your thoughts or opinions?

[geoff]

i mowed my lawn with my 721D with the 9361 deck.. everything went well and I did not see or hear any problems. However, when i removed the deck cover to blow out and clean the inside area after mowing, I discovered one of the idler wheels had essentially been destroyed from the inside out.. by that I mean the outside of the wheel was intact but the inside was gone... as I said before I had not detected any issues when mowing. I have ordered a new one but wondered if anyone has experience with this kind of repair. Does the fact the wheel was destroyed from the inside out, give anyone insight as to what might have caused this and what I should do to insure that it doesn't destroy a newly installed one? I don't want to put the new one in and have it wrecked seconds later.. so if anyone has had experience with the causes of this part failing, I would love to hear your thoughts... including if its just that eventually they just DO fail and that happens when they outlive their useful lives.. I am enclosing a graphic of the part ( part #9) and, if anyone wants, I can send a picture later of the part as it looks now .. thanks for your time....

Geoff

 

[173abn]

Can't answer from experience but you deck was made in 93 and if it's the original pulley then I'd be inclined to say it had a long life.So how much was the new one?..russ

 

[BKBrown]

If it was indeed made in 93 and has the usual # of hours on it, I'd say you should replace all the idlers (if there is more than one). The idlers are usually a sealed bearing and it probably just went dry and wore out. Be glad it didn't tear up something else when it went. :thumbsup:

 

[Jinzo Ningen]

How many hours does your tractor have on it??

 

[KennyV]

Most likely an original and 15+ years is okay service life for a sealed bearing... you can look around for a Better built idler... but just how many more than 15 years do you want?
Once the bearings go there is not a lot of material left in that idler...
I would have most likely looked for a better one, not necessarily for the better design but Many times you can find generic high quality pieces for a lot less than brand replacement parts...
Just measure OD and ID plus the thickness... you have a whole world of choices... but I'm sure that you can expect a lot of years from this part... :smile:KennyV

 

[geoff]

Actually it was made in 1995, not 1993, and there are 1600 hrs on it... the cost of the new idler is a mere $12. I wasn't concerned about the cost of the idler as much as whether or not, its failure was a sign of something else that needed to be repaired. The cost is nothing but the inconvenience of having to order it online and wait for shipping, is an issue more significant than the cost of the idler... I did order enough to replace all three, but if there was something else that I should fix that might have caused the old idler wheel to tear itself apart from the inside, other than just wear, and I put a new one in, only to have IT fail as well.. then I am out the the week or so it takes to get a replacement.. just trying to be proactive....instead of reactive... will post a picture tomorrow of the damaged idler wheel in its present condition. I am also surprised that when it failed, there wasn't some kind of consequence that I would have noticed.. like one blade missing the grass, a different sound ( although I do wear hearing protection) etc... it was only when I lifted up the deck cover to clean it after I mowed the 2 acres that I saw there was something wrong.. thanks for your input..

Geoff

 

[KennyV]

15 to 20 years from now you, you will likely have to change it again...and by then you may actually be looking forward to the opportunity to change it again... :smile:KennyV

 

[geoff]

Hi KennyV,

We posted at the same time... not sure how long the bearing lasted as I am not the original owner ( just the most recent ). For all I know it may have been replaced just prior to my buying it... I know that I did grease the Zerk fittings on all of them as soon as I did buy it but it may have been too late by then.. but glad to hear that so far the consensus is that it was just its time...

geoff

KennyV- btw, the fuel solenoid is working fine!!! now all I need is to figure out how to fix the one on the Kubota!!!

 

[KennyV]

Hi KennyV,

the fuel solenoid is working fine!!! now all I need is to figure out how to fix the one on the Kubota!!!

If you want to get it going ... I'm sure I have all the schematics for the "other type" shut off solenoid...Let me know... :smile:KennyV

 

[geoff]

:smile:If you think its something I can tackle, i would definitely be up for it!!! Just tell me what to get and what to do or where to look!! I think I could change the one on the GH in about 3 mins with my eyes closed now...:smile:
geoff