Custom Building Mower Decks

[Blue Delta 35]

6 hours ago, Aldon said:

Why was aluminum used by wheel horse for spindles to begin with? 

 

It is just to annoy you, once fitted to the deck you will never get the taptite screws out without then breaking in the housing, not to mention the alloy to be like soft cheese, let alone corrode if not cleaned underneath.

 

All of Toro domestic machines have aluminium spindle housings these days, I see more craftsman/husqvarna's with broken housings though (they are half the price when compared to a complete Toro asm).

[wrightorchid 261]

I guess this idea never got past the dreaming stage.....I would think a good source for spindles and pulleys would be essential, especially since these few bits can almost be $400 alone.  Maybe a wholesale price for ones that are mass produced for a new ztr such as SCAG or other high quality commercial machine would be an idea, if not too expensive.  No point in another custom part. the scags can be found at http://www.scag.com/spindles.html 

Edited April 6, 2016 by wrightorchid

[WNYPCRepair 1,875]

32 minutes ago, wrightorchid said:

I would think a good source for spindles and pulleys would be essential, especially since these few bits can almost be $400 alone.  

 

 

Yep, I started repairing a rusted out deck, got almost the entire thing finished before I found out how much new spindles and bearings would run. Now the deck sits, waiting for me to find another rusted out deck with good spindles.

 

[davoffwork 2]

I'm new here so please bare with me, I am starting a small machine shop in my garage(I'm a tool and die maker) soley for rebuilds of mower decks,i will copy the parts to exact deminsions,however the gears in the 1965 decks are expensive to buy! any feedback as to where I could find someone who makes them would really help me to help others

[Hodge71 662]

On April 6, 2016 at 8:39 AM, wrightorchid said:

I guess this idea never got past the dreaming stage.....I would think a good source for spindles and pulleys would be essential, especially since these few bits can almost be $400 alone.  Maybe a wholesale price for ones that are mass produced for a new ztr such as SCAG or other high quality commercial machine would be an idea, if not too expensive.  No point in another custom part. the scags can be found at http://www.scag.com/spindles.html 

 Its not that it never got past the dreaming stage. I did all the heavy lifting on the project. I have the designs, and measurements, sourced parts and spindles and even had metal...then life  stepped in, lost a 6 figure job, wife left, lost my house and had to start over renting on a farm 30 minutes from the closest town. Its all been on the back burner. Fast forward 3 years.... back on my feet, building a new log home and it will all be on the front burner once Ive moved everything into my new 30x40 horse barn. Going to have  bunch of happy tractors again

 

[wrightorchid 261]

I think this is a great update.  I'm sorry if I came across snide, or disrespectful, that was not my intent.  It sucks when life gets in the way of progress, but am glad to hear you are back on your feet.  I think that everybody could benefit from new decks, as the parts are getting harder to come by, and much more expensive.  In areas where there are few horses to begin with, such as Florida and parts west, this would be a great option.

[Tankman 3,515]

40+ years ago I fab'd a number of RD decks. Under the Rustoleum Regal Red, 316 SS.

TIG welded 12 gauge 316 SS. I did add SS flatbar where required; i.e.: tapped holes.

 

A local dealer trying a magnet said, "Wow! It ain't aluminum, what is it?"

Belt guards were SS too.

 

I did use WH spindles but, always SS hardware and Never-Seeze on all threaded bolts.

I was a prototype sheet metal layout man and foreman, made whatever I wanted, whenever. Chemical industry, used a lot of titanium, stainless and hastelloy.

 

 

[ztnoo 2,298]

I'm constantly learning new things here at RS.

This morning, the term " hastelloy " had me totally stumped.

I'd never heard the word, probably because I worked with wood most of my life, not metal.

Fascinating. Haynes International, Inc. of Kokomo, IN, is straight west of me about 28 miles. I don't know how this manufacturer's name and its trademarked product, escaped me for 67 years, but I learned something new this morning after waking up. I was totally clueless.

 

"Haynes International now primarily produces two families of products, Ultimet and Hastelloy. Both sets of alloys are designed to be highly corrosion and wear resistant compared to common types of iron alloys. Each set of alloys has variations with advantages and disadvantages for specific uses."

 

"Hastelloy is the registered trademark name of Haynes International, Inc. The trademark is applied as the prefix name of a range of twenty-two different highly corrosion-resistant metal alloys, loosely grouped by the metallurgical industry under the material term “superalloys” or “high-performance alloys”.

The predominant alloying ingredient is typically the transition metal nickel. Other alloying ingredients are added to nickel in each of the subcategories of this trademark designation and include varying percentages of the elements molybdenum, chromium, cobalt, iron, copper, manganese, titanium, zirconium, aluminum, carbon, and tungsten.

The primary function of the Hastelloy super alloys is that of effective survival under high-temperature, high-stress service in a moderately to severely corrosive, and/or erosion-prone environment where more common and less expensive iron-based alloys would fail, including the pressure vessels of some nuclear reactors, chemical reactors, distillation equipment, and pipes and valves in chemical industry. Although a super alloy, Hastelloy does experience degradation due to fabricating and handling. Electropolishing or passivation of Hastelloy can improve corrosion resistance."

 

*  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haynes_International

[rwilson 128]

Has this project started yet? We all want pictures.

[davoffwork 2]

I'm gonna have some cool pics soon,igotta get some rearranging done first its a mess right now!