RED-Z06 2,567 #1 Posted January 14, 2024 My gears should be fine, my pulleys are fine, shafts should be fine...but im pretty sure my thrust bearings, spindle bearings, shaft bearings...are all bad. The deck actually somehow still operates but i can move the blades side to side, and theres a ton of lash...i found bits of thrust bearing under the covers. Is there a full service kit, or a walkthrough? Are blades even available? Are the gearboxes supposed to have grease or gear lube and somehow seal to the back plates and deck surface? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 14,024 #2 Posted January 14, 2024 Those geared mower decks are “interesting” for sure. I have a 36" and I like the size and the performance under my 854 but the rebuild was an adventure! No “service kit” that is still available to my knowledge. Blades are around but becoming uncommon and pricey (the unusual roll pin lock and counter-rotation made them uninteresting for aftermarket makers). All the bearings are available via crosses: spindles, cross-shaft (but on the three decks I’ve seen, none of these had noticeable wear), and jack shaft bearings. The square-sided decks did not originally have thrust bearings and the spindles are too short to accommodate them, You may be seeing needles from busted spindle bearings. Unworn gears, especially the bevel spindle ones, are hen’s teeth--the best sources are a lightly-used and rusted out deck! The “lash” has several possible sources--worn gears or bad spindle bearings are the most common, but wear or breakage on the iron plate that holds it all together happens pretty often--especially the sockets that hold the spindle bearings! There is no adjustability anywhere--I had to add shims on the “floating” cross shaft behind one of the face gears to get them to mesh nicely with a decent set of bevel gears. Yes, there should be a LOT of sticky grease under the gear covers and you’ll likely add more at the start and middle of the season. If you are using high-temp grease, there shouldn’t be much leaking out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RED-Z06 2,567 #3 Posted January 14, 2024 22 minutes ago, Handy Don said: Those geared mower decks are “interesting” for sure. I have a 36" and I like the size and the performance under my 854 but the rebuild was an adventure! No “service kit” that is still available to my knowledge. Blades are around but becoming uncommon and pricey (the unusual roll pin lock and counter-rotation made them uninteresting for aftermarket makers). All the bearings are available via crosses: spindles, cross-shaft (but on the three decks I’ve seen, none of these had noticeable wear), and jack shaft bearings. The square-sided decks did not originally have thrust bearings and the spindles are too short to accommodate them, You may be seeing needles from busted spindle bearings. Unworn gears, especially the bevel spindle ones, are hen’s teeth--the best sources are a lightly-used and rusted out deck! The “lash” has several possible sources--worn gears or bad spindle bearings are the most common, but wear or breakage on the iron plate that holds it all together happens pretty often--especially the sockets that hold the spindle bearings! There is no adjustability anywhere--I had to add shims on the “floating” cross shaft behind one of the face gears to get them to mesh nicely with a decent set of bevel gears. Yes, there should be a LOT of sticky grease under the gear covers and you’ll likely add more at the start and middle of the season. If you are using high-temp grease, there shouldn’t be much leaking out. This one definitely had a thrust washer, I was thinking back 2 decades ago when i found the needles, I didn't know what it was, i pulled a gear off (i was putting on belts) and found the 2 races and cage, i put a washer in to take up the slack..but i never used the deck after that. Ill have to get the deck off and see what shape its all in, get the the covers off, get the lower plate/housing off and cleaned up. Everything is moving around though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,454 #4 Posted January 14, 2024 32" blade set is no longer available https://www.partstree.com/parts/toro-8777 36" blade set is available https://www.partstree.com/parts/toro-8014/ Cutting an inch off the ends of each would work 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handy Don 14,024 #5 Posted January 14, 2024 14 minutes ago, RED-Z06 said: This one definitely had a thrust washer, I was thinking back 2 decades ago when i found the needles, I didn't know what it was, i pulled a gear off (i was putting on belts) and found the 2 races and cage, i put a washer in to take up the slack..but i never used the deck after that. Methinks someone was there before you and thought they’d be clever by adding thrust bearings. Because the spindles have tight length tolerance, by tightening the blade onto the spindle, they likely crushed the bearings. The original thrust bushing/washer is much thinner than a thrust bearing. Longer spindles came in, I think, 1968. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RED-Z06 2,567 #6 Posted January 14, 2024 13 minutes ago, gwest_ca said: 32" blade set is no longer available https://www.partstree.com/parts/toro-8777 36" blade set is available https://www.partstree.com/parts/toro-8014/ Cutting an inch off the ends of each would work That would take off most of the lift though. Might be better to just try and find a 36" deck at this point, the 8hp would pull it. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
