mower deck wont lower- 59 woods

[HOTRODSURFER]

70 154 cub with woods 59 deck, raises now (was stuck in up position)with no problem wont lower on its own -tractor sat for 2years with mower in up position...mower will go down with help of a pry bar-I greased the r/s of the shaft -is there a grease fitting on the l/s?? any suggestions?-keep working shaft up and down until it goes down own its own??

[outdoors4evr]

I am guessing that the rockshaft is rusted tight or just plain tightened down too far. The rockshaft does have a grease fitting, though you might want to start with a penetrating oil.

[staninlowerAL]

The 154 does not have "down" pressure like a FCub. Have you serviced the transmission/hydraulic system? Could be fluid level, filter needs changing, contaminated fluid, etc. You should be able to access the downloadable Owners Manual at the Quick Links tab, top left corner of this page. It will help you understand the operation and maintenance of your tractor.

[HOTRODSURFER]

The 154 does not have "down" pressure like a FCub. Have you serviced the transmission/hydraulic system? Could be fluid level, filter needs changing, contaminated fluid, etc. You should be able to access the downloadable Owners Manual at the Quick Links tab, top left corner of this page. It will help you understand the operation and maintenance of your tractor.

where do you check/add fluid ??

[HOTRODSURFER]

I am guessing that the rockshaft is rusted tight or just plain tightened down too far. The rockshaft does have a grease fitting, though you might want to start with a penetrating oil.

I am gonna loosed all the bolts and hit every thing with penetrating oil and see what happens

[Eugene]

where do you check/add fluid ??

Pipe plug located on the differential cover.

Down load the Operator's Manual. Lubrication chart is included in the manual.

Does the tractor have a hydraulic diverter valve? You need to read the section on the tractor's hydraulic system.

[HOTRODSURFER]

has no diverter valve-can I use regular hydraulic oil????

[Larry B]

Deck not goung down common problem. I usually wind up taking the caps off the rockshaft pivots and clean out the hardened 40 year old grease and check for galling. I regrease with a non hardening waterproof grease. The lithium and most moly greases are not my favorite for tractors. The stuff designed for boat trailer bearings works the best for me. I buy the "red" grease from tractor supply by the case and use it on about everthing except for the stuff that needs an EP grease.

[staninlowerAL]

has no diverter valve-can I use regular hydraulic oil????

Owners Manual recommends CaseIH HYTRAN. Some members say you can use others that are HYTRAN Compatable oil. I personally would not mix different types of oils. Since you probably don't know what's in it nor how long since it's been serviced, I suggest that you change it along with the filter. Condensation and water infiltration is a common problem with the transmission/hydraulic reservoir.

[HOTRODSURFER]

Deck not goung down common problem. I usually wind up taking the caps off the rockshaft pivots and clean out the hardened 40 year old grease and check for galling. I regrease with a non hardening waterproof grease. The lithium and most moly greases are not my favorite for tractors. The stuff designed for boat trailer bearings works the best for me. I buy the "red" grease from tractor supply by the case and use it on about everthing except for the stuff that needs an EP grease.

Cool that will be the first step-than I will change the fluid and filter -thanks fellas!!!!!

[gitractorman]

The hydraulic oil/level/age will not have much of any impact on the deck going down. There is no down pressure on the number series hydraulics, so it's up to gravity for the deck to lower. If it won't lower, then it is the rockshaft bound up. Your best bet, as others have mentioned, is to get the rockshaft freed up and lubricated properly. It won't hurt to service the hydraulic fluid and filter, but based on your actual problem mentioned, it's not needed at this point.

Sometimes, when these tractors have sat for a while, you just need to work the deck up/down a bunch of times to get the rockshaft freed up. Often, if you stand on it, it's enough weight to make it go down while you hold the lift lever forward. If you have 2 kids, maybe have one stand on each side so it's balanced, but either way, you get the idea. Usually, once you've greased the rockshaft, and run it up/down a few times, it will free up.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

where do you check/add fluid ??

The transmission is the fluid reservoir, so you need HyTran or a HyTran compatible fluid.

[HOTRODSURFER]

lubed the rock shaft real god loosened the bolts on the cap mower went up and down with no problem-torqued the bolts -mower goes up and down with no problems