I go over a few of the current issues with this year's Hustler Raptor Flip-Up decks. With these debuting this year, they're bound to have some bugs that need ironed out. Lots of info under the cut:
First things first: The control arm safety switches. Straight from the factory, a lot of these are set too far from the control arm paddles that engage them. Readjusting them is easy; Just loosen the two bolts under the grey switches, then move them towards the inside of the machine. Tighten, and verify that the paddles depress them completely. This ensures that you won't have to worry about your safety switches not engaging properly.
Pivot bolt springs for the control arms. These come waaaaay too loose from the factory most of the time. The problem that these pose, is that your control arms are supposed to rest on that indent sticking out on the control arm stop plate. With loose springs, if you push forward at all when pushing the control arms into the park position, you can hyper-extend them past their stopping point. This has a nasty habit of making the paddles that press against the safety switches come back a little bit, resulting in your safety switches not being engaged. The fix is simple: Tighten the spring on that bolt by using a 9/16" deepwell socket and ratchet on the nut side, and a 9/16" 12-point wrench on the bolt-head side. Once completely tightened, loosen a full turn.
I reference the belt guide update in my other video: • Hustler Flip-Up 48" an...
Your dealer should install it FREE OF CHARGE, as it is UNDER WARRANTY.
Installation of the belt guide kit, if you wish to do so yourself, is fairly simple. You'll have to remove the floor pan, which has four carriage bolts, and four locknuts on the underside. Use a 9/16" socket and ratchet to remove them. Take off the floor pan. Drop the deck as low as it will go. Now, use a strap to lift the mower from the front left or right frame behind the front wheels. You'll need to remove the LOCKNUT ONLY on the specified pulley (reference my other video for this). You'll want a 3/4" socket with a 4" extension or greater underneath the deck, and another 3/4" socket or wrench above the deck for the locknut. Once that locknut is off, just pop on the belt guide update and snug everything back up. Torque specification is supplied on the paper that comes with the update.
The hole used for the flip-up function can sometimes be a little off. This is due to the two black plates that move up and down beside it, as their holes are drilled either too small, or incorrectly. The only fix at this time is to ream those holes out more than they already are, using a larger drill bit. DO NOT DRILL INTO THE YELLOW FRAME PIN HOLE. There is a switch in there that tells the mower that the pin in inside. Damaging that is not covered under warranty. Hustler is working on an update for that issue.
If you have any other questions, feel free to ask in the comments below. I work on these regularly, and would love to help you out.