Zero Turn Mowers

I bought a Z248F this June of 2017. The mower worked very well for the first 10 hours cutting the grass quickly and evenly. Recently, the mower has been leaving strips and has been cutting unevenly. I have had it to the dealer 2 times now and the mower continues to cut unevenly. Dealer has adjusted the deck and installed new blades twice with no better luck cutting. I finally took the deck off myself and checked the mandrels for any signs of damage and to get a better look at the blades. I noticed the blade on the far left of the machine opposite the discharge shout is 3/16 to 1/4 inches higher than the tip of the middle blade. The middle blade does not align perfectly with the discharge shout blade (1/16 of an inch off) but is far better than the other side. Also when I put a straight edge across the edge of the deck and measure to the blade tips there distances is quite varied. I told my dealer this and showed him. I pointed this out to the dealer earlier this week when I dropped of the machine. Yesterday when I got the unit home I cut my grass and it was still streaking and not cutting even. Subsequently, I dropped the deck for further inspection and noticed when spinning the centre mandrel there is friction on the bearing. I just picked the machine up from the dealer last night and plan on taking it back to the dealer again today as the blade tips do not align, and the middle mandrel has friction when spun. Any tips in getting the dealer to take my concerns seriously? I am looking to replace the deck or put all new mandrels on given the inconsistency from blade tips to blade tips (even with new blades installed).

My dealer keeps telling me the unit seems to cut his grass just fine.....

Nothing has been hit and the original blades had only marginal wear as they were only on the zero turn Z248F for 10 hours or less.

All ideas welcome ....very frustrated with this purchase and my dealer for not addressing my concerns thoughtfully and purposefully.


Stopped at dealer last night --- asked for three new mandrels as one is rough to spin. He asked me to use the mower once more with new blades and to get back to him. Tried mower briefly and noticed that the middle blade does not seem to be cutting evenly even though with the new blades everything lined up when at the dealership. I think one or more of the mandrels is not right as the inconsistency in cutting is becoming more evident.