Rebuilding Mower Blade Spindles?

[SteveSr]

Hello,

I have two blade spindles. One has about 25 hours on it but the pulley nut either was or came loose and buggered up the spindle shaft, pulley, and key.

The Manufacturer (DR) sent me a new spindle under warranty. Unfortunately, it was defective as the 4 mounting holes don't line up with the deck! Probably Chinesium.

So now I am wondering about the feasibility of putting the new shaft in the old spindle. I have a friend with a big hydraulic press. Any thoughts on whether this is worth doing and any tips? The bearings appear to be generic 6204-2RS probably also Chinesium. Should the bearings be replaced as well?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Steve]

Since all the parts are pretty new they should come apart easily. You can use a press to properly do it or you can put the housing in a vice and tap the spindle out using a punch so you dont damage the threads. At 24 hrs use i wouldn't worry about mix and matching parts.

You could also just drill holes in the new assembly.

 

[SteveSr]

You could also just drill holes in the new assembly.

The holes in the spindle are threaded and the base part appears to be a cast iron part. Don't know how hard or soft this would be. Properly locating the new holes might be problematic as well since I don't have a dimensioned drawing for the original part.

 

[Steve]

The holes in the spindle are threaded and the base part appears to be a cast iron part. Don't know how hard or soft this would be. Properly locating the new holes might be problematic as well since I don't have a dimensioned drawing for the original part.

Is this a single spindle machine?

 

[SteveSr]

Is this a single spindle machine?

Yes.

 

[Steve]

Yes.

Then perfectly centering the spindle is not needed. Clamp the spindle to the deck and mark the holes. Drill them for through bolts and nuts or drill and tap them.

You could also contact DR and have them send the correct spindle.

Also have a servicing dealer do it under warranty?

 

[SteveSr]

Then perfectly centering the spindle is not needed. Clamp the spindle to the deck and mark the holes. Drill them for through bolts and nuts or drill and tap them.

This may be a last resort.

You could also contact DR and have them send the correct spindle.

From what I can tell they did send the correct one just one of the holes was off by about 0.1"

Also have a servicing dealer do it under warranty?

The only warranty dealer is 20 miles away and has a solid 1 star (out of 5) review history over about 40 reviews on both Yelp! and Google. I also talked to another (now ex) DR dealer and he said that they dropped the product line due to warranty and reliability issues. Apparently the quality has really suffered with the Generac buyout and apparent sourcing from China.

 

[Steve]

This may be a last resort.



From what I can tell they did send the correct one just one of the holes was off by about 0.1"



The only warranty dealer is 20 miles away and has a solid 1 star (out of 5) review history over about 40 reviews on both Yelp! and Google. I also talked to another (now ex) DR dealer and he said that they dropped the product line due to warranty and reliability issues. Apparently the quality has really suffered with the Generac buyout and apparent sourcing from China.

The other option is to enlarge the bolt holes in the deck.