Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem

   / Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem #1  

huskerfanman

New member
Joined
Oct 13, 2004
Messages
3
Hi All,

First post here and I'm hoping someone with a bit more technical ability than myself can help me out. I have a Craftsman 18.5HP lawn tractor that runs great, but lately whenever I engage the mower attachment it makes a grinding noise --- which sounds like it is related to the belt. The noise started shortly after I accidentally ran the mower over a small dirt mound. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif At first, it only existed for a few seconds after I engaged the mower attachment and would go away once the blade was up-to-speed. Now it is going on much longer. I've replaced the mower control drive belt (not adjustable) and the problem still exists? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.
 
   / Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem #2  
huskerfanman

Look at 3 things:
1. Take the blades off and make sure they are balanced. Just set the blade one at a time over a pen/marker in the center hole. make sure they are balanced as this can cause damage to the berrings & Pullyes/wheels.
2. Take the deck off, get a compressor, blow it clean, or use a hose and spray it clean, them grease all the wheels/pullyes.
3. look at the berrings, they should be in the general area of right over where the bolt that holds the blade one. It should be on top of the desk.

Hope this helps
 
   / Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thanks Holzster, I'll give that a shot. Btw, when I have the mower attachment separated from the tractor, I was considering engaging the 'Attachment Clutch Lever' to see if the problem was related only with the attachment as I expect vs. the tractor as well. Will it do any damage to the tractor if I engage the Attachment Clutch Lever without having anything attached to the tractor? Thanks in advance.
 
   / Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem #4  
I have a Craftsman lawn tractor similar size to yours. I hit the in-ground box near the street when the undergound phone lines come in. It bent the front of my deck a little. Under the front of the deck, there is a small metal guard that normally runs below the blades. Not sure what it's purpose. But the bent deck caused the guard to raise a little so that the right blade hit it when I first started it. After a few seconds, it would stop until the next time. I finally got it staightened out enough to stop doing it.
 
   / Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem #5  
BB_TX - It must be somehting with the Craftsman's deck as I have a GT3000 & bent my deck also hitting a small hole (front tires). Just kidding.
Huskerfanman - running without the deck on might be a manufacture question. But I can tell you I ran mine with out it on. The only thing I can see that it would spin to fast for what it is rated. But I think that would be a minor issue. BB_TX is right as I forgot an issue I had. If you can keep the engine off & spin the belt by had & look that would let you know if the belt ir rubbing. Or you can take the belt off and look at it as you head the rubbing sound already there would be damage to it at this time. If there is damage to the belt you should see where it is rubbing whe you are turning by hand.
BB_TX we are almost neighbors as I am right north of you in Anna. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
   / Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem #6  
Remove your mower belt and spin all the blades and idler pulleys till you find the squeaky wheel. One of them is more than likely bad or has a rock or something under it. Or worst case scenario it has a bad bearing. The idlers always seem to go first on mower decks. You may also want to check to see that you didn't dent the deck in so that a blade is hitting it.
 
   / Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Just got back from travelling and started to dig into the problem more. What I found when I took the mower attachment off again was that one of the mower blades was wobbling. I took off the blade and found that the 'star' shaped bolt was sheared off at the ends so it wasn't biting on anything. Picture is attached. Quick questions: Do I need to replace the entire mandrel assembly to fix this? And how do I remove the mandrel assembly? Is there an easy way to lock the pulley so I can remove the nut from the top of the mower attachment? Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
   / Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem #8  
Can't see your picture so I'm shooting in the dark here. In the past when I have had similar problems I have always replaced my spindles as a unit. That is the bearings were already installed on a new shaft and assembled to the spindle and also included a pulley (sheave). There are normally 3 or 4 bolts that hold the spindle assembly to your deck. The easiest way to get the top pulley bolt out is with an impact wrench but I suppose you might jam a 2X4 up against the pulley to hold it and then use a breaker bar in a pinch.
 
   / Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem #9  
are u sure the mandrel, is shot? if so wedge a block of wood aganist the pully and remove the bolt. replace the whole assembly if you think it is bad.
 
   / Mower attachment whirring/grinding problem #10  
Go to the Sears web site and look up the parts. You will need the Sears Model number for your mower. They have the parts images on the site and you can see if you need to replace the part of the entire assembly.
 
 
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