Mowing deck arbors

[camaromike]

Recently I began restoring my uncle's 7012 Simplicity. I think that the deck may be an Allis Chalmers because it has keyed pulleys on the arbors,not splined and they have nuts on the top of the arbors and not bolts. When I took the arbors apart to rebuild them and replace the bearings the various shims/washers were very rusted and cruddy. I haven't been able to find a good diagram of what the shim/washer arrangement should be, and I don't know if there is supposed to be a set number of them in a particular order, or if they are added/subtracted to keep a certain tolerance. The problem is with the (2)outer arbors. Does anyone have any information on this? I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

[skunkhome]

It is likely just an early deck. You did not state the size of the deck but it is really not relevant.

See if this manual will help. http://www.simplicitymfg.com/us/en/document/index?doc=TP_400_1362_00_AT_S_LO.pdf

[camaromike]

Thank you - yes this looks like it gives me the information that I need. Much appreciated!

[HubbardRA]

From what I have found with my decks, the shims and washers on the arbor shaft are used to line up both the blades and the belt pullys. They are not the same on every mower deck. I use whatever it takes to line up the blades with each other, then, with the deck lying upside down on sawhorses (so that the weight will keep the blades in line) I will install the pulleys underneath with the necessary shims/washers for the pulleys to line up properly. This is the three pulleys that tie the blades together. Top pulley just sits where it sits, no shimming for it.

Since I have been doing it this way, I get very good belt life. I seldom have to replace the deck belt. Only the drive belt to the deck from the tractor wears out on a regular basis. Not much you can do about that other than use Simplicity belts, assuming the deck is aligned properly on the tractor.