bend or break plastic or metal parts and raise it up. This usually don't hurt anything due to the carb. up and the crankcase is down on most model mounted engines provided you don't have full tank of gas to leak out the cap.

    I can raise mine up to eye level if I want beings I use it for vehicle engines removals and Installations, but don't get the rear wheels off the ground and angle so the weight is balanced forward and I am not under mower, but the weight is balanced to me so You have to be sure it secured properly. I have elect. hoist capable of lifting 500 lbs. single pull and 1000 lbs. dual pull, so you need to know what your equipment can handle if you have it. Come-a-longs are rated also as long as you don't lift the rear wheels off the ground and it rated to lift just the front end providing the cable is not frayed or rusted. Makes blade maintenance easier also.

    I personally don't like the wooden ramp idea cause you would be under the total weight of the LT. I seen them around and some are pretty high and some are built to hold a tank and some I would put push mower on them.