mower deck vibration 48c on GT245

[wjwoods]

my gt 245 with 450 hours started vibrating today with the mower engaged.
I removed the deck to check the blades. the blades don,t seem to be bent.
there is a bit of play in the bearing on the spindle.i think this is the problem.
i have owned the tractor for 25 hours of running time. are the deck spindle bearings easy to replace or should i take the deck to the dealer for replacement. thanks for your help.

 

[TedLaRue]

The only difficulty you may have replacing those bearings is getting the old one(s) off. The inner race of the bearing is press-fit onto the spindle. It's easy to drive the new bearing onto the spindle using a piece of pipe that fits over the spindle, but you'll have difficulty getting behind the old one to drive it off. You can use a bearing splitter, or you can just grind through it with a hand held grinder or cutoff wheel.

You might also consider removing the spindles and taking them to the dealer to have the bearings replaced (rather than taking the whole deck in).

 

[wjwoods]

t
Thanks for the reply.I removed the deck .sharpened and balanced the
blades there is some play in the bearings although this may be normal .I reinstalled the deck and when I engaged the mower the vibration seems to be worse.I also tried removing the spindle without success.I am going to take the deck to the jd dealer,and
have them fix it before I get mad and wreck something. Thanks for the advice

 

[jinman]

There are two other possibilities for vibration. The first is a belt with a small chunk missing. Everytime that spot hits a pulley, the belt will loosen for an instant and then tighten. This causes the belt to jerk and is repeated for every pulley as the belt damage passes. It can cause lots of vibration.

The 2nd type of vibration is when a pulley gets whacked by a rock or stick and bent in one spot. This also tightens the "V" in that location so the belt will "dance" as it passes over the spot everytime the pulley rotates past the bend point.

I don't know if either of these could be your problem, but if they are, you should be able to easily see the belt dancing when the mower is engaged. If you can get someone to sit on the mower and engage the PTO while you watch the pulleys, it might give you a clue if the belt/pulleys is/are causing the vibration instead of the spindles or blades.

 

[ccsial]

There are two other possibilities for vibration. The first is a belt with a small chunk missing. Everytime that spot hits a pulley, the belt will loosen for an instant and then tighten. This causes the belt to jerk and is repeated for every pulley as the belt damage passes. It can cause lots of vibration.

The 2nd type of vibration is when a pulley gets whacked by a rock or stick and bent in one spot. This also tightens the "V" in that location so the belt will "dance" as it passes over the spot everytime the pulley rotates past the bend point.

I don't know if either of these could be your problem, but if they are, you should be able to easily see the belt dancing when the mower is engaged. If you can get someone to sit on the mower and engage the PTO while you watch the pulleys, it might give you a clue if the belt/pulleys is/are causing the vibration instead of the spindles or blades.

I had one happen that is in line with the above. I had a gravel rock get trapped in the pully and it got "welded in there" for lack of a better term. I thought I had a spindle going out when I noticed the gravel piece while cleaning it. I imagine this was pretty rare though. Yes, I have removed the pully guards.

 

[Clint S]

I have had a belt with NO noticeable chucks cause a vibration. It happened after I ran over some wire, I think it got stretched. I also had the nut that holds the pulley on come just a little loose and wallow out the hole causing the pulley to be off center, making for a bad vibration.

 

[wjwoods]

thanks for the reply.I took the deck to a repair shop today.the mechanic says the deck is fine and told me to check the pulley on the pto clutch connected to
output shaft of the motor. Upon inspection,this pulley is badly split which would explain the
bad shaking and vibration of the whole deck.

i removed the bolt at the bottom of the clutch pulley.I think i need a puller
to remove the clutch pulley which
i will buy today
it appears to be all one unit although i could be wrong.
i will try and remove the pulley and see what happens.thanks again

 

[jinman]

Sounds like you have a handle on it.:thumbsup: Good luck with the pulley. They can be a bear sometimes.

 

[KevPH]

Bearing issues can produce heat. Try turning mower on for a while, shut down and feel for the bearing spindles for heat buildup. Higher temps. will indicate bearing problems. Hope this help!