48 inch Side Discharge Deck Restoration

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

1 hour ago, Horse Newbie said:

@Jeff-C175  , do you remember where you bought your new spindles ?

 

I think it was "Bill's Outdoor Power Equipment" on Amazon.  He had the best price at the time, but raised it substantially right after I purchased.

 

 

[Lee1977 6,210]

 The thin washer has always been above the blade and the thick below.  I have used, 3/4" keyed and metric spindles on the deck. Have always used regular nuts that's the way they came from Wheel Horse. 

[76c12091520h 3,263]

Wheel Horse actually had a bulletin back in the day where they discontinued the use of nyloc nuts claiming that the blades would self tighten, however I've seen so many spindle shafts destroyed because the blades slip on the shaft that I always use the lock nuts. Just my 2 cents....

[Horse Newbie 6,852]

Thank you @76c12091520h for the perspective… I guess I’ll have to ultimately decide for myself which nuts to use .

 

I see your point on using Nylock nuts…

seems to me that when Wheel Horse, or anybody claims “self tightening”, what they mean is the shaft is spinning clockwise, thus causing the nut to continue to stay on the threads without coming off…

but I highly doubt that the “self tightening” effect would anywhere near keep the blade nuts “tight”… especially not to 80-100 ft/lbs…

And also let me say, I appreciate all of youse guys experience and opinions.

That is exactly what I want, different experiences, and different opinions, then I can take that and make my decision as to what to do.

 

Also this… I had mo doubt that Brian (K&B) had sent the correct parts… and even if they weren’t technically correct as in what Wheel Horse used… I believe he would send me the best parts for an improvement to an application based on his experience.

Again, it is my decision to decide how to proceed… thank you all for your “2 cents”…

I welcome it, and learn something every time.

There probably is not a one time, absolute, fix all for many of the different mechanisms on our little tractors… that’s why “we wrench”

[Horse Newbie 6,852]

2 hours ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

I think it was "Bill's Outdoor Power Equipment" on Amazon.  He had the best price at the time, but raised it substantially right after I purchased.

 

 

See what you did !…

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

41 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

See what you did !…

 

These are the ones I bought... I paid $115 each in April 2021.  They're now $150 each, and that price was jacked immediately after I purchased them.  I think they must have forgotten to amend their ad, realized the error and fixed it and had to 'eat' the loss.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X9T2AO/

 

Notice that there are no nyloc nutz on them, either end.  These were in sealed Toro boxes.

 

I've gotten a fair amount of stuff from Bill's, either direct from their website or through Amazon and always a square deal.

https://www.bills-place.net/

 

 

 

Edited May 16, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[Horse Newbie 6,852]

8 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

These are the ones I bought... I paid $115 each in April 2021.  They're now $150 each, and that price was jacked immediately after I purchased them.  I think they must have forgotten to amend their ad, realized the error and fixed it and had to 'eat' the loss.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003X9T2AO/

 

Notice that there are no nyloc nutz on them, either end.  These were in sealed Toro boxes.

 

I've gotten a fair amount of stuff from Bill's, either direct from their website or through Amazon and always a square deal.

 

Yeah, and I noticed the thick washer is on the shaft first… I’m still gonna go thin, blade, thick, nut.

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

10 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

Yeah, and I noticed the thick washer is on the shaft first… I’m still gonna go thin, blade, thick, nut.

 

Just looked at the diagram for my 1980 deck and both washers are the same size!  Go figger... probably don't make a whole lotta difference long as they are tight.

 

[Horse Newbie 6,852]

32 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Just looked at the diagram for my 1980 deck and both washers are the same size!  Go figger... probably don't make a whole lotta difference long as they are tight.

 

Other than I would rather have the thin one sandwiched between the spindle bottom and blade, and the thick one holding the blade !

[Horse Newbie 6,852]

People probably reading this saying “OMG, just put the dang blades on already ! “, but I want to get it right if I can, after seeing those worn out spindle shafts…

 

[Lee1977 6,210]

I will add I use a air impact wrench to tighten and loosen my mower blades, I also 6 point sockets to keep from rounding of the nuts.. I'm old school corded drills, grinders or air tools. Bought one battery drill but I didn't use it often enough to keep it charged. 

[Horse Newbie 6,852]

I tagged you @Jeff-C175 because you seem as curious as me about the Wheel Horse decks, spindles, and spindle nuts mystery.

What I did after work was go back to the local hardware to see my “nut and bolt guy”.

He wasn’t there … left at 4pm…

 

So I got to looking around and found some regular hex nuts in 3/4-16 NF, same threads as the Nylock nuts that Brian sent with the spindle kits.

 

I have the nuts and washers laid out in the order they will go on the spindle, minus the blade, for illustrative purposes.

 

The regular hex nut is laid beside the Nylock nut.

 

Since my nut and bolt guy was not there, I could not confirm the grade of the regular hex nut, although I’m thinking it is going to be a grade 5 nut- I will verify that before I use them, if I wind up using them.

 

So here is the next thing to ponder without overthinking this thing.  

 

The Nylock nuts DO HAVE a locking ability, which I like, and agree with Brian when he says he has seen too many ruined shafts when the regular hex nuts don’t stay tight, but…

 

The regular hex nuts put way more threads on the shaft than the Nylocks nuts do, and by just glancing at it without throwing on the blade, it looks like the regular hex nut will hang out past the end of the shaft by maybe 1/8th of an inch, and protect the threads on the bottom end of the spindle shaft, still putting way more threads on the shaft…

 

And I will just go ahead and use the silver “thin” washer on the middle shaft, and the two gold colored washers on the right and left shafts. Even though the silver washer is thicker, I don’t think the gophers will notice the middle blade cutting 1/16ths inch lower.

 

Now I don’t know which nut to use, the Nylocks or regular hex nuts… I’m thinking the Nylocks because using a regular nut would mean no lock washer.

 

I’ll take a vote…

Edited May 16, 2022 by Horse Newbie

[76c12091520h 3,263]

The "regular" hex nut that Wheel Horse uses is about half the thickness of the nut you have pictured - think jamb nut

[Handy Don 10,548]

1 hour ago, Horse Newbie said:

The regular hex nuts put way more threads on the shaft

I've learned that nearly 100% of the force on a nut is transferred via the first six threads. Over 90% in the first five, I believe. Extra threads are not there for force transfer but may be useful to give a larger wrenching surface or to hide threads, as you mentioned.

[Horse Newbie 6,852]

Got a shipment in from Lowell ( @wheelhorseman ) at Wheel Horse Parts and More…

a new set of anti-scalp deck wheels, deck height/ gauge wheels, a rubber grip for the height adjustment lever, a rubber grip for the mid mount attach-a-mastic lever on the 1994 520H ( which this restored deck is going on), a Hi-Lo shifter knob for the 1984 Work Horse GT-1600, and a fuse block dust cover for the 1994 520H… got to get her dressed for the show !

Well now that I’m done showing off the goodies I got from Lowell, I guess I’ll bolt a few more parts on the deck.

[Horse Newbie 6,852]

Tonight I installed some more parts on the deck…

 

Got a question… I know to tighten the blade nut to 80-100 ft/lbs, but what is the torque value on the deck pulley nuts ?

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

11 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

what is the torque value on the deck pulley nuts ?

 

If memory serves, the same as the blade nutz.

 

 

[Lee1977 6,210]

On 5/16/2022 at 10:39 AM, 76c12091520h said:

Wheel Horse actually had a bulletin back in the day where they discontinued the use of nyloc nuts claiming that the blades would self tighten, however I've seen so many spindle shafts destroyed because the blades slip on the shaft that I always use the lock nuts. Just my 2 cents....

Just another cost cutting to save 30 cents a deck they had to make it sound good.

[Horse Newbie 6,852]

I got the spindle shafts,  blades, and pulleys on, except for the idler pulley (painted that)… Went to Walmart and had to settle for @peter lena ‘s red and tacky grease… they were out of the green.

 

Could not grease ‘‘em up because the grease gun would not prime. Hung it up so maybe gravity will help the grease gun spring…

[peter lena 8,034]

@horsenewbee looking pretty sweet on your work, its the detailing that adds up , do the same lubrication detailing to your mule bearings , probably the same size , they really get hot with that belt drive deflection , thats where the hi temp grease rating really shines , no whining  bearings . also improve your pto lever rod , loose start , next to your battery rail , added 3/8 to 7/16 washers at starting point , lubricate every contact area . also pto drive belt cone needle bearing , hi temp grease that too . you will be amazed with the quiet smooth deck drive operation, tighten up with washers trunion on lever adjustment point lube threads , greasy pete

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

57 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

grease gun would not prime

 

I get very frustrated with mine also.  I'm thinking of getting an air powered one... or two...

 

By the way, you've probably seen that some of us have 'issues' with the center spindle grease zerk getting hit by the lift bar.  Check yours carefully after fitting to the machine for good clearance!

 

 

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by Jeff-C175

[Horse Newbie 6,852]

1 hour ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

I get very frustrated with mine also.  I'm thinking of getting an air powered one... or two...

 

By the way, you've probably seen that some of us have 'issues' with the center spindle grease zerk getting hit by the lift bar.  Check yours carefully after fitting to the machine for good clearance!

 

 

 

Is there a remedy if it hits the grease zerk ?

Edited May 30, 2022 by Horse Newbie

[Snoopy11 5,713]

1 hour ago, Jeff-C175 said:

or two

If you do... send me one... PLEASE!!!

 

Don

[Handy Don 10,548]

56 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

Is there a remedy if it hits the grease zerk ?

Tempted to suggest never lifting the deck () but @Jeff-C175 did a thread on his fix and it sounded good to me!

[Jeff-C175 7,195]

56 minutes ago, Horse Newbie said:

Is there a remedy if it hits the grease zerk ?

 

Yes, there was a recent thread about it in which I posted my solution, but for some reason I can't find it at the moment.