wtf!? are rider mower deck spindles now junk?

souNdguy

Well-known Member
Just took the blades off my mtd clone rider, twin spindle 38" cut.

Its just out of warranty ;)

Last time I put them on was with a 3/8 ratchet and nothing spectacular. Took emm off with a anemic 3/8 air gun.

To my shock, no threads past just enough to catch a fingernail!!

Used a lil neverseize..

Anywho, blade and spindle kit was 170$ shipped, so I opted for repair. Tried the blades, and pulled both spindles.. Housing are son cast aluma-zinc crap.

I don't think the spindles are hardened!

A hacksaw blade drug across the top of the spindle shaft above the nut on the pully side cut just a little tougher than cold rolled!.. Not much either.

Anywho, mic'd the shaft, decided 5/8 coarse was my best bet for full threw and strength...

Looking at their old nuts they deformed the heads under just 3/8 hand tools and a wimpy ( even by 3/8 standards) airgun. ( its a lil right angle palm gun for close quarters work.. I can actually pull a ratchet harder than it will tighten, if the handle is 8" and not a shorty.)

Anyway, oil and cut 5/8 coarse threads.. No surprises, except they cut easier than they should have :(

I was reaching for the gr8 nuts and then said they heck with it and put #2 bright zinc on.. Hopefully they are softer than the spindles. :(

What gives? Last spindles I replaced were ? 15 us ago and those were hard and had steel shells. One of a pair was stripped on a used Murray i got cheap, and the first couple years I just ran it the same way, cut new threads. ( never had an issue, other than its spindles were a pita to replace). This mtd at least, the spindles are 4 bolts plus 2 for the guards, easy access .. Quite was to remove, for when they eventually wear these new threads??
 
One of my mowers is the same except 15 years old. Spindles gave out about 5 years ago and I got new ones from Jacks Small Engines for around $75. Not bad quality but I did have to add lockwashers as the right one wanted to loosen up. Mower has worked well except for poor engine hold down bolts and had to make my own blades to heavier duty to replace the sheet metal replacemnt blades
 
(quoted from post at 18:25:26 08/12/15) One of my mowers is the same except 15 years old. Spindles gave out about 5 years ago and I got new ones from Jacks Small Engines for around $75. Not bad quality but I did have to add lockwashers as the right one wanted to loosen up. Mower has worked well except for poor engine hold down bolts and had to make my own blades to heavier duty to replace the sheet metal replacemnt blades
b:49e1ab5034][i:49e1ab5034]

Ain't 'the land of 'almost right' just wonafull????? :lol:

MacNaughtons!!!!!!

GB :roll: [/i:49e1ab5034][/b:49e1ab5034]
 
Most of the recent ones that I've seen use self taping bolts into non machined holes.

Dean
 
Yea-changed one for a neighbor a couple of yrs ago--no way to avoid twisting bolts off-They just want cheap and easy and quick down the assembly line..
 
We have a cub cadet with 275 hours on it. It has those play dough spindles on it. My favorite part is that it talks about greasing them in the manual and shows a picture. There aren't any zerks anywhere on them.

One has a bit of play in it. I'm planning on the engine blowing before I need to replace it. I've already welded the deck at the hangers. Junk.
 
Yep deck spindles are high priced junk. I work on lawn mowers. Deere and craftsman spindles run $200 each. Snapper and Toro run about $120.00each.

A three spindle deck rebuild can cost over $600.00.
 
still using my 1989 craftsman 2 18hp 44in mower. mow two acres of yard and back in the day mowed lotsa little fields with it too. still has original non-greaseable spindles on the deck.

just had to replace a steering knuckle though.
 
yeah, the bolts holding the engine to the frame are tapered self tappers, and the bolts holding the belt guards to the deck just thread right into the sheet metal.. no nuts.

spindles are of course sealed, non greaseable.
 
way of the world
working on modern lower priced equipment (even some higher-priced).....
steel, castiron, hardened, grades,........they should have to use a modern name for it too.
Some new 'castiron'......what is this stuff?..doesn't look like castiron to me.

ur an old tractor guy SG....get an old 60-70's era Wheel Horse, Cub Cadet, John Deere, etc.
fix er up, paint er up, just like we do the big ones.
When you are done, mow away.
You won't have to worry about parts prices for constant repairs...it won't need any....
and.....drop the mower off and it can actually do other stuff harder than pulling a plastic wagon around.
My brother and I have had WheelHorse stuff for a very, very long time....I've changed a grand total of 1 spindle....and it didn't wear out..I broke it.
 
I'm not sure what spindle you're replacing but I just replaced a mower spindle for my 54" crapsman and i purchased the spindle, housing, bearings and all from amazon for around $20. Seems reasonable, since i will probably have to replace them all (3) more than once before i get to the life of this model at 500hrs. I beat this GT5000 like a bad horse. Not happy with every aspect of it, but it is at 250 hours (about half its life i suspect) and is still rolling.
 
(quoted from post at 18:55:08 08/12/15) Just took the blades off my mtd clone rider, twin spindle 38" cut.

Its just out of warranty ;)

Last time I put them on was with a 3/8 ratchet and nothing spectacular. Took emm off with a anemic 3/8 air gun.

To my shock, no threads past just enough to catch a fingernail!!

Used a lil neverseize..

Anywho, blade and spindle kit was 170$ shipped, so I opted for repair. Tried the blades, and pulled both spindles.. Housing are son cast aluma-zinc crap.

I don't think the spindles are hardened!

A hacksaw blade drug across the top of the spindle shaft above the nut on the pully side cut just a little tougher than cold rolled!.. Not much either.

Anywho, mic'd the shaft, decided 5/8 coarse was my best bet for full threw and strength...

Looking at their old nuts they deformed the heads under just 3/8 hand tools and a wimpy ( even by 3/8 standards) airgun. ( its a lil right angle palm gun for close quarters work.. I can actually pull a ratchet harder than it will tighten, if the handle is 8" and not a shorty.)

Anyway, oil and cut 5/8 coarse threads.. No surprises, except they cut easier than they should have :(

I was reaching for the gr8 nuts and then said they heck with it and put #2 bright zinc on.. Hopefully they are softer than the spindles. :(

What gives? Last spindles I replaced were ? 15 us ago and those were hard and had steel shells. One of a pair was stripped on a used Murray i got cheap, and the first couple years I just ran it the same way, cut new threads. ( never had an issue, other than its spindles were a pita to replace). This mtd at least, the spindles are 4 bolts plus 2 for the guards, easy access .. Quite was to remove, for when they eventually wear these new threads??

I am quite convinced that when it comes to riding lawnmowers/lawntractors you only get what you pay for and sometimes not even that. A $1500- $2000 machine simply isn't going to be ruggedly built. I bit the bullet and bought a commercial grade mower several years ago and I have never regretted the added expense.

TOH
 
(quoted from post at 11:35:08 08/13/15)
I am quite convinced that when it comes to riding lawnmowers/lawntractors you only get what you pay for and sometimes not even that. A $1500- $2000 machine simply isn't going to be ruggedly built. I bit the bullet and bought a commercial grade mower several years ago and I have never regretted the added expense.

TOH

agree
I think I've posted about my brother losing one of his restored 70's Wheel Horse tractors in a garage fire.
full replacement value ins policy. adjuster considered it a box store lawn mower.
Local tractor dealers giving estimates for an equal current replacement tractor made the ins adjuster swoon.
Those little Kubotas/Cubs are expensive.
The adjuster got reasonable with [i:b12c0a12af]his[/i:b12c0a12af] offer [i:b12c0a12af]very[/i:b12c0a12af] quickly.
 
The kicker is that I am size limited for the 'lawn mowing part'

i used to have a 42" murray ( had it for 17 years.. .. deck finally wore past repair )

Even at 42" it was wide for some of the stuff I have to mow around.

38" is what I currently have. chose one of the rebranded MTD clones so that (cough) parts would be easy to get.

I looked at stuff from 26" up to 38, and bought the best looking one.

when you start getting into that smalldeck size.. most manufactures are assuming you want economy.. so a 30'ish inch mower is a el-cheapo- economy job.

I have fencing and fruit trees and other flowering plants to mow around, and really need the small deck.. the 42 was honestly too big and made mowing take twice as long and I wore out travel belts faster than normal from constant reversing.

a 36" ztr might be nice!

Well, I did a test cut today. mowed the yard before the rain came then checkd for nut slipping or loose bleades, ec.

so far so good.

I have fixed a spindle befor elike this and it never let go after years of use.. i figure these will be fine too.. but over the next couple mowings I'll re check.

at blade change time, I'll judge to see if the repair is holding or new spindles are in order.

In your expert opinion, do you feel 5/8 coarse is going to be enough shaft size?.. or is it a rolling failure?
 
(quoted from post at 10:57:28 08/13/15)
(quoted from post at 11:35:08 08/13/15)
I am quite convinced that when it comes to riding lawnmowers/lawntractors you only get what you pay for and sometimes not even that. A $1500- $2000 machine simply isn't going to be ruggedly built. I bit the bullet and bought a commercial grade mower several years ago and I have never regretted the added expense.

TOH

agree
I think I've posted about my brother losing one of his restored 70's Wheel Horse tractors in a garage fire.
full replacement value ins policy. adjuster considered it a box store lawn mower.
Local tractor dealers giving estimates for an equal current replacement tractor made the ins adjuster swoon.
Those little Kubotas/Cubs are expensive.
The adjuster got reasonable with [i:8304ccea61]his[/i:8304ccea61] offer [i:8304ccea61]very[/i:8304ccea61] quickly.

My 10 year old Kubota with 24HP automotive style 3 cylinder gas engine and commercial grade 60" shaft drive deck. Cost new in 2005 was $7500. A little over 500 hours on the clock and the only thing it has ever needed was fluid changes and fresh blades.

TOH

IMG_1452.jpg


IMG_1451.jpg
 
I too am sold on Kubota (though they have recently released a low cost line of gasoline mowers for which I reserve judgement).

I bought my B1750HST new in 1994 and it has needed absolutely nothing since, aside from routine fluid and filter changes. Nothing. Not so much as a fuse, lamp or fan belt. Caveat: I put tubes in the front tires about 10 years ago because they would leak down a bit requiring a bit of air every couple of months.

I replaced the gage wheels on the deck last year. The old ones had neglicable wear in the bushings and the tires were fine but the rubber had hardened over the years they were becoming susceptable to impact damage. I bought new ones because I was not certain how long they would be available. I kept all 4 of the old ones for spares.

I replaced one spindle bearing about three years ago and changed the deck belt at the same time though it really did not need changing. The spindles are cast iron and the spindles have grease zerks, which are probably greased too often.

Dean
 
These are interesting posts to me. When someone says it needs 'nothing' and then goes on to say everything that has been done to it. ;)
 
I already have horses in the pasture beside the house.. So much grass in the pasture they can't keep up.. It rains daily here. I'm mowing every 4 days sometimes :)
 
Tractor has had nothing done to it aside from routine fluid and filter changes.

Optional mower deck has had repairs specified.

Simple.

Dean
 

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