Martin 2,130 #1 Posted April 1, 2012 the past two weeks ive spent getting the 1277 into working order for mowing duties this season. now i dont really need to use a tractor for what i have to mow, but its fun and i can so there..... . i was using the 875 with a 36 rd but its getting a bit too smoky and i feel bad so im going to give it a rest this season. i already have mowed twice with the push mower and thats not anywhere near as much fun as the so thats just not going to do for much longer. anyway, the deck on the 1277 worked ok, just a little noisy, but id never done any mowing with it except the blast in the grass on the block next to us when i first got it in the middle of winter. was impressed with the cutting abilities and the power of the k301. but when mowing last week on our lawn i noticed that blades were not cutting smooth and leaving lines on the lawn. plus the front roller was bent and was catching on every little bump in the lawn. plus there was the rusted hole in the right hand side of the deck where the solid round bar runs across the lower part of the discharge area. the bar had been cut off at the front by a po when the back mount rusted through most likely. anyway, not being happy with the quality of cut on the lawn, i pulled the deck and started to investigate. the middle spindle had taken a really good hit at some stage and had bent the deck shell where it mounted, so that was the first thing that needed to be fixed. so i dismantled it and as i was going along noticed many things that were worn, that are contributing to the noise and general crappiness of the operation of this thing. the idler pulley bearing was long gone, and the pulley was running on the side of the large hole created by no bearing. im sure this is where 90 % of the noise is coming from. belts looked a little chewed, but still doing there job. spindle bearings ok, but just a little play, so maybe replace them as well. upper bearing had most of the play, but lower seals are real hard, so all will be getting done. so i get it torn all the way down and have these things that need attention.... hole in deck bent middle spindle mount in deck various small cracks in deck shell bent front roller mount. worn deck rollers worn guide wheels worn assembly support(part that mounts to tractor, the attaching point) baffles cracked and loose where attaching to shell and some minor stuff that will be fixed as i put it back together. spindle housings and spindles are good, all pulleys, except the idler are good. needle bearings are usable but im going to replace them as they are cheap and the things apart any way... one thing i didnt realise is that the needle bearings and seals are the same part numbers as the 3/4 input shaft ones on the unidrive transmissions. 1508 for the bearing and 1303 for the seal. so i already know to order the b-1212 bearing and skf 7410 seal. the larger bearings will get replaced too as the middle spindle one had some play. so first thing after getting it all apart was to clean the deck to make it easier to work on. i didnt want to spend too much time on it, but didnt want it looking half a##ed as well. so quickest way for me was to take it to work and blast all the parts. about a hours worth of work and its way cleaner than if i spent all day on it at home, and all the rust is gone, making it easier to fix the problem areas. nice clean metal to work with..... then i set about fixing the rusted through part and getting it ready to throw some powder at it. straightened the middle spindle mount, checked the deck with a straight edge. got the front of the deck where the roller is all straight. used a bottle jack against a rigid surface to slowly get the front of the deck looking how it should. needed to reweld the roller bracket as well as it was cracked at the shell. i cut out the rusted area and made up a patch from some similar gauge plate. bent all the contours and tacked it in place from the outside. fully welding it from the underside. now my welding is a little rough as some of the thin areas of the shell were blowing through. hate welding in like this but with surface rusting thinning out the metal and wanting to get good penetration for the patch plate, theres always the chance of blow through along the way. just got to chase it as you go. hence the wobbly welding. im also using flux core as well so thats my excuses for the crappy welding..... heres the bad area to cut out. the back side is still strong outside of this cut out area, even though its rusted pretty bad. how far do you go? if i wanted to get all of it, i would be replacing the whole shell. it will be strong enough and with some paint for protection should last a while longer.... starting to tack the piece in position... fully welded up back side. you can see the rust damage on the shell near this area. i cut out what was bad and even though the area around it is heavily pitted, its still strong enough for some more years of work. just hard to weld anywhere near consistent when the shell thickness varies so much in that area...... front side ground down, the back side wasnt ground like this as its not really seen and i wanted to keep a bit of strength there... underside ready for a nice coat of powder, patched the rust hole, welded up the loose baffles, and then finished grinding down a bunch of weld spatter, (joys of flux core mig)......... hopefully make it last a few more years.... threw some bondo at it to smooth out my rough welding. also fill some of the rust pitting on the outside of the deck. make it look a little better before paint. need to clean up the rest of this stuff, paint it and install new bearings in the spindles. replace the rollers, wheels and some new blades and it should be good to mow...... thinking of trying to find some gator blades for this. thoughts anybody? 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bowtiebutler956 649 #2 Posted April 1, 2012 Good job Martin. I will be looking forward to watching you finish this, as I just did mine recently, and I know what you mean about welding on a rust pitted uneven surface. I spent almost as much time filling in my blow throughs as I did weling in the patch panels. Matt :flags-texas: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wheeledhorseman 573 #3 Posted April 1, 2012 Thanks for posting this Martin . I have an old 42" SD, from the early 70s I guess, that's been a project waiting to happen for some time. The shell is basically sound but needs a bit of welding in a couple of places but as only one of the double D type spindle units is fit for use (a diecast body replacement at some point - the other two, or whats left of them, have steel bodies) I'll be using a set of the newer style with plain shafts and grease zerks retrieved from a scrap deck. So now you've inspired me to actually get on and do it. Look forward to seeing the rest of the project photos. You're doing a nice job there. Andy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jake Kuhn 1,547 #4 Posted April 1, 2012 Looks good Martin! Jake Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gene_S 93 #5 Posted April 2, 2012 Looking good Martin. Last year I had to do a similar patch on my 48 inch deck on my 416. As for the gator blades I've heard more good reviews about them then bad. So good luck and happy mowing!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #6 Posted April 3, 2012 got all parts painted today except the belt guard. now comes the fun of assembly with clean parts.......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AMC RULES 36,957 #7 Posted April 3, 2012 Nice job Martin...always fun to watch you go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
multihobbyguy 35 #8 Posted April 3, 2012 I have to say it, I am jealous! You get more done in one day than I get done in a month and yours looks better than mine. Once again a nice job and thanks for taking the time to take pictures and document your work for us. Thanks, Chris. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #9 Posted April 3, 2012 chris, thats the great thing about having the equipment at work to use. i took all this stuff in to work at 4 this morning. had the bondo on the deck sanded, painted and in the oven at 4.45 and worked on blasting the rest of the parts and painting them. all of this stuff was out of the oven and cooling down by 7.00 am. not bad for 3 hours when looking like this to begin with...... powder doesnt have the real nice finish of liquid spray, but for a hard wearing, direct to metal finish, quick, it cant be beat. and all the mess is contained in the booth. no crap all over the garage........ sometimes you just get in a groove and get stuff done..... and it helps if your the only one in the shop....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smoreau 658 #10 Posted April 3, 2012 That's it!! I will just send all my stuff to you and have you powder coat every thing!!! You make me jellos of your fringe benefits of your work. Looks great Martin, I love those gader blades Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #11 Posted April 3, 2012 scott, do you have a good source for them, and maybe a part number? for this 42 SD that is...... anybody? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #12 Posted April 3, 2012 That's it!! I will just send all my stuff to you and have you powder coat every thing!!! You make me jellos of your fringe benefits of your work. Looks great Martin, I love those gader blades I tell Martin all the time that he is one spoiled man. This is his wife speaking.... That's it!! I will just send all my stuff to you and have you powder coat every thing!!! You make me jellos of your fringe benefits of your work. Looks great Martin, I love those gader blades I tell Martin all the time that he is one spoiled man. This is his wife speaking.... i think somebody is hijacking this thread...... i walk away from this for 5 minutes and somebody just gets on here and starts typing stuff.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smoreau 658 #13 Posted April 3, 2012 :ROTF: At least she has a good sense of humor Martin!! Are you bringing her to the Charlotte show this year? The ones I have were given to me and they were 1/4" too long and I cut them a little shorter to fit. I have seen them at TSC but never checked for exact fit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #14 Posted April 5, 2012 got the new upper bearings today, so put the three spindles together. used the old needle bearings and new seals. popped the one side of the new upper bearings so that future lubing of the spindle will get up in the bearing. these sealed bearings had hardly any grease in them, so i packed them full before installing. got new zerk fittings as well.... . started assembling the deck, still waiting on new rollers and belts. hopefully it will be protected from rust a bit more and should be easier to clean. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowtiebutler956 649 #15 Posted April 5, 2012 Looks Great Martin!! That is going to be a great looking and working deck. I sure wish my 36" deck had grease fitting, I replaced the spindle bearings in mine during resto, but they are non-greaseable. Matt :flags-texas: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #16 Posted April 7, 2012 got it together today. i will let the pics and the video at the end tell the story........ and heres a video. just to give it a good first run the grass was extra long from me being lazy all week....... http://s291.photobuc...nt=IMG_0248.mp4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
varosd 1,185 #17 Posted April 8, 2012 looks like you were making mincemeat out of the green stuff! great looking rebuilt! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KyBlue 652 #18 Posted April 8, 2012 Sweet rebuild!! Congrats. I'm jealous of the powder coating too ... but oh well. Great job! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Martin 2,130 #19 Posted April 8, 2012 this deck mows real nice now. definitely worth the time and the $ for some bearings, seals, rollers, and a deck belt. the deck belt is a wh 6738, the rollers are wh 5240 superseded to 94-1599 anti scalp rollers. really need some new wheels but i found two reasonable ones just to get it going. i ended up using the same blades that were on it . nice older set of blades, just cleaned them up and painted them. didnt even need sharpening. the k301 has plenty of power and hardly feels like its working at all, makes the job a bit easier than mowing with the 875 with a noisy 32 inch deck. maybe the 32 should get a birthday present next....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KyBlue 652 #20 Posted April 8, 2012 Gator blades do a great job. If you get a set...you'll never want to go back to regular blades Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowtiebutler956 649 #21 Posted April 8, 2012 Thank You Martin, for once again showing us what a Job Well Done should look like!! Matt :flags-texas: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gwgdog66 23 #22 Posted April 9, 2012 Good Job!! I'm fixing to tear into the 42" SD deck on the 312-8 I picked up a few months ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
