ride on lawn mower

[morrisminor]

Hi all, this is a shot in the dark. I have a 1998 lawnflite ride on mower and the mower deck is so rusty its just like toilet paper thin and un-weldable.
And I have been told by lawnflite that these are obsolete now and no decks available. I asked them wouldn't a later model deck do and they would not say if they are interchangeable.
Anyone know if they are or not.

 

[Burnerman]

Its an awkward one this, and one that I come across frequently enough.
Have a good look around ebay for a direct replacement......grafting on other decks may be possible but there will be endless problems with the lowering mechanism and belt tensioning / pulley alignment.
One way to give you a little more life is to actually lay fibreglass matting over the existing shell.....a bit of a faff I know but it could be worth considering.
John

 

[morrisminor]

Hi John, thanks for a quick input, I have been looking on ebay now for over 10 months and nothing so far. I have even joined a lawn tractor forum ( which is usa based) but unfortunally its members all seem to be in the early or late teens and use the lawn tractors as a cheap form of quad bike. There was one guy however did say the same thing as you (fibreglass it).
Jimmy

 

[Mursal]

Do you fiberglass on the inside or the outside?

 

[Burnerman]

With all cutter decks, everything seems well on top until the rust appears from below, due to the build up of wet crap under there.
Its best to fibreglass on the outside first, and where the shell is corroded away then apply extra matting to the inside too.
I guess it doesn't really matter where its done, but the close proximity of the spinning blade(s) underneath the deck may play a part.
Eventually of course, the blade spindle gets ripped away from the deck top and then its game over.
Best to remove, clean and paint the deck underside every year, but no one ever does!
John