The structural engineer will need to sign off on this before the building inspector will approve anything.

If you are really thinking about cutting out the bottom sides and doing doggy doors to cover it, make sure the open doors themselves clear 54 inches at the bottom, or you will need to slot those as well.

I also thought maybe a one sided ramp would be enough. Of course, I would need the opposite on the the other side of the door.

What's a building inspector?? :D

I built my 12X20 deck...added on to it twice....building inspector never came out.

In this case, it's the ppot braintrust, who will be watching closely! ;)

Actually, with the AWS you should be able to boogie the tractor right in (somehow)...

^^^ I'm wondering that also, after yours and masraums post.
Sure would make it easier.

Someday you'll figure out that a zero turn is the way to go!

Absolutely! They are like driving the sports car of mowers. They're the 356 or 550 of the mowing world. And if you need to get to the bottom of the deck, just pick up the front and stick it on an upside down bucket or jack stands.

This is what you need

https://www.deere.com/assets/images/...db17fecd85.jpg

How do they work for snow throwing? :)

Great! Woods makes a front runner that you can drop the deck and put a snow blower on. Grasshopper has a snow blower attachment too.

Same width....won't fit in my building.

You could buy a 48" Z and still mow faster than the traditional rider even with AWS.

I know... I know... "It's not how fast you mow but how well you mow fast". That's what people with slow mowers say. And let's not get into my deck is bigger than yours :-)

^^^ a friend of mine has one of those (grasshopper)...he likes it. I asked him about the under-deck cleaning and he said it was ok..but not very good.

I'm still not sure...looking.

BTW on your doors is the current opening, not the doors, 60"? It looks like maintaining the current height and making the opening wider would get difficult because of the gambrel roofline.

Doesn't his tilt up? I used to tilt the deck on my woods and scrape it. Plus you could put a Z on your lift if you wanted to. There are more spots to get to for lifting than there are on conventional riders. On my 2 post thread I have pics of my Z up on my lift.

Only drawback to the front runner style mower is the rear wheels and getting a feel for where they are when you're turning near your house or outbuilding. Easy to bump stuff.

Don't get the cart in front of the horse. Get your mower and see what needs to be modified afterwards (if anything).

Best way to keep from having to scrape the bottom of the deck is to not mow when the grass is damp. That and put some slip plate on the bottom of the deck

^^^ yes...the opening is 60 inches. That's my worry...widening the opening is going to eliminate some of the structure support.

Being that the structural support is the side walls, I wouldn't get too hung up but it's going to take some work to make the opening wider. The front and rear walls have very little load on them. It can be done but I'm not sure how it would end up looking and you seem like a guy who likes his stuff to look right.

Almost impossible to do that here. I do use an underdeck spray.