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Hey all:

This is my first post on this forum, so please forgive me if I hog things up a bit.

Anyway, I have an old workhorse Craftsman model 917.257645. The blades (having been stopped dead with the odd exposed root or massive limb) seem to be fine, but that old "Star Pattern" on the mandrel is being shaved down. Every once in a while one of my blades will hit something it doesn't agree with and jump the lock pattern.

So I figure I need to replace the mandrels.

Or do I need to replace more?. I can get OEM (or nearly OEM) parts on Amazon for a great price. I figure if I'm going to replace the mandrels, I ought to replace the bearings and spindles as well.

Question: What should I expect to pay for these parts? I can do the labor myself, so that's not a problem. But I HAVE to keep costs to a minimum. Any suggestions?

Regards,

E.

I'm soon to replace the mandrels on my LT1000 42". But I bought a deck rebuild kit that included two complete spindles, two idler pulleys, new belt, and 2 blades.

I've replaced the spindles/complete mandrel assemblies once before, and the idler pulleys a couple of times. So I advise a kit, or at least two complete spindles.

A complete assembly is cheaper than the individual parts.
Always buy bearings from a real bearing shop or a mower shop, not on line & never from Amazon.
I can get bearings of the same size (6203 & 6204 ) on line for 75¢ each.
The same sized bearings from my wholesaler are $ 6.00 each
Which do you think is better ?
By volume the most faked item on the planet is bearings such that critical bearings now carry serial numbers / codes on the inside.
Just because there is SKF / FAG etc on the outside does not mean the are genuine and as for "unbranded" that can be interchanged with "untested & suspect "

Stens, Rotary, Prime Line & Oregon all sell aftermarket spindles as complete units or all of the parts individually.
Their parts have been quality inspected and carry a genuine warranty, you won't get any of that on line.

IF you decide to rebuild, do not take the housings out of the deck.
I am yet to remove one held in by self tappers where one at least broke off.
The bolts are full hard on the surface and difficult to remove from alloy without damage to the housing.

I did one yesterday. Deere D100, all four bolts on both spindles removed intact.

How about bearings from local auto parts stores? I've obtained bearings there when I needed them ASAP.

Cusser said:

I'm soon to replace the mandrels on my LT1000 42". But I bought a deck rebuild kit that included two complete spindles, two idler pulleys, new belt, and 2 blades.

Click to expand...

I buy online, and BEFORE I actually need the mower parts, because I'm in a small town.

The problem I'm having is trying to remove that flanged top lock nut. When I brace the blades and try to remove the lock nut it "breaks" (i.e., the blade slips off it bottom of the mandrel, therefore I can't get enough torque to break the lock nut.) I've tried PB Blaster to no avail. Suggestions?

Weld the blade to the spindle as you will be replacing both

Or grab that stationary with a genuine Vise-Grips. If you can weld, consider previous suggestion.

This is one reason I recommended replacing the entire spindle.

Last mower I had was a 46" (917) Craftsman, it constantly needed new spindles. But in hindsight I simply ran it too fast. I sold that one early & don't miss it.

Thanks for all of your suggestions.

Unfortunately, they didn't teach us welding "way back when" in HS shop class. We did wooden cutting boards and soldiered Zinc dustpans (with soldering irons you heated in the forge). Plus I don't have the equipment to successfully tack-weld the blades to the spindles.

What about an air-fed impact wrench? Or how about shocking off the nut by smacking the end of a connected breaker bar with a five-pound sledge?

As you can imagine, I'm not Handy-capable, and I don't want to teach my kid to take shortcuts. But damn it, I need to get these lock nuts off - and fast.

Any help would blah, blah, blah.

Thanks in advance.

Cusser said:

Or grab that stationary with a genuine Vise-Grips. If you can weld, consider previous suggestion.

This is one reason I recommended replacing the entire spindle.

Click to expand...

Or take the spindle out of the deck to work on. Grab the 5-pointed "star" or the circular disc part just above it with a large-enough genuine Vise-Grips or maybe a bench vise to hold it from turning.

Or break down and just buy new spindles !

Well, thanks for all the suggestions. I got the lock nuts off this morning.

I used the steel "pump handle" from my racing jack as a breaker bar. A couple of forceful (!) whacks on the makeshift breaker bar over the ratchet over each lock nut broke them. So I'm good on that account.

My HS Physics teacher is probably spinning in his grave. "LEVERAGE, Mr. Z! It all comes down to LEVERAGE!"

Anyway. Now that I'm tightening everything up, are there recommended torque specs I need to follow? I'm working off the exploded parts diagrams in my owner's manual which note nothing.

If nobody can recommend specs I'll just tighten down everything until the point I can't tighten no more.

Again, thanks for everyone's suggestions. This is an awesome and informative forum!


Regards,


JLZ

Blade bolts self tighten in use so there is no need for excessive leverage.
Most manuals have numbers in the 40 to 70ft lbs region depending upon the diameter of the fasteners.
Other repairers might do it different but I set the impact gun to it's lowest setting then do them up till the socket stops turning.
I go towards the lower end as there is no great amount of torque acting against the fasteners and as you have noticed they very rarely come off easy.
In the field I have a 10' length of hollow rectangle bar that gets used to hold the blade and an equally long breaker bar made up of a 3' stahlwile 3/4' drive bar that has a hole in the end to take extensions into which will go extensions from 1' through to 4' and even then I will have to chop 3 or 4 off each season.

Impact gun, as Bert stated.

Impact wrench would be the best bet I suspect. Or use a Dremel tool to cut the nut as much as you can get to then finish splitting it with a chisel and hammer.

I know this is going to creep in MANY's crawls when they read this but I had a craftsman rider one time that i had to use an acetylene & oxygen torch on the blade nut of, to get it off....... I was replacing the spindle also anyway so i didn't CARE about "cooking the grease" in it!!! If you're going to replace the spindle anyway as it sounds, hit it with a torch on the nut for a good 10 seconds and then impact it off (mine wouldn't budge before that with a Snap-On 1/2 inch impact gun and 150psi of air......). Sometimes we just do what we have to do

jleezevon said:

Or how about shocking off the nut by smacking the end of a connected breaker bar with a five-pound sledge?

As you can imagine, I'm not Handy-capable, and I don't want to teach my kid to take shortcuts. But damn it, I need to get these lock nuts off - and fast.


Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Here at the ranch it's called a red neck impact. Been usen it for years. Haven't had it fail yet.

SeniorCitizen said:

Here at the ranch it's called a red neck impact. Been usen it for years. Haven't had it fail yet.

Click to expand...

:thumbsup: Agreed..