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Why???????


huffy

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One of the deck arbors seized up on my Sunstar last night. Not only did it ruin a $100 belt (almost fainted when the dealer told me that), but now I've got to replace the arbor bearings so it doesn't happen again. Ordinarily not a problem, but of course this happened right during the middle of a heat wave. I sweated out a whole bottle of Gatorade yesterday just getting the deck off and the belt covers removed.

My question is, why is it that my machines always break down when it's either 120 degrees out or 40 below zero? I swear, I've never had a problem when it's a comfortable 60-70 outside. Am I the only one that this happens to? :D

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In technical terms:

The temperature coefficients between extreme heat and extreme cold cause more excessive expansion and contraction of ferrous and non ferrous materials causing more metal fatigue than at more nominal ambient temperatures.

This fatigue causes much more distress, both in the material, and in the physical being, thus in fact, causing your flux capacitors to blow a gasket. :o:O

In lay mans terms:

Murphy Sucks :D:D

Caution:

The price of repair parts may occasionally cause you to blow a gasket too. :(!

Fair Warning:

Technical posts of this nature may sometimes cause a sudden burst of uncontrollable laughter, rarely causing your coffee (or favorite beverage) to come out your nose. }:)}:)

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I forgot to mention - I also managed to semi-drop the deck onto my big toe, while wearing flip flops. wah

Some days I wonder if maybe I should find a new hobby. sm01

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i just bought a belt for my legacy 80.00 dollars and change i would think there the same belt(double sided) might be wrong partstree.com has a 1700345 for a 60 inch deck for 78.47

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All kidding aside, if you are driving on a very hot or very cold day, you are likely to see more cars broken down on the side of the road. AC units on house puke on the hottest day when needed the most. Bottom line is: more stuff breaks in extremes of temperature, on most everything, even human beings. Add that to Murphy, and you have your answer as to "Why???".

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quote:Originally posted by Brettw

Bottom line is: more stuff breaks in extremes of temperature, on most everything, even human beings.


id="quote">
id="quote">While this is a sound theory, I'm convince that it just happens to aggravate me. :Dbtw, it gets better, I just called the dealership to see if they have a replacement arbor shaft/bearing assembly. That's gonna run an additional $79. Yippee!
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Well I am kind of cheep so on the 60 inch deck for the powermax the arbors are all shot. Just got done making the new shafts and plates now all I have to do is weld them togther and put new bearings in . Might have it together next week.About $ 70 in bearings good thing I work cheep at work.I have spare tractors so If one goes down I just grab another tractor and mower.

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Lubrication is also affected by extremes in temperature. Oil gets very thin or very thick and doesn't work as well. Heat expands the metal and reduces space between or binds parts. Temps can cramp brains too.

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What people don't seem to realize is that the job dictates the working conditions. Hence, if the mower is going to break it can actually put it off until the weather sucks! Were that deck not going to break you would have had 75 degrees and a light wind.

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And now it gets even better . . .

The parts I ordered to fix the deck finally arrived today. I got the deck fixed and back on, but now the pto doesn't engage. I checked, and when the switch is on there's power to where the wire exits the pto. So, I'm guessing that when the deck arbor seized up it burned the clutch out. Didn't think that happened, but it's what I'm guessing. I can't wait to see what the dealer wants for a new clutch, the bastard.

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I'm in the process of replacing the bearings and restoring the deck on my Homelite T-16 H. The dealer told me to pull the grease seal off gently and fill it with grease. I did this to both sides of the bearing. I used maring grade grease. I was surprised how little grease was in them from the factory. Roger.

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Preventive Maintenance lets you pick the time,place and temeperature

to work on something.Also always wear leather boots when working on or around equipment and when operating equipment.

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quote:Originally posted by acfarmer

Preventive Maintenance lets you pick the time,place and temeperatureto work on something.Also always wear leather boots when working on or around equipment and when operating equipment.


id="quote">
id="quote">So your machines only break down when it's convenient for you? Preventative maintenance isn't going to keep you from ever having problems. When you buy a tractor that's nearly 30 years old, something's going to break sooner or later.
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Thats true but a check over will let you know that something is going to fail many times.Like right after mowing check to see if the spindles have heated up thats a sign of coming bearing failure,any odd noise is a sign of coming trouble,grab the blade underneath if there is any slack bearings have wear thats sure to cause trouble in the future.Odd belt wear is a clue of something not right.BTW I run many old tractors on my farm and preventive maintenance on older equipment is really key to keeping them running,I also keep a pretty decent inventory of spare parts,belts,hoses etc that are prone to break.And lastly when I buy a machine that I need to have up and running most of the time I always try to pick up a parts machine or two just like it.For tractors and equipment that get used every now and then for non critical jobs I don't worry about it so much.

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acfarmer, I like your advice to buy a couple more machines to keep the one running. That's what I keep telling my bride when I drag another one home :D

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