60" Deck Arbor Assembly Questions

[SMC17]

I've disassembled my extra set of arbors and I've got a few questions that I thought I'd throw by those who have rebuilt the arbor assemblies on their Powermax class machines. 1. There seem to be some discrepancies with the parts diagram and the parts listings. Specifically they list 9 of the thin washers (#172586)that surround the arbor spring. My 3 arbors had 2 each for a count of 6 and that is what is showing on the exploded diagram. Also they list 6 keys (#930672) but only 1 of my arbors had 2 keys and the others had 1 (including center arbor). Are these arbor shafts supposed to hold the pulleys on with 2 keys each or were there different setups (some assemblies with 1 key and some with 2)? 2. I'm a little confused by the center arbor assembly and it's function. My small pulley seems to be held in place with one key and a recess for the top arbor cup. Is this correct? It seems to me that it should not be so loose on the arbor shaft. When I removed the key it just popped off. Does the top Jam nut torque everything down tight enough to function correctly? 3. On the deck I'm overhauling I'm having the typical problems removing the blade bolts from the original arbors. PB'ing/heating/cooling it but the heads are rounded and I've already snapped one. Curiously the bolts seem to be longer than in the diagram and have locks and nuts on them. Has anyone else seen/done this? Will the deck function correctly with this setup or will it eventually loosen or become unbalanced? While I've only taken one blade off I was able to get one bolt out and the threads seem intact. My thought is that someone stripped/drilled out some of the arbor blade mounting holes and this was their fix. Thanks guys for the help, Sean

[SMC17]

Well after further inspection it seems that I've solved #2. The small center arbor pulley seems to have had a broken key and the center bushing in the pulley is out of spec. The keyway is almost gone. Luckily I've got another pulley that I can use for the center arbor. Anyone done an arbor overhaul on the 60" decks for the Powermax? One last question, One of my side arbor assemblies (pulley and blade still on and still bolted to the deck) seems to have slight up and down play. I know that there is a spring at the bottom of the spindle but should I be able to move the shaft up and down at all? My other 2 assemblies are tight but they could be frozen. Sean

[StanD]

There should be a little up & down play. The spring keeps pressure on the special washer against the seal. Without a little up & down play it will destroy the seal. Shimming with machine bushings takes a little trial & error so you end up having a level cut, all blades equal measure to level surface. Inspect all spindles for any wear as roller bearings run directly on spindle & no pitted rollers in bearings. If bearings need replacing they must be pressed in to proper depth with a driver that fits inside the bearing or you will crush it. I made a driver with two shoulders, one the size of OD on bearing and larger shoulder to act as stop that contacts outside of tower. Put in press & press to the stop leaving bearings at proper position. The thrust bearings & special thrust washers on top carry the weight of the pulley, arbor, & blade. My way of doing it is they are greased when done mowing so there is fresh clean grease pushing out any dirt or moisture & next time you get on & mow & grease again when done. As far as spindles with bolt thru you can retap to 7/16 & drill blade holes to match but I wouldn,t worry to much about using 3/8 bolts and nuts with grade 5 or 8 lockwasher as long as holes are not worn. StanD