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Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Busted-up lawn mower

The Cub Cadet is pretty chewed up at the moment - from too much field mowing.

I was able to get new blades at the local Home Depot, but Home Depot doesn't carry the spindles, which were also damaged.

Today a package arrived from Amazon.


The dog always gets excited at the arrival of a UPS or FedEx truck, because she usually gets to shred the box.  Check out this happy camper with blurred tail :) 

Inside the box were two brand-new shiny spindles.  Made in China, of course... 

Below is a close-up of one of the old spindles.  The splines that lock the blade to the rotor are ground off.  Guess I hit too many rocks and stumps with the mower and stripped the splines off.  Other than the missing splines, it's the spindle seems fine.  But you need the splines, so this will be replaced.

Splines on the new spindle, for comparison.

The old blades are showing some wear and tear as well.  I really should be more careful.

I'll be installing the replacement spindles and blades in the mower deck later today.

And re-installing the mower deck in the mower.  Fun stuff.  At least I get to listen to music, and the shop hasn't gotten crazy hot yet!

Before the mower became totally useless, it managed to hit a home-run with a 3 inch rock.  I heard it whack the rock, then a dull thud from the large garage door.

It managed to split open the steel.  I took this picture after I had hammered the metal back in place.

EDIT:
Mower's fixed.  Total repair cost was a bit over $100.

The new spindles didn't come with new nuts to hold on the mower blades.  I had to clamp it in the vise to break it loose.

Old stuff removed, new stuff ready to install.

Spindles in place.

When you are working on a mower deck that is upside down, you need to install the blades with the "This side up" text facing down.  See - I'm not as dumb as I look and testing indicates.  I had to use the impact gun because the spindles tended to spin as I installed the lock nuts.

Just about ready to re-install the mower deck.  I had to thump it in a few places with a hammer, because it was bent and the blades were rubbing.

Installed and leveled out.  Ready to go mow over  some more rocks and stumps!  It'll have to wait for the next rain though.  Everything has dried out since I ordered the spindles, and I don't want to start a grass fire next time I whack a rock.







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