Mower Deck Problem

[tarcoleo 119]

Bought a 48 in. SD deck in general good order. Having a helluva time trying

to remove the blades for sharpening. The 1-1/16" nuts will not budge even

with wd40. I assume the threading is right handed. Have one wrench on the

inside nut, one on the outside without success. What am I doing wrong?

[Wilsonrl48747 0]

The threads on all my mower decks are righty tighty, lefty loosie so that might help you out a bit. Sounds like things might be a little rusted. An old trick my father in law taught me was to take an old hairspray bottle and fill it with brake fluid and spray it on those stubborn parts. Its a lot cheaper than liquid wrench and works pretty good.

A nice long cheater bar on your wrench might help too. Good luck

[TT-(Moderator) 1,127]

I take it that you don't have an impact wrench or access to one, Tom? How about a torch?

The nuts are RH thread and can be a real bastard if they haven't been off in a while.

[C-Series14 15]

Mine are 1-1/8". Put the wrench on the nut below the blade and have it up against the deck. Breaker bar and socket on the nut, pull hard. Alot of good ideas from the others, maybe PB Blaster also....

[tarcoleo 119]

Thanks all. The nut is a small 1-1/8 or a large 1-1/16. I have a crescent wrench

on the back nut and really good 1/2 sockets on the front nut. Crescent is jammed

with a wood block and a really long handle on the socket. Way too much rust

still. Liquid wrench, does it work? Like the idea of an impact wrench so I'll see if

there's an auto shop hereabouts that can help me out.

This is not a very good way to do things. The Gilson deck I adapted has a much

better design and allows easy removal of blades, but, oh well. We'll get her.

Thanks again guys.

:thumbs2:

[TT-(Moderator) 1,127]

PB Blaster is the best aerosol penetrating oil I have found for the money. WD-40 does provide some lubrication and very good moisture protection/dispacement but is not a great penetrant.

All I can add is "bear with it" and once you get the nuts removed, clean the threads on the spindles and apply anti-seize before assembly. You shouldn't have any future problems removing the blades. :thumbs2:

[tarcoleo 119]

Rob, TT, C-Guru-

Happy tails! This is a pleased puppy. Took the deck to my favorite body

shop (I've given him too much business) and with his trusty impact wrench,

the problem was solved. I will be sure to put those sharpened blades back

with anti-seize lube. Thanks for that.

Don't know if you may need first-rate roller-bearing wheels and rollers, perhaps

you guys into faithful restorations would not consider anything but original parts,

but so far I just want to make the equipment work as well as it can. Toward that

end I use wheels and rollers purchased from M&M Supply, listed on Ebay. Prices

are great. Thanks and see you out on the lawn-

Tom (swamp yankee)

:thumbs2:

[C-Series14 15]

Take the deck off several times a year for many years and it becomes second nature. I have removed many decks on many tractors and the WH is the easiest in my book. Deck off, slid out, slid back in and back on in under 60 seconds!!! Neighbor lost a bet on that one!

Glad you got it taken care of.... :thumbs2:

[tarcoleo 119]

C-Guru-

I never was able to do the deck thing in 60 seconds, but I certainly do

appreciate the WH design for deck attachments. The Gilson deck I

mentioned is equipped with a WH harness taken from a junked 36" WH

deck. The 48" deck project now comes down to designing an alternate

means of attachment of the belt covers, so corroded were the original

fasteners that they had to be cold-chiselled off to get at the belts and

idler. Were I in a position to weld, things would be easy.

<_<