I'm always trying out new stuff - the latest is a spray can of 'lubricant' called 'Jig-A-Loo'. The stuff is loaded with high solvents that clean, then evaporate. If then wiped down, nothing visible is left, but it's very slick - completely dry but feels like it's coated in Teflon. I've been trying to find applications for it but the first thing that came to mind was deck treatment. Haven't tried it there yet because my decks both have a pretty good build-up, but if I ever clean them I'll give it a try. Ideally you would use it on a new mower and keep it clean. I got it at Wal Mart in the auto section. I put it on some scissors; the next time I used them to cut strapping tape while making a big shipping carton, the adhesive did not stick to the blades. If anything gummy gets on scissors or a knife, this is the stuff. The solvents are pretty active, though, and can affect certain paints and plastic materials (but not the baked-on paint of a mower deck). I can't tell what's in it that makes it so slippery but it does state 'no oil, grease, wax or detergents'. For those who play with guns, it is absolutely 'the berries' for cleaning/lubing the inside of magazines with no effect on primers and no dust collecting. I can see it for cleaning and slicking up anything on a mower that you don't want to collect grit; cables, mechanisms, adjusters, plastic wheels, etc.

Evworld, I have an official Deere technical manual, and I cannot find any instructions for leveling the deck! I'll keep looking. In the meantime, here are a few things to check: Make sure the tires are properly inflated; front tires should have 12 lbs, rear tires 8 lbs. Make sure that neither blades nor spindles are bent. Between the two blades, tips that vary up to 1/4 inch are within tolerance. Check that the gauge wheels are set at the same height; they should NOT contact the ground when you are running on flat, smooth ground. I'll look in the manual some more, but I have two STX-38's (several years) and have never had a problem with the decks getting out-of-level, except when tire pressure isn't equal. Sometimes new folks on the forum can't find their way back, so I'll assume that you asked that responses be emailed to you, and include the web address: http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tractor/msg0507384229168.html?1

The left tension pulley on my LT 1045 Cub Cadet was about 1/2 inch to low and at an angle that took it out of a horizonal plane with the ajacent pullys. Took deck off and removed the bracket that holds both tension pullys. Put the defective pulley in a metal vise and hammered it so that its angle when reinstalled was parralell to the ajacent pullys. This solved the problem. I called Cub Cadet and spoke with the technical representative and he told me that the bracket I had to bend was bent out of shape because I, as many people do, engaged the electric pto to the blades while the deck was in level 3 to mow. He told me to put the deck in its highest position before engaging the pto to engage the blades. This alleviates the stress on the Kevlar belt that is trying to come up to 3600 rpm while in the grass before they start to rotate. This can eventually bend the bracket that holds the tension pulleys. He said he is trying to tell the company to include this in the owners manual.

It could also indicate a blockage or obstruction in the PILOT JET of the carb (also referred to by various other names like "slow jet", "low speed jet", "idle fuel jet", or even other unprintable names when it gives trouble). Because the pilot jet has a much smaller orifice than the main jet, the pilot jets are more apt to "catch" a small piece of trash than the main jet. Particles that can clog a pilot jet may very well pass right through the main jet. Because the pilot jet has such a tiny orifice, blobs of water can "stop up" the hole as effectively as solid debris. I personally think that if the fuel pump were at fault, or anything else that would affect "MAXIMUM fuel flow", the problem would not be what you describe (removing the load from the engine and reducing throttle to a slower position). If you had a problem related to maximum fuel flow, you would experience things like "it runs OK at idle and will throttle up to high RPM but when I engage the deck, the engines begins to slow down and run rough after a few seconds. If I disengage the deck, the engine soon speeds up again. Or "It does OK until I go up a hill (or other scenario where load on engine increases). In regard to fuel pump at idle RPM versus high RPM: Pulse vacuum fuel pumps have a "relatively flat" output volume at any given RPM. This is due to the time allowed for the pump diaphragm to "react" to the "pressure to vacuum" oscillations of crankcase pressure. At idle RPM, the pulse changes occur fairly slow, so the pump diaphragm is able to move a greater distance with each pulse, because it has enough time to move the greater distance, thus it will move a certain volume of fuel in a given PERIOD OF TIME. At higher RPM, the pulse pressure to vacuum changes occur more often (because of the greater speed of the engine pistons). At higher RPM, the fuel pump moves LESS FUEL PER PULSE, but because the pulses occur at a FASTER RATE, the net output volume of the pump (during the same time span) is about the same as at idle. The volume capacity of the pump is always engineered to be well above the actual requirements of fuel flow needed by the engine anyhow. In operation, the fuel pump will fill up the carb bowl to the "float level". When the float level is attained, the needle valve closes and no more fuel is allowed into the carb until enough fuel is consumed to let the float drop a bit, at which point, additional "make up" fuel is allowed to enter the float bowl. During the times that the needle valve is closed, the fuel pump diaphragm IS NOT MOVING, because it now has a "head of positive fuel pressure" against the diaphragm, preventing it from moving at all. This is the nature of diaphragm type pumps. Carburetted engines are always running "off of" the fuel in the carb bowl at any given moment of operation. If you are running a carburetted engine that uses a fuel pump to transfer fuel from tank to carb, and you "pinch off" the fuel hose to the carb, the engine will not react immediatly to that action (by dying). It will continue to run on the fuel already in the bowl, until it consumes that "finite volume" of fuel. Water in the carb bowl (and other places in fuel system) might be to blame for the problem you are having here. A good clean out of carb and fuel tank (and a new fuel filter) might fix it. The auxiliary tank could certainly "rule out" any concerns about fuel pump performance, but I doubt a fuel pump max flow problem because THAT would cause problems during times of HIGH fuel requirement (cutting or towing heavy) and not when the engine load becomes "lighter".