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I was in my local tractor sales/service place a while back. The line at the help counter was long and I was near the end. A gentleman was at the counter having a stressful discussion with the mechanic assigned to the counter that day.

The guys problem was that his "new" riding lawnmower was "scalping his lawn". He wanted to bring the tractor back and get his money refunded.

The mechanic was determined to discover a solution to the problem that did not involve bringing the tractor back to the shop.

After listening to the conversation for a while I realized that the mower was cutting the grass very short on one side and high on the other side causing the lawn to have a 'streaked' look.

The mechanic was thorough with his questions and analysis and the guy was becoming more and more persistent.

Suddenly it dawned on me what the problem was and I stepped out of line and approached the counter. I asked the guy to call his son (who I knew from hearing the discussion was home with the tractor) and ask his son a very simple question.

What was the question?
How did the guy get his tractor fixed?

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    $\begingroup$ Were the tires on one side flat? :P $\endgroup$
    – phroureo
    Nov 1, 2017 at 15:51
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    $\begingroup$ Were 2 sets of tires used? Was it on a slope that you adjusted 1 side to accommodate? Were you drifting with the tractor? $\endgroup$
    – Alex
    Nov 1, 2017 at 17:12
  • $\begingroup$ Alternatively, was the blade adjusted higher on one side than the other? $\endgroup$
    – phroureo
    Nov 1, 2017 at 17:26
  • $\begingroup$ the blades were properly aligned and otherwise adjusted. Post some answers. This one is just for fun and not a brain twister. $\endgroup$
    – Dr t
    Nov 1, 2017 at 18:25

2 Answers 2

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The question is:

Did you make sure your tires are all equally inflated?

He fixed it by:

Inflating all tires equally on the tractor. If the tires are not riding at the same height, the blades will have a diagonal tilt!

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  • $\begingroup$ YAY!! Yes, true story. The guy called his son back and asked him, "Is the left rear tire flat?" He listened for a second while his son answered. Then he quickly left the store and the line moved ahead quietly. We have all done stupid things...maybe not that obvious though $\endgroup$
    – Dr t
    Nov 2, 2017 at 21:08
  • $\begingroup$ Haha nice! Check your tires @Drt $\endgroup$
    – JParrilla
    Nov 2, 2017 at 23:51
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The question is

Does your lawn have uneven spots?

The solution

Try to use the tractor on even ground with no difference in height

Another question

Do you turn fast? in this case the tractor will tend to tip slightly and this cause one side of the mower deck to go down and the other to go up.

New solution

Don't turn fast, slow down and keep the deck straight by raising it

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  • $\begingroup$ the lawn is no problem...there is something about the tractor $\endgroup$
    – Dr t
    Nov 1, 2017 at 19:23

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