ZTR Deck Cleaning - How Do You Clean One?

[mark123]

I can't speak concerning a homeowner model but I used it on my old boss' Exmark on a daily basis.

__________________
Boughter's Lawn Care Services Mowing and Fertilizing in New Castle, PA

[shadrach]

Lawn care business tips

Putty knife. Park mower on trailer gate with part of mower hanging over side & scrape half of deck - switch sides & do it again. I have 4x6 I block back tire with for safety.

__________________
Evansville Lawn Care
Newburgh Lawn Care

[Ducke]

I like this set up.
I think maybe a bit higher up and then hook up a pressure washer to a hose system set at about medium pressure. I think this kind of set up would be great a kind of drive-thru mower washer.



I use a knife like the one above to clean my mower. I got mine at Lee Valley tools but Home or Ace Hardware have them too.

[wandfsmall]

Originally Posted by mark123

I can't speak concerning a homeowner model but I used it on my old boss' Exmark on a daily basis.

on a quality mower I have never seen a problem but on a homeowner unit where the deck is almost thin enough to see threw it could destroy the unit.

[wandfsmall]

Originally Posted by Ducke

I like this set up.
I think maybe a bit higher up and then hook up a pressure washer to a hose system set at about medium pressure. I think this kind of set up would be great a kind of drive-thru mower washer.

I had a customer that did this until we found his spindles were not lasting very long.

[grass guru]

I just drive the front wheels of mine a few feet up my lift gate. works ok to change the blades, and do a half way cleaning job. To clean mine I jack it up and use jack stands, or just take the deck completely off if I really want to clean it, repaint it, and silicon it.

Also hedge, that Husq 5424 was the first ztr I bought when I was starting my business up, and let me say... it didn't last 80 hours. The only thing I like about it was that it was light. However, the problems far outweighed the one benefit.

#1. Bad muffler design, will cause burns in lawn if you stop for a few seconds, when you stop to get off and move something, or even just stop and turn it off after running for a while. Had numerous complaints from customers.

#2. Blades lasted about 20 hours. I was burning through blades at an alarming rate. In the 80 hours that I owned it, I bought 4 sets. They were all used to the point of they would only be about an inch wide. Any more use out of them and they would disinegrate.

#3. I hit a small pot hole in a customers lawn, and it bent the rear wheel spindle. So as I would ride down a smooth lawn or other surface, I would be hopping.

#4. control arms broke off in my hands. Just mowing along, and where they are bolted into the cast parts on the mower, they just broke.

#5. It was falling apart... litterally. Decorative pieces were falling or breaking off.

I took it back to the dealer, who also sold Gravely, and John Deere, and he was willing to give me full credit on it towards the purchace of a different mower. I bucked up, and bought the Gravely, and haven't had a problem with it. It now has about 500 hours on it. I also bought an Exmark Turf tracer, and haven't had a problem with it. It has about 350 hours on it, so I know it wasn't me, and the way I was using the equiptment.
For that being Husqvarna's top of the line residential mower, I would have hoped it to hold up better. 80 hours is only 4 years of use residentially.

[Hedgemaster]

Originally Posted by grass guru

I just drive the front wheels of mine a few feet up my lift gate. works ok to change the blades, and do a half way cleaning job. To clean mine I jack it up and use jack stands, or just take the deck completely off if I really want to clean it, repaint it, and silicon it.

Also hedge, that Husq 5424 was the first ztr I bought when I was starting my business up, and let me say... it didn't last 80 hours. The only thing I like about it was that it was light. However, the problems far outweighed the one benefit.

#1. Bad muffler design, will cause burns in lawn if you stop for a few seconds, when you stop to get off and move something, or even just stop and turn it off after running for a while. Had numerous complaints from customers.

#2. Blades lasted about 20 hours. I was burning through blades at an alarming rate. In the 80 hours that I owned it, I bought 4 sets. They were all used to the point of they would only be about an inch wide. Any more use out of them and they would disinegrate.

#3. I hit a small pot hole in a customers lawn, and it bent the rear wheel spindle. So as I would ride down a smooth lawn or other surface, I would be hopping.

#4. control arms broke off in my hands. Just mowing along, and where they are bolted into the cast parts on the mower, they just broke.

#5. It was falling apart... litterally. Decorative pieces were falling or breaking off.

I took it back to the dealer, who also sold Gravely, and John Deere, and he was willing to give me full credit on it towards the purchace of a different mower. I bucked up, and bought the Gravely, and haven't had a problem with it. It now has about 500 hours on it. I also bought an Exmark Turf tracer, and haven't had a problem with it. It has about 350 hours on it, so I know it wasn't me, and the way I was using the equiptment.
For that being Husqvarna's top of the line residential mower, I would have hoped it to hold up better. 80 hours is only 4 years of use residentially.

Hey, thanks for your input. It would have been better to hear before I paid for it (and it's too late to return it now), so I'll have to deal with it.


As for the muffler thing - did yours have the heat shield on it? I did recall seeing complaints about that, but more recent reviews said that they eliminated the problem, and mine has a heavy steel "box" around the muffler with some sort of "aluminum shielding" on the side facing the heat. I guess I'll find out.


I do fear the worst with the arm control mounts. Why in God's name they would use pot metal on such a part is beyond me. I'm considering ordering one of the mounts (universal I believe - left or right) just to have handy in case one snaps.


Even though it wasn't very encouraging, I DO appreciate you taking the time to post what you did. I'll keep an eye out for the things you mentioned. I will update my original mower thread as I use it to let everyone know how it works out for me.

[Hedgemaster]

Originally Posted by wandfsmall

on a quality mower I have never seen a problem but on a homeowner unit where the deck is almost thin enough to see threw it could destroy the unit.

I agree. I'm less concerned with the lip of the deck though. What concerns me with this method of lifting is that you're essentially pushing the deck up into the mower until it makes contact and then the weight of the mower is being pressed into the top of the deck or whatever mechanism connects the deck to the frame to lift it of the ground.

At least with the Mowjack, it's being lifted by the front wheels. Unless I find a reasonable homemade way to get under it, I think the Mowjack is the best option, as it's a purpose-built design. At least there's nothing in the way on the sides when it's lifted, unlike the use of ramps.




Also, you've mentioned spindle problems a few times in relation to washing the underside. Could you expand on that? What causes the problems?

[Ducke]

Originally Posted by Hedgemaster

Also, you've mentioned spindle problems a few times in relation to washing the underside. Could you expand on that? What causes the problems?

Yes how dose washing effect the spindles ???

[grass guru]

I understand it's a res unit, but why they would use such cheap parts and workmanship is beyond me. I bought it about 2 years ago, and it did have the box around the muffler, with the aluminum "heat shield". I'm not sure if it was the muffler that was burning the lawn, or the motor. In either case, all the patterns of burnt lawn were the same. I thought about putting some steel on the bottom to protect the turf, but then again, what is the R&D department at Husqvarna for? I was just so pissed that I had spent $3800 and was having all these problems. It took some persuasion for the dealer to take it back (I had it for about 1 month and put 80 hours on it, the equivalent of 4 years for residential use). That, and the sales rep from Husqvarna was tired of hearing from the dealer about all the problems. If you haven't used it yet, you can always check with the dealer and see if he would exchange it. Never hurts to ask. They just don't want it looking used, and with a bunch of hours on it (although mine did). They might even give you a refund if you wanted to buy one from someone else. Never hurts to ask.