Just a note about the status of the riding mower. Thought the battery was dead - the lug for the hot cable was a blue fluffy mess - will have to cut back the cable and see how far the corrosion is - and replace the lug. Will get the battery checked out and charged if ok - need to service a bit of oil and tape a few bare wires under the seat…so it’s not yet ready to mow, but should be soon. Will post when I have an update in case anyone is anxious to get to the mowing.
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The old farmer’s trick for cleaning up corrosion like that is to soak the lug in baking soda dissolved in water. That will clean it up pretty good and you can see what you have left. As always, your mileage may vary.
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Those old farmers had lots of tricks!
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my mower is in need of repairs as well im gonna try and get it going
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Should we take the battery off when in winter storage to prevent this type of corrosion? I vaguely remember my father removing the batteries from his tractors when he put them away for the winter.
Yes that would help. Also cover the terminals. Hydrogen gas reacts with the ambiant atmosphere and causes corrosion. Covers help prevent that, or at least slow it down.
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Copious amount of grease would work
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I’m learning that I have underestimated the benefits of oil and grease. I’ve taken to stroping and oiling my whittling knife after I finish using it so its ready to go.
A dollop of grease would def do the trick.
That’s how my paw did it lol
Is the positive terminal on the battery even there anymore?
The battery checked good and is charged. The positive cable is serviceable, so crimped a new end on i - still have some work to remove the remains of the old bolt that remains in the positive terminal. Progress. Jon kindly sharpened the good blade, and I have a few parts to scrounge before moving forward - just could not get to it today.
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Mower is a few steps closer - thanks to Thomas - I required assistance cutting the nut from the top of the spindle and he graciously offered to help! (It was welded to the pulley making it impossible to break the torque on the spindle nut or remove the damaged spindle. Spindle/pulley and blade have been changed - all that remains is installing the new nut (part on hand) and reinstalling the cover, servicing the oil, and the battery. I dropped it off at batteries plus to be put on an overnight charge…it did not have enough power to crank the beast. Done for now.
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Got the new spindle in, and put it back together. Fired it up and did some mowing on the east side of the building. Going to have another look at the blades tomorrow. I believe one to be too short after putting it back the way it was found. Doesn’t hurt anything, just leaves a bit of a swath in the middle of the deck. Always something eh?
There’s ten gallons of fresh gas in the yellow locker bottom shelf.
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Also, wanted to note that the deck belt was changed this time last year,
V-Belt Part Number:584453101
Now I can throw away that scrap of paper.
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Where are the old spindles. It seems they get replaced regularly enough that it might be cost effective to replace the bearings in them I’d the rest is still usable
I have three boxed up in the garage - I believe that two can be rebuilt for $25.00. The spindle shafts were pretty much toast on two where the blade matches up and the third where the pulley rides, so the spindle shafts would need to be swapped out on all as well!. It appears that the wrong bolt was used to retain the blade on this one. It felt cross threaded as it was removed, so I did not reuse that bolt. I would imagine that it was not sufficiently torqued due to the amount of wear on the star on both the spindle and the blade. The nut on the top side of the spindle had been spot welded to the pulley.
I’ll drop in tomorrow to make sure the box is marked so as not to throw away these cores. I’ll probably just put the box in the bin under the little work bench in the garage. I would hope that with some TLC that they will last a bit better - the right one was changed last season, and the left to start out this season.
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Interesting that the hardware is so damaged. I never liked the way they use that system to engage the blade, but it is strange that we have so many problems with them. In the years that I have owned riding mowers, I have only had to replace one spindle and yet the mower at MakeICT seems to require replacement of them all the time. I’m going to try to make it over today to have a look at them and see if they are worth rebuilding. Might be that they are just throwaway items, but if there can be significant money saved by repairing them, that seems smart.
If you get there before I do, on the west wall of the garage in the shelf area on the bottom shelf of the little metal shelf sits that white unmarked box. If I get there first, I’ll mark it and put it under the workbench in the garage.
Lol hacking the lawnmower
It was only a matter of time
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These should work, but I’m certain I found them somewhere for a better price…