mf2320 mower gauge wheel

[beargap]

I have a GC2400 with the FEL and the 54" 2320 mower deck. Yesterday I was surprised to see the front left gauge or caster wheel was gone...just the bracket that attaches to the deck was there. I've never had a wheel fall off any of the 3 tractors used for mowing, so I spent an hour or more walking around the farm where I had driven the tractor, mostly hauling logs and rarely mowing, but to no avail. I have no idea how this could come off, and not be noticed as I would surely have driven over it when it happened. This morning I thought I better see what the replacement cost would be. On my 2 tractors with Woods mowers, I expected them to be high, and replacing the wheels on one of those a year ago set me back around $70, each. Imagine my shock when I looked up the cost to replace this one small wheel assembly...$350!! Holy smokes! Is there an alternative out there. I was literally blown away.

 

[Dmacleo]

was it the wheel came off the "axle" or did top restraining clip break and whole assy came off?
the wheel 4265519M91 shows as approx $118 and the 2 bushings, washer, end clip can really be anything.


disregard I misread your post about what was missing, yeah you need axles and everything. yeah that fork (as they call it) lists as 152$ alone and thats with no wheel. bushings, etc. the pin alone is approx 79 $.
HOLY CRAP LOL
I'd gather al your friends and family and rewalk the areas MANY times LOL

 

[lpakiz]

…….With a metal detector……

 

[blackd]

Take a look at Kubota gauge wheel assembly to see if it is usable. IIRC the fork shaft is shorter but still long enough to be used. You might lose some of the height adjustment range.

 

[beargap]

Well, miracles do happen. Over 3 days I spent hours in the fields and on every trail I had used that tractor this year, even using a weed eater to cut back taller grass to see if the wheel was hiding, but to no avail. Today I was going to pull the other front wheel to take around to other dealers (the Massey dealer 30 miles away seems to no longer carry the brand, anyway) to see if a Kubota or JD wheel would work. I found it was impossible to pull that wheel on level ground even with the deck fully raised, so off again revisiting any place where I would cross a ditch or go over large rocks. Sure enough, on one of the woods trails I found it kicked back in the undergrowth off the side of the trail. The rubber wheel was pretty chewed up, so this happened when I was passing there and had the deck up but running the blades to clip the tall weeds. As I went over the rocks it was high enough in the center to drop the wheel (no telling where the cotter pin and metal pin were lost) and the it was grabbed by a blade and hurled into the woods. It is back on and usable, but I will replace the iffy pin with a PTO-style square safety pin as used on the back wheels and keep an eye open for a less expensive wheel.

 

[Dmacleo]

cool deal

 

[JWR]

Happy ending ! Suggest look at

for maint on those wheels. I would definitely use some sort of fail-safe pins and make darn sure the assembly cannot come off. By the way, at those prices I would have to consider finding more reasonably priced wheels & swivels (if this ever happens again) and have a weldong/fabrication shop adapt them to your deck. The $350 is utterly absurd. You can probably search around [on the web] and find a beat up old deck with the wheels and swivels intact for that kind of money and buy it for parts.

 

[beargap]

The original metal pin with cotter pin was replaced by the safety pin shown installed on the deck. I can see how the original cotter pic might have snagged on brush and pulled out without being noticed, then it was just a matter of time before the pin vibrated out.Then the whole assembly was just waiting for a dip to drop off. The safety pin, now on all 4 wheels, should resist that.

 

[GeneV]

Those retaining clips get yanked out by weeds, I've learned that the hard way. I just replace them with a shcs screw and a nut, that wheel ain't going anywhere.

 

[Dmacleo]

my MF2326 mid mount uses these and they come off hard.



massey part number 4260289M1 and should be around 4$ each.
same clip used the 2325. may fit yours.