Need Advise, deck repair

   / Need Advise, deck repair #1  

HokieMS

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2013
Messages
27
Location
Buchanan Va
Tractor
JD 4005
I need a bit of advise. I recently purchased a 1995 Craftsman GT (dark green, with square hood).
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ncxyeldb49bfnso/IMG_20150605_181542944.jpg?dl=0

I got a good deal on it, and it is in fantastic shape... except one thing I just found tonight. I bought spare blades for it, and while changing them out tonight, I found end of 2 out of the 3 mandrel shafts has the star pattern worn almost completely off. The third shaft has a slightly rounded off star pattern.

So... I have found the shafts on searsparts.com, but my question is: should I bother buying any of the bearings, or just go with what it has now? The blades turn easily by hand, and I can't feel any bad spot in any of the bearings. How easy will it be to break a bearing when removing the shafts? I will definitely replace the bolts and washers, no question. Anyone who has any experience replacing these shafts, please chime in. I don't mind buying more parts if I really need them, but I also like saving money.
Thanks
Mark

Edit: I was trying to save money, but maybe I'll just buy all 3 mandrel assemblies instead... crap. That would just be less to worry about, I guess.
 
Last edited:
   / Need Advise, deck repair #2  
If it was mine, I would remove the deck and just change out the shafts. No need to remove the mandrels to do this.
 
 
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