On Sun, 17 May 2015 15:20:53 -0500
"Terry Coombs" wrote:

snip
It's a JD model 317 of 1982 vintage - one of the last ones before they
changed to the pressure lubed motor . The deck is a 46" three blade with
hydraulic lift . This unit has a height control on the floor in front of the
seat , and now I'm confused again . Which do I use to set cut height ? Does
it matter what kind of terrain I'm cutting ? Set it with the knob , and let
the wheels raise the deck as necessary to prevent scalping ?

I'm not familiar with that model Deere. But on my Poulan Pro the knob
sets the cutting height. It works like a stop setting. I can pull the
lift lever back and raise the deck all the way up, but when you release
the lift lever and lower the deck it stops at where the knob is set.
Maybe your 317 works like that too. I also have a little numbered marker
on the opposite side of the lift lever on the pivot. That is suppose to
help with setting it to so many inches. It isn't very accurate. I just
measured the blade height with a ruler and tried for around 3.5 inches.
I'm sure it is set lower right now, probably more like 2.5 to 3 inches
as I've tweaked it off and on.

The wheels on my unit are simply there to keep from scalping stuff when
negotiating uneven terrain. Which my yard has quite a bit of...

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
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