disassembling deck spindles?

[wminmi]

evening all ~ Just curious how hard it's going to be to tear down the deck spindles on my B-12.....anybody have any tips or tricks? Anything special to avoid? I got the deck completely torn down this afternoon, and almost all pieces washed up in preperation for future sandblasting. Figured if i'm going this far i may as well replace the severely noisy spindle bearings. Just want to make sure i don't [img]/club2//attach/UCD/censored1.gif[/img] anything while disassembling them. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

[wminmi]

let's see if i can get my deck picture to upload.....wish me luck nope, still won't let me :(

[Scott Salmons]

Get a can of penetrating oil and give them a good shot on the pulleys and set screws. A puller is a real plus for removing stubborn pulleys. Once you have the pulleys off it is pretty straight forward, just pay attention to the way the spacers are placed on the pulley side and the blade side. If you have had a bearing failure you may have some damage on the shaft. The spindle housing has a bearing on each end with a long spacer in between, I use a rod about 6" long 1/2" diameter to stick in the hole and slide the spacer aside then tap the bearing out. Don't keep hitting the same spot move the rod around to evenly poke out the bearing. The bearing on the other end is easy since the spacer comes out with the first bearing, so you can just use the rod to tap the bearing and a seat ring out that the bearing is sitting on. You can use a socket the will fit the outside of the race to press the new bearings in, Do not tap on the inner race, and don't forget to put the long spacer in between the bearings. Ask me how I know!!

[MadMike]

I would say Scott about summed it up. The only thing I can add is, if you don't have grease fittings, fill the housing about half way with grease before putting in the second bearing. I talked with Simplicity in regards to some housings having fittings and some not. Since the bearings are sealed, the grease doesn't really help them. What it mainly does is keep moisture out of the area and help transfer heat. Good luck, there's nothing like engaging a mower deck with your feet on top of it and feeling nothing. Mike

[Simpleton7016]

I had to whale on my spindles to get them free. Getting the pulley off is key. With the aid of a pulley puller, they all came with zero difficulty....but then again, I filled all the keyways up with Kroil and let them soak for nearly a week. Look very carefully and closely for "set screws" through the pulley keeping the key in place in the keyway. You WILL have to loosen any set screws. Once the pulley is off, put a sacrificial nut on your spindle and start tap tap tapping it. If that doesn't work, then you may have to start whaling on it. I disassembled 12 of these. Some were very rusted, but without exception, thay all came loose eventually. If you have the new style arbor (two pieces and splined) then you will have to use a sacrificial "bolt" instead of a sacrificial nut. Also, this is probably a good place to give credit to my mentor. Everything I know about arbor disassembly, I owe to Bob (BLT)