hole in mower deck!

[Bird]

Re: Talked to the dealer...

It'll be interesting to hear the outcome. Roy was going on the assumption that the exterior was something other than aluminum and I was making the opposite assumption./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I still don't understand how you could have gotten a hole in it other than by hitting something like a rock that hit it from inside, and of course, I would have expected you to hear that when it happened.

Bird

 

[scruffy]

Re: Talked to the dealer...

Bird, I likewise made the assumption that the case was made of aluminum. I also automatically assumed patch would be on the outside of the case. I forget to supply full vocalization to my thoughts, and I sure don't expect anyone to decipher those!
I think I would run it by a local machine/welding shop and have a professional opinion made as to the identity of material used, and the possibility of welding a patch over the exterior of the area in question.
Running the equipment can aggravate the area, extending/enlarging any hairline cracks that may have been introduced by the projectile.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by scruffy on 10/4/00 05:45 AM.</FONT></P>

 

[Roy]

Re: Talked to the dealer...

Tony; As for your last question. Outside of JD coming through, patching, or swallowing the $260+ /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif, I can't think of any other options. While waiting for Deere to get back to you, you might want to contact a local shop to get a repair cost estimate. After having a shop look at it, let us know what they say about the material. I just can't think of how an aluminum puncture could look like a fiberglass break. (But I haven't seen nearly everything!).

Let us know what happens. I am also curious, if JD ends up providing a new deck, how old the unit is. Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[TomG]

An old way of repairing aluminum was rivets. Light airplane bodies, especially around the engine, develop cracks. My dad was an A&E mechanic, and he had the rivet tools. The procedure was: stop drill the crack; cut an aluminum patch; form the patch over the crack and drill several holes; hold the patch to the body with special spring loaded clamps that extended through the drill holds; drill more holes; and set rivets in with a rivet punch and a bucking bar behind.

I help my dad do this, and it works really well, but the special rivet tools are required. Pop rivets might work, but I doubt they'd do as well. The riveting we did was not on any contoured surface, but riveting might work if the metal deck shell has some sort of resin coating and can't be welded.

 

[TonyR]

Response from JD

I have included the response from John Deere below. To answer a previous question, the unit is 2 years old with only about 20 cuttings under it's belt (I bought it a couple months before moving to an apartment while building my new house). But... from JD's response, I will be looking into having someone local fix it with some type of patch. I will keep you updated on what I do.

Response from JD:
Your dealer administers the warranty program for us and you would have to take the mower to him for inspection. If the dealer determines that the deck is defective in material or workmanship from the factory and not that he had impact damage then they can make the call as to if it is something that warr. would cover. As far as I know, we have not had any deck problems and we have been using the same deck for 10 years.

 

[Roy]

Re: Response from JD

"As far as I know, we have not had any (fill in blank) problems and we have been using the same (fill in blank) for 10 years." Is this a response right out of the Firestone management handbook? /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I got a 40 year old Allis B10. A few years ago I wasn't paying attention and ran the mower deck into a tree. The blade put a 10" gash in the housing. I whacked the housing straight with a sledge hammer and welded the gash. Still getting a beautiful cut. I wouldn't worry about a "pinhole" no matter what kind of exotic material your housing is made of. If it gets larger, stop drill, weld if metal, epoxy if other, paint if you want, and don't worry about it.

 

[jimmoore]

Small hole? Use BONDO!


jim

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Use, J B Weld.

 

[scruffy]

I would still recommend the hole having a patch welded onto it for two basic reasons.
A. The weld will stop any hairline cracks from traveling further (cracks can be imposible to see with by eye - magnafluxing would be required to determine if or how many there may be)
B. The patch will provide extra protection and strength in the damaged area, providing increased safety and relief from further damage to existing problem.
The above may be 'overkill' but such is preferable to possible future problems.