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60" Legacy 1 piece roller build


RAC

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Finally got around to building a one piece deck roller for the Legacy. Used 3 inch OD heavy duty conduit (pipe basically 1/4 inch wall). The old rollers were worn some and I have a few areas where I have to mow where the deck has to ride mostly on the center part of the rear roller. This is WAY more stiff than the plastic rollers on the 1 inch shaft alone. Also will roll along now hanging a foot or so out over the drive without "plowing" the gravel.

Two 1 inch bearings (same $8 bearing as the front lower PTO shaft), couple of spherical bearing mounts turned down and a hunk of conduit from the scrap yard. All together about $40 & 2 1/2 hours to make (cheaper than new rollers)

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Used the original shaft and cut down a couple of the original rollers to put out on the ends just to help a little in really uneven spots. Cap screw with a washer on each end instead of the cotter pin.

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25 minutes ago, RAC said:

cheaper than new rollers

$28.00 a piece!!!

New ones are solid now vs the older style.

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Yeah this had the solid plastic rollers. The steel roller is almost 3/8 bigger on the OD than the worn plastic ones. 3 inch outside is about all that'll fit.

 

Edited by RAC
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I like the fabrication and concept of higher mowing and "lifetime" rollers.  But won't that single roller bite quite a bit when turning, (think solid axle rear end)?  I might think a multi piece of what you fabricated (3 or 4 piece?) might be the optimal setup?

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We'll see. I'd loose the center deck support I was looking for and the reduced tendency to "plow" the drive stone with a multi roller set up. There are a couple other brands out there with full width rollers and a couple of companies make full width metal striper rollers for all sorts of applications.

 

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My biggest problem end/turn scuffing with this tractor is the auto controlled traction differential. Like to ditch that set up but would require taking diff apart.

 

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On 5/4/2019 at 7:30 AM, Brettw said:

I like the fabrication and concept of higher mowing and "lifetime" rollers.  But won't that single roller bite quite a bit when turning, (think solid axle rear end)?  I might think a multi piece of what you fabricated (3 or 4 piece?) might be the optimal setup?

 1 piece ROLLER REPORT... works great. No problems on turns or ends. 

Someone can answer this for me though. Why do I have to set the simplicity deck 1/4 to 3/8 lower on a hard surface to get the same cut height as my trailing mower on the yard? 

 

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13 hours ago, RAC said:

 1 piece ROLLER REPORT... works great. No problems on turns or ends. 

Someone can answer this for me though. Why do I have to set the simplicity deck 1/4 to 3/8 lower on a hard surface to get the same cut height as my trailing mower on the yard? 

 

blades?

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4 hours ago, Talntedmrgreen said:

blades?

Nope, both sharp and I measure from the blade tips to the garage floor. Every time the simplicity actual cut will be higher.

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104 inches and 41 combined HP, now that's how to mow grass. Zero turns eat your hearts out! Hmmm... looks like I really need to sharpen the blades on the trail mower, guess it's been a year.IMG_20190506_174411597.thumb.jpg.c20db3e654430e0005b79e4c4b140c04.jpg

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1 hour ago, RAC said:

104 inches and 41 combined HP, now that's how to mow grass. Zero turns eat your hearts out! Hmmm... looks like I really need to sharpen the blades on the trail mower, guess it's been a year.IMG_20190506_174411597.thumb.jpg.c20db3e654430e0005b79e4c4b140c04.jpg

Sorry but I'll take my O-Turn any day

may look at my deck for Legacy and consider your fix, thanks for sharing

 

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8 hours ago, 720nut said:

Sorry but I'll take my O-Turn any day

may look at my deck for Legacy and consider your fix, thanks for sharing

 

Yeah I've got friends that love their zero turn rigs too. But if I had $10 for every time they are hung up I could buy a new legacy. For me though I have several steep areas that just couldn't be mowed with one and some wet areas that would result in far too regular use of a yank strap & at my mowing speed it's next to impossible to match the acres per hour cutting rate you get with a 104" cut width. Kind of like the productivity increase of going from a 4 row to a 6 row corn planter. Wouldn't think 2 rows could make that much difference, but there's no way to drive fast enough with the 4 to match the productivity gained withe the width increase.

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  • 1 month later...

6 week test report - okay, so the 1 piece roller is the cat's meow! Best single thing I have done to this tractor. Less plowing in soft and gravel conditions, doesn't pick up and drag little sticks scraping up the lawn, better center support mowing humps and spots where you have to hang out over an edge, and for $15 I can put in new bearings if/when they wear out. Put it on your list for a winter project!

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Great followup report on a easy and inexpensive mod.dOd

Nice looking abode. ..I like the metal roof on that style home. Very nice!dOd

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I am going to have to replace the roller shaft and rollers, likely after this mowing season. This single roller is a great idea. Thanks for sharing

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11 hours ago, fishnwiz said:

Great followup report on a easy and inexpensive mod.dOd

Nice looking abode. ..I like the metal roof on that style home. Very nice!dOd

Circa 1870. Originally had a wood shingle roof (it's still under the standing seam). That roof's been on the house since the late 1930's.

 

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11 hours ago, MrSteele said:

I am going to have to replace the roller shaft and rollers, likely after this mowing season. This single roller is a great idea. Thanks for sharing

Didn't replace my shaft. Was still good enough to tighten the bearing lock collars on out at the ends so just reused it. Only need a couple good inches just inside of each adjusting arm. Condition of the rest doesn't matter.

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I'm still curious how you're not getting "scrubbing" in sharp corners with one solid roller. That's part of the reason for having segmented rollers.

I would think the difference in height comes down to PSI on the tires. On a hard surface, it doesn't really matter, but once you get out on to soft grass and ground, one mower is going to sink in more than the other.

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10 hours ago, RAC said:

Circa 1870. Originally had a wood shingle roof (it's still under the standing seam). That roof's been on the house since the late 1930's.

 

Very neat place with lotsa history. I love it.

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10 hours ago, jlasater said:

I'm still curious how you're not getting "scrubbing" in sharp corners with one solid roller. That's part of the reason for having segmented rollers.

I would think the difference in height comes down to PSI on the tires. On a hard surface, it doesn't really matter, but once you get out on to soft grass and ground, one mower is going to sink in more than the other.

Yeah I thought scrubbing could be an issue, but it hasn't been, at all. Little suprised actually. Have to put some sharpie lines on it and see if I can tell which end runs ahead or drags behind.

Could be the tires. Trailing mower has pretty narrow rubber. Legacy fronts and wide roller may "ride up" on the turf a little more.

 

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On 6/25/2019 at 10:58 AM, jlasater said:

I'm still curious how you're not getting "scrubbing" in sharp corners with one solid roller. That's part of the reason for having segmented rollers.

I would think the difference in height comes down to PSI on the tires. On a hard surface, it doesn't really matter, but once you get out on to soft grass and ground, one mower is going to sink in more than the other.

Inside, the inside end always overspins (goes faster than it's ground speed) ... always. I think it doesn't scuff because the steel roller is pretty slick. If it was rubber coated or rough it might be a different story.

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