OT - In Keeping w/Joe's Rules:

[Griff]

You guys ever have things like this happen:

I don't mow the lawn... with a history skin cancer and susceptibility to sunburn, the wife takes on this chore... for which I thank her profusely. This past Sunday evening she came in and said, the mower's given up the ghost again; ain't cuttin'. So's being the mechanic in the family, I went out to the garage and inspected the mower. Simple, the belt's stretched. Monday morning I went down to the local Sears store and picked up the correct belt. Installed same and tested.

About 25 feet in, a puff of smoke from the mower deck and then a rattley noise! After inspecting my handi-work, I found I'd neglected to get part of the belt behind one of the belt brakes installed to keep the belt in place. And found this:


That's the tower that supports the pulley on the top and cutting blade on the bottom. Apparently, the whip in the belt, snapped off the mounting bosses.

Well, after locating the manual... (ok, take my "man card", but... the wife only gives one "whoops" per incident), I start figurin' what I need. Since it's an older unit, I decided to replace the bearings in both towers... you know that steel bolt into aluminum housing thing... passage of time... mucho corrosion. Well to press out the bearings I decided to remove the other tower... snapping off two of three 5/16" bolts. Heck, replace that tower also. So, goin' on-line I find the necessary parts and put 'em on order... unfortunately, things like this seem to trickle in... whooppee, means I got more time to play with guns and load some ammo! So, this afternoon the last of the absolutely necessary parts come in and I get it assembled.




Hey, didn't have any parts left over and short test run means the wife can now catch up on her mowin'! And since I've been a good boy all week, stayed and made sure this was fixed right... I'm rewarding myself with attendance at the cowboy action match tomorrow... Monday will be soon enough to go back to work.

[JerryB]

Griff just about the same thing happened to my mower when I got it from the barn this spring. Rats had chewed the drive belt into and then the starter was hung and one thing after another.

[Old Savage]

Griff - you done good - my dad owned a lawn mower and garden tractor shop. I worked there from Jr High for a few years and I can tell you that first part is broken.

[Griff]

Griff - you done good - my dad owned a lawn mower and garden tractor shop. I worked there from Jr High for a few years and I can tell you that first part is broken.

Thanks, Fred. Good to hear a professional confirm my opinion!

[crs]

I had some silmilar experiences this spring because my riding mower was evicted from my new shop to make room for an unbelievable amount of STUFF from the house when it was being remodelled. Funny how that happens and how hard it is to get rid of all that STUFF after the reason it was moved has gone away.
Anyway, a winter in the weather caused some problems that were VERY annoying to diagnose and repair - thank goodness for WD40.

[pokey]

where's chuck100yd, he will have some input i'm sure.

[Chuck 100 yd]

pokey, I have been holding back on this one.
The last Craftsman mower I rebuilt the mower deck on I ordered the parts form Sears.
First look up the parts on line and get the part numbers.
Call the 1-800 number and talk to a person who don`t know a mower from a basket ball. You have to give them a credit card number.

Wait 13-14 days for the parts to come in.

They shipped your parts from 4 different places and you have $75.00 shipping charges on your $60.00 worth of parts.

One of the parts is not what you ordered as the part has changed. You got the part you wanted along with extra stuff that you will never use.
Cant send it back as it was part of a kit!!

You will never work on another *&^%$ Craftsman
again !!

I work for a Toro/Stihl dealer and have a John Deere dealer right next door (who I was service mgr. of for 8 years) and any part made by Deere is there within 24 hr. without shipping charges even if it comes from Florida!! End of story.

[kimwcook]

Griff, I twisted wrench as an automotive mechanic for 20 years. I work on almost anything, anywhere, plumbing, electrical, structural, automotive, agricultural equipment. I will agree with you and Savage, that housing is broken.

[Bullet Bob]

Wait wait, I need to write this down. . "sunburn and skin cancer".

Okay - Honey! I can't mow anymore

[Griff]

Chuck,
My previous rider was a Deere... ran great till the transmission went out. Let me tell ya... they can AFFORD to give ya free shippin'!

[HEAD0001]

For the price they want for a John deere riding mower they should ship the part for free, and deliver it to your house.

My dad owned a few different John Deere tractors(small ones) over the years. I will admit the quality was normally good. But the service, maintenance, and original cost was absurd.

We switched over to the Cub Cadet. We bought a 4WD Diesel for the same price of a gas 2WD JD. And the tractor has been a dandy.

Nice work Griff.

I like the smaller Craftsman tractor for the small yard that I have at the house. The one I have has held up pretty well. It would not be of much use up on the farm. But it works great for my small yard. We have a Kubota and a small New Holland Boomer on the farm. The reason we have two is one was just left to us by a neighbor who passed(the Kubota). However I think we are going to sell the Kubota. However it is a great tractor(22 HP Diesel). Tom.

[Griff]

Tom,
Yep, know what ya mean. I have a '69 Ford 3000 for the farm. But... right now the poor thing is sufferin'. Started overheatin' the last time I plowed... babied it thru last season, and didn't get around to checkin' it out before this season. So... that's today's chore. Was going to go shootin', but... 0530 came and went without the shrill of the alarm. So, doin' other chores...

[Buffboy]

Griff that looks like a craftsman deck just like my Dad's. My Dad has a mower by Craftsman, 18 horse that's about 10 years old. I've done that repair too.

I have a mower from Sears, a 1974 vintage ST16 I nicknamed the tank, because it's about as loud and when I hit a tree with it, the tree looses. Spent a chunk of the afternoon underneath it replacing the transmission belt. It's good for another 10 years. Mine will be running long after his falls in half.

PS: I found if I want blades for Dad's mower, I can get 3 sets of new blades off ebay for less than one set from Sears. Those belt towers are quite a bit less off of ebay too.

[Bridger]

Those belt towers are called Spindles.

[adirondakjack]

In keeping with Joe's rule, and Griff's gaff, lemme tell ya about Jack's rule.

Jack's rule is simple. I was born poor and did much with little most of my life. I suffered lousy equipment and cheap tools, learning much in the ways of bailing wire (in reality, as a USAF vet, I used "safety wire", and later, duct tape and JB Weld).

As I passed the half-century mark I developed this very simple rule. NO MORE JUNK TOOLS!

WHEN I buy another rider, it's gonna be a commercial machine. My weed whacker and chain saw already are.

I just fought the last battle with a stanley electric brad nailer the other day. It lost, the corner of the concrete garage floor won. The new one is a Dewalt cordless, a fine machine, but MAN OH MAN do they cost. Two years ago I similarly "ejected" my craftsman cordless drill after attempting to fix it for the third time in as many days (concrete floors are very handy "deciders", and my new one uses the same 18V batteries as the brad nailer, and is also Dewalt, as is my cordless 6.5" circ. saw.

Jack's law "No more junk tools".

[Streetstar]

Griff, your skin's too sensitive to mow but you can go to a CAS match ? And your wife buys that?

I was an avid cyclist a few years back (now i'm a reluctant cyclist) --- i would tell the wife it was too hot to mow as i was heading out the door for a 60 mile bicycle ride

[rjohns94]

Well done. I spent some time under my lawn tractor this past week too. I had several problems going on there and didn't come away half as satisfied as you did. one thing I wanted to do was change out the blades but I could get one off. still bummed about that. Anyway, well done. Wish i was as handy

[Gobblerforge]

I feel for you partner. If it means not getting cancer, I'd be happy to mow the rest of my life. No problem. Since works been down to nothing for the last two years, my wife hasn't touched a piece of firewood or a blade of grass. I gotta do something with my time and I like work. Makes me feel good.
Gobbler

[mack]

Griif,
That's impact damage. I see that a dozen or so times a week. The oem castings on EHP/Craftsman are pretty light and can't take much abuse. Silver Streak/Oregon has a HD one that will replace that, pn:82-204, we retail them for about $54 w/shaft and bearings, and they outlast the oem by quite a bit. Belt stretch is not much of an issue with modern belts. The poly or Kevlar cords won't stretch much more than a fraction of a percent before breaking. What most believe is stretch is more likely wear. As a belt wears on its drive surfaces, it will drop lower into the pulleys, in effect making it appear longer or stretched. I think the housing was busted before you got to it, installing the belt on top of the brake would just smoke the belt. Check your blades for edge, balance and straightness.

[brucew44guns]

I have a big place with lots of roadside coming up to our house, then a lot of grass also around the house and barn to mow. Have a Cub Cadet with 42 inch cut, but would love a tougher and better machine. Blamed things sure cost plenty. but a well mowed place sure looks nice in the summer. Glad you got her fixed Griff.