craftsman with an 18 hp twin Kohler tractor problem

[lscarduzio]

Hiya, Picked up a sears craftsman with an 18 hp Kohler motor a few weeks ago at an auction. I have about a 1.5 acres to cut. The motor runs great however when I turn the deck on I hear it squeaking from the front spindle that connects under the motor. Do I need to grease it or replace something. The deck will work however it is straining and squeaking in higher grass. Any suggestions ?

Thanks Lisa

 

[banjodunn]

G'day Lisa welcome to TBN it sound to me like you have got a dry bearing that prob needs replacement i'm not familiar with your machine and cant tell you if you can grease or not alot of mower deck i have worked on don't have grease points on them so during rebiulds i usually fit grease points to them if i can. Best of luck with it hopefully someone here will know your model


Jon

 

[lscarduzio]

Thanks... What is actually make the sounds is the part that makes the deck spin from under the motor. It round and bolts to the bottem of the motor.
It only squeaks when i turns the deck on.

Lisa

 

[asylum575]

You probably have an AYP deck and what's sqeaking is the spindle shaft in the spindle housing. Do the blades have a star pattern on them? If so the spindle part # is 130794. Search it on ebay for a picture. I would drop the deck and slide it out then take the spindle off and grease it. Probably good practice when the belt goes. I've replaced spindles on my 1994 Craftsman 18HP Briggs powered 42" tractor twice. Right now it has a bad fuel pump. Even though my BX24 has a 60" deck, I still don't have the heart to put the craftsman out to pasture. It's been a real workhorse all these years.

 

[lscarduzio]

I am not sure if the blades have a star. I guess I値l take the deck off tomorrow when I look at the spindle shaft under that痴 connected to the motor. I did try to take it off tonight to grease it up the motor shaft would spin each time I turned the ranch. Do I need to hold the motor still to unscrew the spindle under it ? Maybe it will help if I post a picture tomorrow

 

[Stimw]

Sounds like the noise is coming from the electric clutch on the bottom of the motor. If the blade spindles are hard to turn that can cause the belt to slip on the clutch. This will wear out the belt very fast.
If you take the deck off you can turn the blades by hand and feel if they are hard to turn. This is common for the spindle bearings to go bad. Sometimes you can get lucky and find grease fittings. Too often once they get hard to turn they won't come back with grease. I have even worked oil into old bearings and loosened them up to get by for a couple months until I could replace the bearings.
Be sure and check the belt condition for wear and/or flat spots.

 

[lscarduzio]

the problem is not with the deck. All the spindles on the deck spin fine. It is the spindle that connects under the motor which turns the belt and makes the deck work. Can i replace that ?
If it is the electric clutch can i grease that ? I do not see fittings but i did by a needle for the grease gun. It makes noise if i hand spin it also and the belt might be a little old but i do notice they are getting hot when i cut the grass
If it's the electric clutch can a lawn mower shop repair them if i can not grease it ?

 

[lscarduzio]

here is the part making noise
DEINES 18HP KOHLER COMMAND CH18S ELECTRIC CLUTCH - eBay (item 220401278858 end time Apr-29-09 11:53:36 PDT)

Can i grease it ?

 

[hanson1999]

sounds like you have a bearing out in your electric clutch, i just went through this on my sears rider also, i tried putting just a bearing in mine but the coil was to badly damaged and had to get a whole new unit anyways....

here is where i bought mine, great price and super fast shipping

Sears Electric PTO Clutch - Sears Electric Clutch - Sears 12v Electric Clutch

 

[greenmule]

You can tighten/loosen that pto clutch,there are I believe three bolt/nuts on it,and three slots to check gap,might be worth a shot just to give them 1/4 turn or so[I have never done it,but was reading in my owners manual just the other day about that,I was replacing the drive belt].

And you could also try new belt,but..