Extended Blade Adapter Needed for Push Mower

[GBertolet]

My deck rotted out, and I got a replacement from the junk pile at the local mower shop. Trouble is, with wheels all the way down, the mower cuts at 2 3/4", which is not good enough. I would like closer to 2". I have a MTD 748-377E, adapter on now, which was the longest I could find at the time. Engine is a Tecumseh, with a 7/8" keyed crankshaft. The 748-377E adapter adds, 1 3/8" to the crankshaft length. I have a bowtie blade center, at this time.

Most of the adapters listed on the internet, do not give full specifications, so I am flying blind here. Possibly using an adapter with a pulley on it, will give me some extra length. I saw an Oregon 80-134 adapter listed on ebay, stating it is designed to lower cut, with no specifications provided. This adapter is not listed on the Oregon website, so it is likely discontinued.

Any info on selecting an adapter, would be appreciated.

 

[legdelimber]

Do you have any options of blade choice?
Are you running the mower as a mulcher or open/side discharge?
My reason for asking is I wonder if a higher lift blade might get that extra cut difference.
The deck needs to be able to flow the air for it to happen though. Thus my question on discharge method.
In my attempts to get a 21" walk behind to cut cleanly yet bag leaves in the fall, I tried several combos that I found at the old (now gone) hardware store.
40 odd years of mixed adapters and blades were in those bins to root through.
Was funny~interesting how the combos of blade inset (distance from deck) lift, then the decks ability to flow the air all made differences in whether a mower cut clean of bagged better.
How dry the grass is (day after a rain made for good succulent smoothest cut).
How fast you want to mow.
The type of grass of course.
I found with the Snapper, that the difference between open side discharge vs bagging was the cut height (w/open discharge) was about like one big notch of the wheel adjusters in cut height.
I ended up keeping my Snapper set up as a mulcher mainly (sometimes open side discharge though) and using a Murray rear bagger in the fall to bag leaves.
The Snapper had a tendency to stuff the tube from the deck to bag, if it was running a high lft blade.
i checked for twigs etc, many times, just the thrown clipping seemed to overrun what air could flow through the bag. Bag was clean (washed) fabric not fuzzy and about 3 seasons of use.
No rocks or dirt patches, so bag was still in good condition and ought to have flowed air well.

I even made a duct tape skirt around the Murray deck to get it to pick up the willow oak leaves.
Worked well in the end actually.
Knees began to go out and that Zen thing faded from the mower time.
Bad knees and hilly yard.
I got tired of having to dump the bag after walking 50~75 odd ft. {2/3 acre of bagging. about 4 times a year)
Willow oaks, Crepe Myrtles, Pecan trees, and some broad leafed oaks.
You can image how the combo loaded up a bag quickly.

So I bought a backpack blower and haven't really bagged since.

Wish I knew where to find the specs for the blade adaptors, also.
I'll probably need some fresh ones in a couple more seasons.

 

[GBertolet]

I finally took the bull by the horns. I found a MTD adapter that had a pulley on it, 748-04016, that was 3 inches long. It cost $29. I had anticipated having the key, run the full depth of the adapter. Wrong. Only about the last inch from the bottom. I had some key stock, and made a key to run the remaining length of the adapter. There was a full length channel in the adapter, that the original key was in, so I brazed the new key in the channel, aligning it with the original.

I made up a spacer from 7/8" rod, 1 1/2" long. I drilled a 3/8" hole in the center for the bolt, and milled a key slot on the spacer, to slip over the keys. The spacer overlaps both keys, hopefully giving additional support to the newly brazed on key. I had to find a slightly longer bolt to attach to the crankshaft, and the installation on the mower went well. Where I had 3/4" engagement of the crank in the old adapter before, I now have 7/8".

The blade sits about 1 inch lower now, and I was able to raise the deck height 1 notch, putting the blade height at just over 2 inches. The deck still sits lower than the blade, which for safety reasons is good. I started up the engine, and it runs smoothly. I will try mowing with it this week.

The deck is set up for mulching. There is a spring loaded cover over the side discharge opening. I cannot find a side discharge chute for this deck. There is no specific ID on the deck, so ordering the correct one is almost impossible. I tried several at the local lawn mower shop, but none were right.

 

[legdelimber]

I think that I found the unit info on this one by finally just typing in the stuff from the engine.
Seems that Briggs has begun making bastard engines, the way Tecumseh did for Sears/Craftsman units (..some expensive repair stories there.).
Nothing else on the mower seemed to I.D. it.
Doesn't help matters when someones college degree says to put the labels on the side of the deck.
Yep.
That white patch, just behind the left front wheel, seems to have been where the model numbers were once located.
Rear of deck sticker was just stuff like not mowing in your bathtub & other helpful things.
The mower was left with me when a neighbor moved away, so it's low a priority anyway.
After a cursory look for bent crankshaft, busted deck parts, controls, etc...
I usually pour about 3/4 cup of WD40 into the fuel tank and let it soak for a couple of weeks and then start looking the mower over for why it was parked.
Most cases, around here, it's a dose of Ethanol and water that have stopped things and the WD40 soak is a good starting method for getting the crud lose.
New fuel lines, carb kit, filters, (air & fuel) new oil and so on.. and we've got a runner again.
Second most common is from folks tipping the mower over to clear a fouled deck/blade.
A bit of engine oil runs into the breather and after a few days it swells the paper air filter fibers and chokes the air off.
The spark plug now fouls and repeatedly changing them wont solve the problem until the air filter is replaced.
If I find the swollen filter is poked full of holes, the engine is usually already knocking from internal wear.
If the oil sump is dry or sludgy, the mower usually becomes a donor for the next blade adapter!