OT: Zero turn mower deck problems.

[PaulinKansas]

Hustler Raptor 42" deck. I posted these pictures on a lawn mower repair forum a few days ago and there are no replies.

I had to remove the deck to do some welding repairs on it. It would raise fully before i removed it. Did the repairs and I put the deck back on and now it's a struggle to get it halfway up. Halfway up is all it goes. I figure i did something wrong with reassembling the deck linkage. Any advice on the proper way to assemble the linkages would be appreciated. Here are 2 pictures. The left and right linkages that connect the deck to the adjustment shaft. I went to a Hustler dealer to look at one, but they had changed the engineering of the linkage with the new mowers.

 

[Tailfeathers]

At my age, I always take a mess of cell phone images of anything I disassemble.

 

[PaulinKansas]

I had taken the deck off a few weeks earlier an reattached it with no problems.

 

[BigMike]

Whenever I've done something like that and get into the same predicament I have always been able to figure it out by studying the wear marks...
Have someone raise and lower it repeatedly while you look, and see if the old wear marks tell you anything....

 

[salthunter]

A carrige bolts facing the wrong way?

Wrong linkage in the wrong place Otherwise TF and Big Mike ideas are spot on!

 

[Farm4wildlife]

It looks to me like this bolt needs flipped, it hitting the frame.

 

[salthunter]

That could be it Good eye

 

[nobands]

It looks to me like this bolt needs flipped, it hitting the frame.

View attachment 389218

Looks like a hell off a oblong hole.

 

[Farm4wildlife]

Looks like a hell off a oblong hole.

A lot of times they have slot cuts on stuff like that. I'm more familiar with pickups on hay bale equipment and such, but you hit a bump on something that floats and it needs to have some give.

I know with my mower, I just run over chit, it better be able to take some abuse, and possibly, drinking and driving....

 

[nobands]

I'm still betting it didn't start out with holes like that.
But if it lifted fine before , something is obviously put together wrong.