IDLER PULLEY REMOVAL

[GETCLOSE]

Hellow fellow Hustlers.... I am restoring my deck on my Hustler 54 SD Raptor, I want to remove the idler pulley. I thought it would be a simple remove the nut and pull the pulley up but mine seem to be pressed on. Is this correct? Any advise on how to remove the 2 idler pulleys would be a great help before I break something.
Regards,
Paul aka Get Close Outdoors

 

[The Chairman]

I have a 60" raptor, and I just unbolted the pulleys. You can't get the bearings out of the pulleys since the two halves of the pullies are spot welded together to trap the bearings. I guess you could drill the welds and then use bolts to hold them back together, but that's a lot of work compared to what the bearing/pulley assembly costs.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

The welded pulleys and not made to have the bearings replaced. Unless a new pulley is a lot of money i would just get a new one.

 

[bertsmobile1]

As the others have said already.
I have done it before and probably will have to do it again to get pulleys that are NLA or will take 3 months to get here.
A center drill works best then in mu case some bolts & some welds tool over 3 hours but the customer was happy to pay that.
I have a big box of good pulleys with bad bearings that I delude myself I will replace the bearings in when I get the spot welder working again.

 

[The Chairman]

The pulleys from my dealer were pretty reasonable. Silence is golden.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Common ones are fine as I can get them aftermarket through my wholesalers
But deck idlers can go over $ 200 down here because of exclusive franchise agreements .
Bad Boy, Dixie Choppers, to name a few that have deck idlers all over $ 100 retail .

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I replaced some on a kubota ZTR. Had to get them retail from a dealer. OUCH! Hate to see what they would cost in the land of OZ

 

[StarTech]

May just be rust galled in place screws (bolts). These mowers do sit out in the rain and some owner wash their decks off.