(ET) d'oh - did I hook something up wrong?

[Michael S Briggs <msbriggs alberti unh edu>]

	I finally had time to finish putting most of my "new" E-15 back 
together, after painting, and plopped the batteries in with my freshly 
made cables (4 gauge). For pictures, see 
http://einstein.unh.edu/~msbriggs/Elec-Trak/
(the flash from the camera makes it look brighter blue than it really is)
	Anyway - I haven't put the mower blades on yet, figuring I could 
use the lift to raise the deck up to give me easy access for putting them 
on. So, once I got everything back together, I used the lift to start 
raising the deck up. After the U-bar hit the top of the deck, it *really* 
struggled. I heard a straining/tearing/cracking noise, so stopped for the 
moment to check everything out.
	I'm wondering if I connected something wrong, as far as how the 
deck connects to the tractor. I had trouble getting the U-bar to go all 
the way into the rails it slides into (had to bang on it with a 
sledgehammer to get it most of the way in), and I suspect that that's the 
problem.
	I decided to give the lift another try, and again when the U-bar 
hit the top of the deck, heard a tearing noise again, and eventually the 
lift strap snapped. D'oh.
	How the lift strap connects to the mower deck doesn't seem all 
that well thought out to me, personally. I'd think it would make much more 
sense to have it connect closer to the front of the deck, to give better 
torque for lifting the front up for good access to the underside. Instead, 
it relies on a very small lever arm between the lift attachment point and 
the U-bar. Or am I missing something?

Thanks,
Mike

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Michael S. Briggs
UNH Physics Department
(603) 862-2828
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