Deck makes noise, but only at full throttle

[truckin88 104]

Guys,

My 42" SD deck on my 314 makes a loud wooshing and vibrates, but only at full throttle. The PO put gator blades on and they are bent up....my yard did not help. I just picked up OEM Toro blades, is there anything else I should investigate when I swap this weekend.

Spindles were cool to touch after 4 hours of mowing.

-Will

[can whlvr 991]

definatly check the play in the spindles,if one bering is going it will start to get loud,hopefully its just the blades

[truckin88 104]

At 80% throttle it is quiet.

[stevebo-(Moderator) 8,059]

If they hit the spindle hard enough it may be slightly bent too. I would pay special attention to which blades are bent the most and mark them somehow. If you need a new spindle or housing I may have an oem for you.

[truckin88 104]

just a question, if I took the blades off, and ran it w/o blades would that let me know there is a bearing or spindle issue?

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

At 80% throttle it is quiet.

Will,

it might be a resonance issue - certain mass rotating at a certain speed starts to vibrate at a certain frequency.

like a car with an out of balance wheel - starts to get noticeable only above a certain speed

removing the blades may change the rotating mass enough to mask the real issue.

a spindle that is loose may not show itself by excessive heat - just vibration

[truckin88 104]

At 80% throttle it is quiet.

Will,

it might be a resonance issue - certain mass rotating at a certain speed starts to vibrate at a certain frequency.

like a car with an out of balance wheel - starts to get noticeable only above a certain speed

removing the blades may change the rotating mass enough to mask the real issue.

a spindle that is loose may not show itself by excessive heat - just vibration

Chuck,

Is there anyway to pinpoint it?

This is sounding better and better to troubleshoot. Now Chip at Sherwoods Power Equipment said that the gator blades are not made for our WH's and that they are ineffective at GT's low tip speeds, you need something like 14K to 15K rpms and drive grass. He said since they are not sized right it could create air pockets.... Does this sound right to anyone?

[Duff 206]

Now Chip at Sherwoods Power Equipment said that the gator blades are not made for our WH's and that they are ineffective at GT's low tip speeds, you need something like 14K to 15K rpms and drive grass. He said since they are not sized right it could create air pockets.... Does this sound right to anyone?

With all due respect to Chip, I call BS!

I've got Gator blades on two green tractors with 46" and 48" decks, and my with a 37"SD deck. On all three they cut beautifully at standard operating speeds, wet or dry grass, different species of grass, and they hold their edges better than the factory blades.

As far as sizing, Gator (actually Oregon) makes a wide enough range of sizes that you can pretty much match the blade configuration. You just might not find the corresponding blade number in their Toro/Wheelhorse section.

Between my place and my Mom's I'm mowing about three acres at least once a week so it's not like I'm using a postage stamp for comparison!

I'm sorry, but I have to take issue with Chip's rather broad statement. Of course, he may have been talking about dull blades or blades not properly sized for the deck - who knows!

That said, now the great American blade debate will fire up again - we've been around this barn a few times here.

Duff

Oh - Gator blades are made in the USA! :)

[truckin88 104]

Now Chip at Sherwoods Power Equipment said that the gator blades are not made for our WH's and that they are ineffective at GT's low tip speeds, you need something like 14K to 15K rpms and drive grass. He said since they are not sized right it could create air pockets.... :hide:

[Save Old Iron 1,563]

Is there anyway to pinpoint it?

Will,

you could try taking off the blades one at a time to see if anything clears up.

That might help get it down to one spindle / bearing / blade.

The belt may be flapping, the belt tensioner might not be able to hold the belt from vibrating at top speed,

maybe check if the belt has flipped over - all that visual stuff.

Check all the blades are in the same plane (look in the quality of cut manual from WH ),

maybe grab a spare spindle and substitute one at a time.

For that much vibration, something is out of balance or loose / loose fitting.

[truckin88 104]

guys, it ended up being the blades, the gators were not bent badly, but we switched to oem toro's, the only thing we noticed were the gators seemed loose. We put the new ones on, torqued them down, and they are perfect, no noise, and great cut....lucked out...but deck has no wear

[Guest]

...gator blades are not made for our WH's and that they are ineffective at GT's low tip speeds, you need something like 14K to 15K rpms and drive grass....