07-26-2020, 08:00 PM
(07-26-2020, 04:05 AM)ShadowsDad Wrote: I use a honkin' huge pneumatic cylinder to lift it. It can lift something like 3000#. Then yes, I use jack stands, and check them to make sure they're doing what they need to, and still keep the air pressure on the cylinder the entire time.
After I disassembled the spindle I found out that it was only the bolt that I lost. All that labor... I could have diagnosed it much faster by just using a blade bolt from one of the other spindles to see what was what. Clearly I don't do this stuff every day. But I got there eventually.
So I called the local guy for the part. Closed for the weekend. Then I called someone 30 miles away and was told they had it. I bought 2 and commented that it looked too small. Sure enough, too small. Now I can't do anything until Monday.
But it's a nice design. It's a commercial mower. Huge tension on the drive belt so that it doesn't slip. My neighbor has commented about the grass my mower can handle that his wouldn't be able to, his belt would slip. What does give to prevent damage is the bolt that holds the blades on. Easy to replace. Now that I know I'll keep a few extra on hand. I use my mower as a very light duty bush hog. This time I wasn't doing that however. Go figure.
About half way through the wotk I did on mine I figured out that I didn't actually need to remove the mower deck. My deck is not easy to remove so that was a bit irritating. The first fix I tried Jimmy rigging didn't work. The second worked very well. However when I got it mostly back together I noticed that the steering wheel was turned really far but the wheels were straight. That would drive me nuts every time I mow the lawn for the rest of the time I own the mower. So at least this time I knew exactly what to do to correct it. It was about 20 minutes extra work but it was worth not having a misaligned wheel. I don't do this stuff all the time but I have had to do a lot more in the last few years.