Bent my mower deck badly

[MacDaddy67]

Helping my neighbor mulch leaves as it was getting dark….
Ran into a tree root and it nearly threw me off the mower….

Bent the **** out of the front edge…. Blades are hitting each other now…. In a bind badly…..
John Deere z540M ZTR…,

Any tips or tricks to getting it back into shape….

[Lost10mm]

Can you share any pics? I'm thinking a torch and mini-sledge

[thebowhunters]

Big hammer that’s what Kabota did on my dads.

[Rubberdown]

Take it off. Flip it up on the concrete and beat it with a sledge.

[Southbound 85]

It’s 2023, sue the neighbor for a new one + $20k in emotional damage.

[slicktree]

It’s 2023, sue the neighbor for a new one + $20k in emotional damage.

Lmao

[MacDaddy67]

It’s 2023, sue the neighbor for a new one + $20k in emotional damage.

lol....isnt that how it usually works.....break your equipment helping a neighbor.....

He heard it and came running from the shop area where he was blowing leaves out.....

it is fubarred BIGLY

[Texas452]

I picked mine up with the front end loader, crawled under it and beat it out with a 2lb hammer after my grandson hit something.

[texan16]

Take it off. Flip it up on the concrete and beat it with a sledge.

Best option right here. If ya have a torch, put some heat on it and then play whack a mole......

[EarleyBird]

Rosebud and a hammer

[spidermonkey]

Also if you take it off, you can use a LARGE pipe wrench or LARGE crescent to grab the edge and “control bend” it back in shape. Unless it’s a super thick deck, that works pretty good. Lots of times the deck steel has so much spring in it, it doesn’t respond as well to hammering, even if you have a backup on the opposite side. May still need a sledge/shop hammer, and a torch, but I’ve fixed mine MANY times over the years cuz my dear wife mows everything. Meaning if it’ll fit under the deck, it’ll mow it in her way of thinking! I’ve fixed, replaced, welded, re-made spindle mounts, you name it over the years! Good Huntin, and God Bless, Rusty (and good luck!)

[M16]

It’s 2023, sue the neighbor for a new one + $20k in emotional damage.

This! Call the Texas Hammer. He’ll get it straightened out.

[Ætheling]

Fix it the exact way you bent it. I have a heavily wooded property and have done this a few times. Find a stump or even the same root, drop the mower so the bent area is up to it and reverse or drive forward to bend it back.

[dgilbert]

Remove it and start banging.

[mwk128]

I could be wrong, and it sounds like several of you have successfully done this, but I would be worried about bending the mower deck back yourself. You're never going to get it totally back to straight and level. I would think that even if you get it bent back to where the blades aren't hitting each other if you don't get it back to perfectly straight (and you won't) you are still going to have potential problems with premature belt wear or throwing belts and excessive vibration which will eventually vibrate apart the whole mower. I would bite the bullet and just buy a new deck, or if that's too expensive take the deck to a metal shop and have them repair it. I would think that would be way better than whacking the deck with a sledge hammer and eyeballing it to fix it.