cub cadet deck vibration

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Hello. I've got a 1215 with the 38" deck. It has a vibration in the deck. The blades are tight. I cleaned the blades and put on my balancer and they were OK too. The spindle pulleys seem tight. I leveled the deck but nothing seems to make a difference. The blades are old and have been sharpened many times over the years but are OK for balanced. Any ideas that I must be overlooking?
thanks, Bob
 
I would recheck those blades for balance. I put
a large nail in my bench vise longitudinally, then hang the blade on there to see if it stays level. If one end of the blade drops you need to grind that end some more. Hal
 
Some other things to check:

Anything wedged in a pulley. When you spin them around do the wobble or is the outer edge off center?

The spindle shaft: Those CCs with the spindle shaft that is more or less a bolt through them and no star where the blade mounts tend to wear a groove in them if the blade is too loose and allowed to slip. Then the blade can be mounted off center, one side in the groove, causing an out-of-balance condition.

Also check the spindle shaft for any wobble. Turn the deck upside down and note where one end of the blade is in relation to a point on the deck shell. Then rotate the spindle shaft until the other end of the blade is there, it should line up the same way. If its off up or down and the blade is not bent, its the spindle shaft bent.
 
As mentioned the belt can cause it if it has set for a long time. Sometimes will go away with some use sometimes not. Also remove the blades, belt and guard. Check the deck pulleys for damage and build up. Turn each spindle from each end while looking to see if it is bent and feeling for tight spots. Bearings can cause it but most of the time will also be very noisy.
 
I would do as said check blades fot balance and check for a bearing going bad in one of the spindels.
 
Thank you for all the info. I put new belts on the whole tractor this spring. New on both tractor drive and deck. Used Cub Cadet belts from dealer. Spindles seem tight and nothing jammed up around pulleys under guard. I will check blades again for balance/straightness. Also will check spindles again. I didn't check them with belt off last time so will try it with belt off this time. The deck is suspended for 4 "adjustable hangers" that have a lot of slop in them from wear over the years. I wonder if that is contributing to the problem? We got this tractor new I think in 1988. Thanks for your help.
Bob
 
took the blades off and ran a wire brush on the grinder to clean. They are balanced OK. also used the hanging on nail method and showed balanced too. Took the deck belt off and turn spindles by hand. Sound ok but took them off anyway. Took bearings out and they are good too. Will have to get new grease seals tomorrow. Not finding anything so far.
 
Make sure the cutting edge of each blade is facing
in the right direction. One of my co-worker's had a Ford garden tractor and he said every time he mowed his lawn the grass looked almost white. He said he sharpened them, but they were never dull.

I looked at them and told him he was installing the blades backwards. Hal
 
Hi Hal

Blades are on correctly. Actually after I wire wheeled them noticed Grass side stamped right in the blades.
 
Be sure you are wearing a tight fitting hat, so you don't tear your hair out.
Need a few details here. You say 38", so I'm assuming 3 blades. Is there 1 belt driving 1 spindle & another belt from there to drive the other spindle(s)?
While others may have different methods, this is the way I would proceed.
Remove the blades & start it up. Running smooth- suspect bad blades. Still vibrate- suspect spindle or belt.
If bad blade suspected- install 1 blade & try it again. If okay, remove it & try another blade. If bad- move blade to a different spindle & try again.
If still bad with blades off, remove secondary belt & try with main belt spinning only 1 spindle.
This is where your stethoscope or a short piece of water hose for listening comes into use.
Just have to eliminate 1 component at a time, then go forward to next component or backtrack, depending on results.
O.T.- learned this method of isolating trouble in military, shooting trouble on buried phone cable, can find trouble in a 10 mile run by only digging about 15 small test holes to drop in listening device, good-go forward, bad-backtrack. Get within inches before actually having to open it up. But I ramble.
Willie
 

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