Mower deck

[travlitt]

I have a this new 60" mower deck that was built to run on a ZTR mower.





I would like to modify it so it would work under my cub cadet Lo boy 154.
Can this be done?

[Eugene]

It's not a Cub Cadet nor a low-boy. It's a 154.

Answer to your question is yes, it can be done. But not financially practical.

You will need a PTO pulley of the correct size, idlers, belt, and mounting brackets. Cheaper to purchase a complete mower that fits the tractor.

[Mortgaged]

Eugene is probably right, but.....

Man this would be a cool project and would certainly be a major upgrade compared to the mower's available for the 154. If you have access to steel and the proper fab equipment it seems like it'd be a good project and definitely doable.

I would start by simply placing it under the tractor and getting a look at how it fits. Can it be mounted properly? Belt height ok at both raised and lowered mower heights? Clearance when it's raised? Can some steel be routed and setup to firmly and safely hold the deck in place? You get the idea.

My second concern would be that the 154 wouldn't have enough power to spin those high vacuum blades like the original ZTR did. That ZTR easily had 20+ hp and 2x the rpm of the cub engine which you'll have to try and compensate for. Most likely you'll have to compromise and slow down the blade speed or change the blade type so it's not moving so much air. Sheaves aren't super expensive, but they can add up pretty quickly if you have to test multiple sizes to find something that will work.

Keep us updated if you give it a try!

[SONNY]

you may not have enough room under the 154 to allow the mower to raise/lower!---also you would have to come up with the pipe/pulley drive.--also the flat part would have to be in front--which would mean mounting the thing backwards!---in my book NOT something affordable and even if you got it under there, you would not be happy with it! thanks; sonny

[travlitt]

I stand corrected..It is a 154..
Keep in mind this 154 is new to me and has been setting for the last 5 yrs. or so.
I do have it running now, but still have a lot of work to do to it.
When I get it mechanical sound, I will place the deck under the 154 and see if it can be hooked up and made to cut grass.
Thanks for the input and opinions. I do love a challenge such as this.

My last project, a huge challenge, was to convert a standard 3 point hole digger to a quick hitch compatible hole digger. That was successful.
Pretty easy to just back up to the digger,line up connection points, raise the lift, connect the drive line and go dig holes.

[travlitt]

you may not have enough room under the 154 to allow the mower to raise/lower!---also you would have to come up with the pipe/pulley drive.--also the flat part would have to be in front--which would mean mounting the thing backwards!---in my book NOT something affordable and even if you got it under there, you would not be happy with it! thanks; sonny

I don't understand why the flat part would have to be in front.

[travlitt]

It's not a Cub Cadet nor a low-boy. It's a 154.

Answer to your question is yes, it can be done. But not financially practical.

You will need a PTO pulley of the correct size, idlers, belt, and mounting brackets. Cheaper to purchase a complete mower that fits the tractor.

I have a complete 60" mower deck that came with the tractor. I have all of the pulleys,idlers and brackets. The deck is usable but needs rebuilding.
I have this new ZTR deck that I have no other need for so that is why I would like to try to make it work on the 154.

[SONNY]

Lay it under the tractor then work from there.-- does your tractor have the fat tires or the good tall skinny ones!---You also will have to watch the push arms and make sure they don't hit the tires when in the up position.--My 185 (the fat tire one) has wheel spacers to sit the tires out about an inch, BUT tires still hit mower.--this is a new woods 59 deck.
If starting from scratch you have a better chance to custom make stuff to fit your tractor!
NOW comes the bad news!--- remember that engine has only 9.1 hp when new!---so you may have to experiment with blade speed to find something that will cut grass and not kill all the power!---also do you have the 6 speed setup in the 154 or just the ole 3 speed?
best of luck and keep us posted of your progress,---with pics. if possible!!! thanks; sonny

[travlitt]

I thought my 154 has 14 hp.
I have the 3 speed.
I will take lots of pics as I progress.

[gitractorman]

Travlitt,
Your tractor has the 15 hp version of the C-60 Cub engine. As Sonny mentions, that engine is a good little engine, but a 60-inch mower is quite a pull on it, so you may have trouble running the mower deck unless your engine is in top condition. This is true of any Cub engine, not just yours, all of them have to be in top shape to run a 60-inch deck.

Also, all of the tractors have a 3-speed transmission. The number series lo-boys (154, 185, 184) were offered with a creeper drive (similar to what was offered in the Cub Cadets) which gives you 3 gears lower than standard first gear. The transmission and shifter are identical. If you have a creeper drive, you will have a lever down in the left foot well, protruding from under the seat, that you can pull out to engage the lower gears. The big benefit to this is being able to slow down you drive speed while keeping the engine RPMs up so that a mower, tiller, snow blower, etc., can chew through whatever it's working on.

As others have mentioned, it's probable that you can make the mower deck work. It's going to take a lot of rigging, and the first step will definitely be getting the deck under the tractor to see how it fits. The lo-boy is not that high off the ground, so you may have issues with lifting it. Also, the front to back spacing between the front and rear wheels is not that wide, but you shouldn't have any problems there. The Woods mowers have a pretty wide flare hanging off the back that causes them to rub the rear tires often, but usually it just means the deck is not set up and adjusted properly. Part of the belt adjustment on the Woods mowers involves un pinning and sliding the mower deck forward/backward to tension the belt, then adjusting the idler pulleys in the back for fine adjustment. With a new belt on, sometimes it's tough to get the deck far enough forward where it's supposed to be until the belt stretches a bit. So, regardless, you'll have your work cut out for you.

Good luck,
Bill

[Eugene]

I thought my 154 has 14 hp. I have the 3 speed.

The engine is rated at around 13 horse power with perhaps a bit under 10 HP on the drawbar.

I have a 154, decent engine, creeper (6 speed), and a 3260 (60" mower deck). If the grass gets to tall the tractor struggles in low creeper with the deck raised to maximum elevation.

I have a standard Cub with Woods 42 mower deck. The standard Cub has quite a bit more clearance under the torque tube than the 154.

[outdoors4evr]

A 60" mower deck is a 60" mower deck. You can spin the blades at the same rate as a 3160 deck and get similar results to the 3160. The blades do not have to turn faster just because this came off a 10mph zero turn. These decks usually sit on the ground allowing the deck wheels to support the weight of the deck and maintain the cutting height. You only have to fabricate a way to lift the deck off the ground and keep the belt tight.

Since we are discussing zero turn mowers, perhaps you should mount this deck in front of the tractor using your snowblade mount?

[travlitt]

Outdoor4evr,

I am on the same page as you are.
It is true, a 60" deck is a 60" deck. I have the original PTO rear drive pulley as well as the 2 idler pulleys. If the ZTR mandrel pulleys are the same diameter as the 3160 mandrel pulleys, blade speed will be the same. The ZTR deck has a 4 chain hanging system. I think it would be simple to modify the deck to work with the 154's lift system. Stability left and right would be the biggest problem. I have a pretty good idea how to accomplish that.

[Mortgaged]

You're forgetting that the cub engine is low rpm, approximately 1/2 that of the ZTR engine. So you'll need a pulley 2x the size to get the same blade speed. Obviously that's not going to happen so you'll have to settle for a lower blade speed.

A 60" deck is not a 60" deck. Sorry. ZTR's use a high vacuum deck that pulls a lot of air and spins at high rpm to stand the blade of grass up when cutting, finely mulch the clippings, cuts wet grass or in the rain, and allows travel at high ground speed. You won't do that with ANY version of the typical cub decks and get good results. I use a 27hp Ferris with a 60" deck and there's simply no comparison to the cub (stating the obvious).

[travlitt]

You're forgetting that the cub engine is low rpm, approximately 1/2 that of the ZTR engine. So you'll need a pulley 2x the size to get the same blade speed. Obviously that's not going to happen so you'll have to settle for a lower blade speed.

A 60" deck is not a 60" deck. Sorry. ZTR's use a high vacuum deck that pulls a lot of air and spins at high rpm to stand the blade of grass up when cutting, finely mulch the clippings, cuts wet grass or in the rain, and allows travel at high ground speed. You won't do that with ANY version of the typical cub decks and get good results. I use a 27hp Ferris with a 60" deck and there's simply no comparison to the cub (stating the obvious).

I am not looking for a ZTR performance.
My reference to a 60" deck is a 60" deck..is you will be cutting 60" strip of grass.
Ground speed and blade speed will remain the same regardless of which deck you have under the 154.
I can reduce the air volume by installing low lift blades.
Thanks for your input.
Travis