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I am livid right now!

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4.5K views 21 replies 16 participants last post by  hsvtoolfool  
#1 ·
So pissed I cant even see straight. Got out to do my mow and it turns in to a mid season dirt scalp. My yard has been absolutely beautiful this year and now I have to look at this crap and hope it survives. I got this x350 mower back in 2018 and Ive had issues with getting the deck level since day one. My son takes care of the neighbors yards and last week he hit a piece of wood from a tree that had been cut and chipped both blades. No biggie, we went to tractor store and got 2 more and slapped em on. He finished up his yards and no probs. Now the neighbors like theirs cut higher than mine. I do 1.25-1.5. They like 2.50-3. Jumped on today and made my first swipe...ummm wtf is this crap! Looked behind me and the left side is cutting way lower than the right. Much more so than usual. Pulled into garage to level it out. Checked both side and got them to within 1/8 off each other on outside. Made a second swipe....ARGH!!! Still doing it. I noticed the center of cut on deck on the left blade is the issue.

Went back to garage and when checking the left blade, its well over 1/4 in lower as the blades spins to the middle of the deck. Both blades are close to even on the outside edge. Right blade is even center and outside. Im assuming something is wrong somewhere and I hope he didnt damage the deck or spindle in some way. My ocd cannot handle my yard being that uneven on the cut.

Im sure Im rambling but blinded by the anger I guess. I take a lot of pride in my lawn and to have it look like this in the middle of summer is the pits. Please tell me this thing will bounce back. Last week I sprayed PGR, microgreene, greeneffect, and spread a bag of urea so it has the nutrients.


 
#8 ·
kstall said:
Lol well I guess I can take a break from mowing for a few weeks. So any ideas on what the problem might be? Is there anyway to tell if the spindle is damaged somehow? It doesnt appear to be just by looking at it.
Don't take too much time off. You're going to want to mow it often as it grows back in. Some spots will recover faster so you have to mow even when it feels like you aren't cutting anything off for the majority of the lawn.
 
#11 ·
Start with simple and least expensive.

Are the left and right blades interchangeable? Maybe the one blade isn't aligned correctly or bent? Pull them off and compare. Switch them and see if you get the same measurement result. If they are good, then maybe there is an adjustment for the spindle that got out of whack. Hopefully something "oh duh".
 
#13 ·
I have already tried swapping the blades around. Figured I'd try the easy stuff first. The left side is still out of whack and these are brand new blades. I've never had to mess with the spindles so I dont know if there is a way to adjust it or not.

It looks like kind of like this pic if you are looking from the front and the yellow is the left side.
 
#19 ·
kstall said:
I have already tried swapping the blades around. Figured I'd try the easy stuff first. The left side is still out of whack and these are brand new blades. I've never had to mess with the spindles so I dont know if there is a way to adjust it or not.

It looks like kind of like this pic if you are looking from the front and the yellow is the left side.
Not sure if you have taken the guards off the top of the deck yet, but looking at drawings for the X350, it appears as though the spindles themselves mount to the bottom of the deck. Very possible that the mounting bolts got stripped and so the spindle is hanging lower. Might be as simple as four new bolts and nuts. Here's a decent vid:

 
#20 ·
Ok guys so after sleeping on it and having some time to reflect, I've probably made an idiot of myself for getting worked up over my grass having scalp marks. I mean the reality is these are trying times we are living in and there are far greater things to worry about and get upset over than some grass. Yes its a labor of love and I'm proud of my lawn and having people brag on it feels good, but at the end of the day its just grass and truthfully, other people aren't sitting up at night worrying that my grass looks better than theirs. People have suffered real loss this year and here I am complaining that my lines aren't level. So I apologize to any of you who have actually had to go through a "real" issue this year.

With that being said, I will take the deck off here in a bit and see what I can come up with. Hopefully its a simple fix and if not then I guess I have to adapt and overcome and make it work the best I can.
 
#22 ·
@kstall, I think you're actually supposed to scalp Bermuda at least once or twice each Summer. In fact, I bet it's already recovered from the time you posted to this response. What's it been, a full day already?

But your mower is a different story. Hopefully, you can sort out the alignment without too much trouble or expense. I'd definitely make your kid do all the work though. It might keep him from hitting any more stuff if he realizes what a pain it is to fix! ;)