Problem with 44" Regent gage wheels

[Mower_Man42]

have a problem with my 1997 Regent that I bought last summer. It has the 44" deck, the problem is that my rear gage wheels are in contact with the ground all the time and this is wearing them out I`ve lost about 1/4 to 3/8 of and inch in cutting height. I also posted over at the other place as well. I can`t figure out how high off the ground the wheels are suppose to be. The manual isn`t much help here only tells you how to level side to side and the hight foreward and aft. I had one response and was told that even when at cutting hight that the gage wheels only come in contact with the ground once in a while. I thought that Simplicity were called tail draggers for a reason. I don`t have a full width roller across the rear, just gage wheel on all 4 corners. I`m not having a problem with the cut, cuts great just wears out the gage wheels. Even the lifting arm, the gate that it fits into isn`t marked. In the highest setting the blades are 3.5" above the ground. How high are the botton of my gage wheels suppose to be off the ground. I bought a new set and don`t want to wear them out before adjusting the deck and setting every thing up right. It a great mower, got it at a good price with a new short block. Here`s a picture of it on my trailer.http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y220/Customowing/1997SimplicityRegent.jpg

[Darrell]

I have the same tractor as you! Same deck also. The rear wheels on my Regent touch the ground but not all the time. The deck just hangs and follows the lay of the land. I cut my grass in position number 5. What about you? Actually if you raise it all the way up it the deck actually bangs under the mower. I can look at my mower to see where the wheel positions are on mine if you would like.

Darrell

[Mower_Man42]

Darrell My deck lever is in the next to last 3" cutting height, in the last slot the blades are 3.5 off of the ground. I emailed Wheely_Boy and he has a 1998 Regent but with the 38" deck, when his deck is all the way up his wheels are still on the ground as well. Mine is a 1997, I put a new set of mower blades on the deck this last Saturday and while I had the deck off I checked under the tractor to see if I could find anything worn out or anything with to much free play in it. The U shaped bracket with the slotted holes is suppose to have a bushing on the bolt that rides up and down in that slotted hole.Mine are missing or they wore out and it now just a 5/16" bolt holding the deck in place. This is the bracket that the rod slides thru to hold the deck in place.I ordered new parts and a new steering arm that has to much play in needs to be replaced. I was thinking about putting a stove bolt in the slotted hole on the top of the carrier bracket just to see it I could get any lift out of it. At least that way the rear gage wheels could be lifted off the ground when not I`m not mowing. If it doesn`t work I`ll just remove the bolts no harm done. Do you have your owners manual, the PDF file from Simplicity is made up of a bunch of different manual. You can only use those leveling nuts to level the deck not raise it up it only works on one side. Thanks for your reply

[Mower_Man42]

Well I got the bushing installed, with the deck in the highest setting. The rear gage wheels are just barely off the ground, so it didn`t help much height wise. But the deck doesn`t move around as much. To bad it wasn`t set up like the older Simplicity of the mid 80`s they had a lever to lift the deck up when not in use, and another to set the cutting height.

[Argee]

I set mine on a level surface. Lower the deck to cutting position andset the rollers about 1/2" above that...that should still allow them to keep the deck from scalping but not constantly turning.