How do I tell if spindles need rebuilding? Deck sounds pretty noisy on my 'new to me' 725k. Prev owner not very maintenance minded. Any real trick to rebuilding them? I am 75 yr old man with average skills. Need any special tools or is it just 'wrenching '?
Rebuilding spindles. 61" deck 725k
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MBDiagMan
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If the deck is noisy, remove the cover and pull the tension off the spring loaded idler and get the belt loose, but no need to remove it yet. Turn all the spindle pulleys, idlers and the gear box pulley by hand and see if they feel smooth. Also grab each blade at one end and shake up and down to make sure it is not badly loose.
Anything that does not turn smoothly, or has a lot of slack needs to be taken care of. Bad idler pulleys need replacing. Bad spindles will need bearings. I have never rebuilt the early four bolt spindles, but I think they are the same as the later six bolt ones. To replace bearings simply:
Remove the blade
Remove the bolt on top of the spindle
Use a punch or round piece of steel and a hammer and drive the shaft down out of the pulley
Once free of the pulley, the shaft will probably fall out the bottom
Now use your punch to remove the bearings
Reverse order for assembly
It's not difficult if you're comfortable with such tools. Grasshopper parts are inexpensive as commercial mower parts go. The bearings are about $9 each and there are six of them. The sheaves are about $13 or so each.
If the deck is noisy, have you been keeping the spindles greased? If not, as an experiment, see if greasing them will make them any quieter. My mower was generally well cared for, but the previous owner had not greased the spindles and some of the fittings would not take grease, so I could not see if grease would have helped them although I would have rebuilt them anyway.
Hope this helps,
Larry
Anything that does not turn smoothly, or has a lot of slack needs to be taken care of. Bad idler pulleys need replacing. Bad spindles will need bearings. I have never rebuilt the early four bolt spindles, but I think they are the same as the later six bolt ones. To replace bearings simply:
Remove the blade
Remove the bolt on top of the spindle
Use a punch or round piece of steel and a hammer and drive the shaft down out of the pulley
Once free of the pulley, the shaft will probably fall out the bottom
Now use your punch to remove the bearings
Reverse order for assembly
It's not difficult if you're comfortable with such tools. Grasshopper parts are inexpensive as commercial mower parts go. The bearings are about $9 each and there are six of them. The sheaves are about $13 or so each.
If the deck is noisy, have you been keeping the spindles greased? If not, as an experiment, see if greasing them will make them any quieter. My mower was generally well cared for, but the previous owner had not greased the spindles and some of the fittings would not take grease, so I could not see if grease would have helped them although I would have rebuilt them anyway.
Hope this helps,
Larry
Larry, thank u for taking time from your holiday weekend to answer my question re: spindle rebuild. Just offhand, do u have part # for bearings? My deck no is 9552s, 61 in 725k mower. I can't seem to locate right bearing in my search. Enjoy your weekend.
Terry
MBDiagMan
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9552 sounds like a 52" deck. Regardless, google grasshopper mower parts and you will find a link to a place called mower parts or something like that in Fort Smith, Arkansas. They have blowup diagrams of all model decks and you can find the part numbers there.
Although that outfit is a good source of information, I bought the parts for less at my local grasshopper dealer.
Hope this helps.
Larry
Although that outfit is a good source of information, I bought the parts for less at my local grasshopper dealer.
Hope this helps.
Larry
MBDiagMan
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Try this:
The Mower Shop, Inc. - Home Page
TM,
After looking more at that diagram I noticed that it shows four bolt spindles. You need to raise your deck cover and see if you have four bolt or six bolt spindles. It will be worth your time to do some study on that site to ensure that you get the right part numbers.
Larry
The Mower Shop, Inc. - Home Page
TM,
After looking more at that diagram I noticed that it shows four bolt spindles. You need to raise your deck cover and see if you have four bolt or six bolt spindles. It will be worth your time to do some study on that site to ensure that you get the right part numbers.
Larry
MBDiagMan
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Also TM, when you are rebuilding the spindles, and they are four bolt versions, inspect the spindle housings to make sure there are no cracks and that the bearings are not wobbly loose inside them. If you find a bad spindle casting, PM me. I have some four bolt spindles that I salvaged from an old deck. If you need one, I will send one to you for the cost of shipping.
Larry
Larry
[/
Larry, tks so much for the offer on 4 bolt spindles. You are correct , my deck is 52 in.i should have caught that. I raised deck and greased fitting (on top) til grease came out bottom. It did help quite a bit. How in the world do u get to the u joint grease fittings under the footrest area? Surely I won't have to remove deck ! Are those spindle bearings sealed? I have heard both versions. Some say no, others yes and grease fittings just to satisfy the public. If I can get pto greased, I will try it as is and keep eye on spindles. Again, thank u for your time and generous offer. Terry
Larry, tks so much for the offer on 4 bolt spindles. You are correct , my deck is 52 in.i should have caught that. I raised deck and greased fitting (on top) til grease came out bottom. It did help quite a bit. How in the world do u get to the u joint grease fittings under the footrest area? Surely I won't have to remove deck ! Are those spindle bearings sealed? I have heard both versions. Some say no, others yes and grease fittings just to satisfy the public. If I can get pto greased, I will try it as is and keep eye on spindles. Again, thank u for your time and generous offer. Terry
MBDiagMan
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It appears that the 9552 deck used four bolt spindle housings from 1996 through 2002, all the years that they were built.
Block the front of the deck up about a foot and support it firmly before removing blades and attacking spindles. Be safe!
Larry
Block the front of the deck up about a foot and support it firmly before removing blades and attacking spindles. Be safe!
Larry