spindles interchangeable from different models?

[matt monte 225]

I have a 1974 B80 i keep as a backup mower to my 312-8. b80 deck was rust free as u can see but had issues. Center pully bolt was broken and i suppose still ran and stripped out the pully/spindle shaft. Also one of the side pulleys was frozen as well as chunks of rubber missing from side wheels(how does that happen,?!)  I have a very rusted but functioning 36in RD deck that was a spare to the 312-8 that i removed the attac o matic brackets and made to fit b80. I had some down time and decided to strip, media blast and paint original deck to b80. Came out rather well. Dont let pic fool you. Pic was taken 90 seconds after i sprayed it and moved it inside in an effort to avoid bugs landing in it. dried smooth and is a mile deep!  Anyway... can i just swap spindles, pulleys ect from the newer style deck over to b80 deck? I see newer style has grease fittings to spindles, older ones do not. not sure of any other differences. would toss the rusty deck and free up some real estate in shed. the 312-8 has a 42 in SD that works well and is currently in use. Sorry in advance if this has been brought up before.

[peter lena 9,251]

@matt monte if you are doing a spindle over , use Lucas extra hd green chassis grease , in a bearing clean out and re grease , 550 deg flash point . will not fail , no whiney  bearing noise , thats failure , also do over the mule drive bearings , PTO related bearings , ever heard a quiet mower deck ? you are right there , lateral belt loading , makes those bearings hot /  noisy / failure . you are right there , Pete 

[matt monte 225]

okay so relube with lucas, will do.....these spindles are a direct bolt in?

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,471]

This file may help

 

[peter lena 9,251]

@matt monte, agree with  @gwest_ca  on a verification to your set up , the commonality they all share is lubrication failure, never thinking about lateral , side loading on a bearing , let alone a mower deck .till I went after every related bearing ,RE GREASE ,  550  degree flash point, did my whyining  rough bearing failure stop, the stage you are at , is perfect base line for bombproof   spindles .also related MUEL DRIVE BEARINGS , PTO inner needle bearing replace outer cone bearing . this entire drive set up can easily move by hand , at downward belt angle to mule  drive , thats your proof of movement ease , slowly engage drive , pete 

[matt monte 225]

hopefully i can save someone else the heartache i put myself threw. The older style deck i am doing restoration on came apart rather easy and expected same for newer style deck that i "assumed" i could pirate the spindles from.  Well clearly that was not the case. When i felt the pulley start to bend from strain of the removal tool, i immediately stopped and started heating it up with torch. After most of lube oozed out due to 🔥heat, i was shocked that it still wouldnt budge. I immediately jumped on this site. I found a post regarding others who experienced the same issue and resorted to cutting the pulleys off. I wanted to try a different method In an attempt to save the pulleys. I used a cut off wheel to cut the section of mower deck to remove everything all together. i was willing to sacrifice deck because of excessive rust. i then put spindle with pulley and piece of deck in bench vise and removed the 4 14mm bolts from underneath pulley that affixes it to deck which, was difficult. I then slipped spindle into my press and was able to remove pulley from spindle . It came at a cost. i managed to bend the pulleys and marred the top of spindle to the point they are rendered useless. They mushroomed out to the point that a nut wouldn't ever fit no less the grease fitting. At 1st i was disappointed for the amount of time and energy invested however it gave me time to re-think about the original goal, to use these newer metric style spindles in a older deck. They are not a direct bolt in. You would need to enlarge the current holes in deck to 2 1/4 as well as cutting 2 holes in the spindle safety cover to accommodate the grease fittings. So the point of this rambling post is 2 part. Definitely research what your end goal is prior to starting a task and know that removal of newer style pulleys are an absolute nightmare so....plan accordingly.  I knew what i was in for regarding having different types of spindles and to have to enlarge holes, not a huge to do. what i wasn't in store for was the horror show to remove those pulleys. Ive relocated to southern jersey (dont ask why) and noticed these machines or decks at least dont come up often for sale on MP, at least not on the cheap,lol Tons come up a few hours drive in PA.  Now that winter is almost upon us, I can hook up my snowblower on my 312-8 and take my time hunting down the correct spindles for my application.  hopefully someone reads this if they are attempting to do what i wanted to do and formulates a better plan.