[wingrider]

Hey guys,

I recently picked up a 455, that came with a 54" deck. Deck seems to cut great, but I am contemplating switching it for a 48". Reason is, my shed door is 60" wide...with the 54" deck on the tractor, I have 1 1/2" on either side of the deck to clear my door. The 48" would obviously fit through better.

I just want to be sure that I will still get as good a cut with the 48" as I do with the 54"... Being I can't be switching decks when ever I please.

I know back in the 318 days, a replacement 48" deck was a lot better than the 50" it replaced...just don't know how these newer decks stack up.

On a related side note, did they finally make a power flow head that is universal to all these decks? As in, would they fit a 48, as well as a 54, or are they still different?

Thanks for any help!

 

[ajcan]

Nate

I think a 48 deck and a 54 deck from the same generation will make the same quality cut.
Reason the 48 deck was so much better on the 300's back in the day was it was a newer design to give a better cut.
The newer 48 and 54 is similar to that design.
Don't quote me on this but in shopping around it appears as though the 54 and the 48 take the same power flow unit.

AJ

 

[flymo]

Nate, I had a 48 on my 455 and the cut quality was fine; the downside is that the 48 is juat barely wider than the rear wheels, so it makes it tough to trim close to obstacles. The 48 also leaves a bigger uncut circle, so it required a lot of backing and filling.

I went to a 60 and it made a lot of difference - even though I have less than 1 inch of clearance either side going into the shed, it's worth it.

I'd recommend staying with the 54 unless you really, really have trouble getting through the door.

Tim

 

[jdmaninlouky]

Nate -
Think about this - You only think about a narrower deck twice each time you cut your grass . Once when exiting shed , and once when entering shed . Now ; how many times are you going to be thinking about a wider deck when you are actually mowing the grass ?? Do the math before you make the final decision .

Ps. You should be getting the 3 point this Mon. or Tues. !

> Dave <

 

[bobstillwagon]

Depends on how much you have to mow ... If it were me with what I mow, I'd probably just make the door wider and get a 60" deck. In my opinion, it is the toughest deck of the 3. It has a large solid steel rod integrated into the lower edge and is heavy gauge material and just simply built to last. I've looked at the 48 & 54 (never used one though) and they don't appear to be built nearly as strong as the 60. Heard a lot of people switching up but very few switching down once they have the bigger deck. I'm pretty sure the 60 takes a different powerflo unit though. With my 455/60, I've got about 2" clearance on either side on the shop door I go through and it won't go through with my Peco leaf machine (profile pic) boot and hose on it so I take them off to get it in. My '73 110 with 47" deck with the same boot & hose will go right through the door with no problem.

 

[wingrider]

Thanks for the help guys! I figured that a 48" deck would actually be slightly inbound of my current tires, even in the narrow position. There would certainly be more trimming to be done if I put that deck on.

This tractor used to have a 60" deck on it, but after running the 60" on my 925, I wanted to down size a little, just so the tractor would warm up before I was done cutting.

We'll see how bad the door is. And if necessary, open up the hole just a little.
David, sent you an email as well, but the hitch was here when we got home on Sunday night...thanks!

 

[dlnw98]

Hey Nate,

The other issue, at some point, could be resale value. A 455 with a 48" deck would be a really tough sell to most people- they would want either the 54 or the 60, and most wouldn't want the hassle of having to find the correct one.

The opposite will be true, as well- If you decide to look for a different deck, you will find a dozen used 54's for every 48. Deere sold very few of the 48's on these tractors to begin with.

Mike

 

[wingrider]

I actually needed a new gearbox for the 54" deck, as I think it spit a tooth when I first used it...even had her idling when I engaged it, but she was banging like crazy, so I went and picked up the 48" to use just to try out.

As it was said, there was a lot more trimming needed, and although it fit in the shed better, the 54" does go in there. As it was, If I didn't like the 48", I was to pull the gearbox off that one for my 54" deck, which I did.

So, now I know for certain, the 54 is staying...kind of funny how much quieter the 48 was opposed to my 54". Just shows that eventually she'll need bearings.

Anyway, on to building a bagger for this set up...figure I'll make it so it hooks to the 3 point. All I really need is a power flow head. I think I have everything else I need.

 

[mf135]

FWIW I have a parts powerflo and it says "Powflo 48 an 54 mow"

 

[rustyknuckles]

The 54 is not that much wider than the 48, and otherwise they are quite similar in construction. I was never sure what the point was to offering both sizes. The 60 though is a much more heavily constructed beast.

 

[dave24319]

I have the 54 on my 455, I used a 48 on a 318 for years. The 54 and the 455 makes lot quicker work of it ,I found. I found the shed door was little small also Nate for the 54. But few hours and that was fixed. Well worth the fix too for me.

 

[cr135i]

Has anyone seen anything like this? Would like to avoid welding diff gears ;-)

 

[woodpecker41]

Keyy in about 1970 Peerless made a limited slip rear axle that fit these tractors. That the good news. The bad news is that they stopped doing so by 1971 and parts were NLA by 1975. It was basically a bad design. For the cost of doing this you could probably by a newer 425 that would already have differential lock from the factory in addition to all its other advantages. I have owned a 1978 214 since 1984 and have never seen a reason to have differential lock. What do you want to it for? Roger

 

[wolverine]

Roger, thank you for responding to Kelly's question. Not to hijack the thread but I am interested in these also. I have a steep yard and mow across it. When I turn sharp uphill the mower cocks up and the wheel on the high side spins and tears up the grass. You stated it was a bad design. In what way? Did it not function well? Thanks.

 

[dr_evil]

Doug - A couple sets of wheel weights and some lugged rear tires will stop that wheel spinning and turf damage on those uphill turns.

I've used lugged tires with weights for 15 years and all the places my turf tires tore up my grass have healed over and look fine now.

A diff lock will actually hurt your ability to turn, both uphill, downhill, and on the level.

 

[woodpecker41]

Doug my advice is to follow what Dennis just said. Also I would mow up and down the hill instead of across it but then I rolled a garden tractor over in 2009 on the edge of a ditch. It was in a place I had driven many times before. Now when on the ditch I go straight up and down the hill. The limited slip differential that John Deere combined with Peerless tried was an interesting idea but an internal spring that made it work broke very quickly when in normal use. There may be some out there that still work but I bet there are not many. If you want to find one the transaxle number is a Peerless 2313. Even if you find one it may or may not still have the LSD axle in it. Roger

 

[cr135i]

I tow logs up from the bottom of my property, I would say it's a moderate hill. Anyway I get one wheel spin that causes me to come to a stop. I weigh 260 lbs but I guess I will get the ag tires and the rear weight bracket. Just thought it would be nice to have lsd, I can not commit the funds to get a 300 or 400 series tractor yet :-(

 

[arnard]

Kelly, have you filled the tires with washer fluid yet? That is the cheapest weight you'll ever find.

 

[aartwmich]

Chains might help too.

 

[cr135i]

Washer fluid eh, I will look into that. It won't rot the tires from the inside will it?