JD la165

[tile]

Have a La165 mower for around the house has around 102 hours on it been great up till last week.
Was mowing the yard and then after about 30 min of mowing I started to smell like a rubber was burning so I stop the mower and look at the deck.
And the idler was off the stud and the belt was riding on the stud. So I took the deck off the mower and tryed to remove the stud but can not.

So I take it to the dealer I got the mower from and he said they had to die-grind the stud off and drill out then install a new stud price $60.00 to 80.00

Well I call today and ask about my deck and was told I need a new deck at the cost of $500.00 to over 800.00 cause there are no parts to fix this.
They say you can not buy this stud.

Here's a few pics of what it looks like sure can use some help on this.

Thanks Ron.

 

[BBO]

Well I call today and ask about my deck and was told I need a new deck at the cost of $500.00 to over 800.00 cause there are no parts to fix this.
They say you can not buy this stud.

It does look like the idler mounts are part of the frame.


I would find a machine shop that can cut it off and make the piece or whatever to get a stud to look like the other one.
This surely was making a powerful noise to do this damage.

A complete new deck is probably closer to $900, and I do not see an item number for just the frame.

The right machine shop could come up with something to fix this.

You might find a used one someplace, even if you had to put some of your parts on it.

 

[TedLaRue]

Ron,

From your picture it looks like the inner race of the bearing inside the sheave (that is, the inside ring of the bearing which is embedded in the idler "pulley") is missing, as well as the nut that threads onto the stud. ["sheave" is just a "pulley" with a college education...]

You said the belt was running on the stud rather than the sheave. How did you find what was left of the sheave? In what way was the stud damaged so badly that it needs to be replaced? All it has to do is hold the inner race of that bearing in place (and parallel to the deck). If the threads are ok and the shaft of the stud will still hold a new bearing, just replace the sheave (and find a nut for the stud). It doesn't matter if the stud has bad places in it as long as it can be smoothed up enough so that the new bearing will fit over it.

If the threads on the end of the stud are damaged, it might be possible to clean them up with a thread cutting die.

I'm just suggesting some possibilities to consider before you follow BBO's good advice to take it to a machine shop. In my experience, those machine shop guys like a challenge, and probably like the words of appreciation from customers for whom they just saved many $$$$.

 

[tile]

It does look like the idler mounts are part of the frame.
View attachment 322847

I would find a machine shop that can cut it off and make the piece or whatever to get a stud to look like the other one.
This surely was making a powerful noise to do this damage.

A complete new deck is probably closer to $900, and I do not see an item number for just the frame.

The right machine shop could come up with something to fix this.

You might find a used one someplace, even if you had to put some of your parts on it.

After I looked at it I wonder if I can just cut the stud off even with the deck.
Then get a new pulley and belt and find a grade 8 bolt and drill a hole in were the old stud was.
And have the pulley run off the bolt.
Wonder if that would work.

 

[tile]

Ron,

From your picture it looks like the inner race of the bearing inside the sheave (that is, the inside ring of the bearing which is embedded in the idler "pulley") is missing, as well as the nut that threads onto the stud. ["sheave" is just a "pulley" with a college education...]

You said the belt was running on the stud rather than the sheave. How did you find what was left of the sheave? In what way was the stud damaged so badly that it needs to be replaced? All it has to do is hold the inner race of that bearing in place (and parallel to the deck). If the threads are ok and the shaft of the stud will still hold a new bearing, just replace the sheave (and find a nut for the stud). It doesn't matter if the stud has bad places in it as long as it can be smoothed up enough so that the new bearing will fit over it.

If the threads on the end of the stud are damaged, it might be possible to clean them up with a thread cutting die.

I'm just suggesting some possibilities to consider before you follow BBO's good advice to take it to a machine shop. In my experience, those machine shop guys like a challenge, and probably like the words of appreciation from customers for whom they just saved many $$$$.

Would you believe that the nut came off and the pulley and was on top of the deck when I stopped.
And the belt cut over half the stud in half.

If my bolt fix will not work then yea off to a machine shop I will go.

 

[BBO]

It might be better to have the bolt welded in from underneath.
If you could find the correct diameter partially threaded grade 8 metric bolt, the idler could fit around the unthreaded portion.

Also, a section of hardened rod could be threaded on one end, cut and welded on.
Whatever just be sure the idler is positioned in the original vertical location, and you have the other one to compare.

Have you already bought a new JD idler pulley?
Your dealer should have came up with some form of stud to fix this with.

That's an M10 nut so I am guessing you need 10mm bolt

This link below is NOT what you need, but was the original stud made like this on the end?
http://www.mcmaster.com/#threaded-precision-shafts/=n7acvt
If the new idler has the sleeve then a bolt concept should work.

 

[jinman]

If you put a nut through from the bottom, you'll have to have several flat washers or a nut and flat washer on top of the deck so the new idler's outer radius where it is flanged does not drag on the deck surface. On top of the idler pulley, you can add a flatwasher and double-nut the end of the bolt so you can make it tight against the idler's bearing without putting too much pressure and causing the bearing to fail. All the pressure needs to be on the inner race with nothing touching the outer bearing race, so a small flat washer is needed.

If I were you, I'd just go ahead and replace all the idlers. They are not expensive and will prevent this from happening in the future. The idler that failed on your deck is the first idler and takes all the torque from the engine when you energize the PTO clutch. It has nothing to dampen that shock of getting the deck up to speed and is the a cheap idler doing the heaviest work. I even considered putting an arm on mine with a short throw spring holding it against the belt to use as a shock absorber for that initial stress.

 

[tile]

Want to update you guys on my fix.
I got the John Deere Bracket # GY20718 today I had to grind the old bracket off
then I installed the new part and it works like new :fing32:

The Bracket # GY20718 fit fine. I just made sure it was in the same spot as the old one was and drilled 3 new holes and bolted it in place.
I also replaced all the old pulleys with new ones. I think there was 3 or 4

I can not believe the dealer could not fix this and wanted to charge me for a whole new deck very sad.

Well in a few years when I need a new mower I will not be going there.

Ron.

 

[BBO]

I got the John Deere Bracket # GY20718 today I had to grind the old bracket off
then I installed the new part

How did you find that part number for the bracket? I thought these welded on vs. bolt on.
I had envisioned a stud welded onto a ~2" x 2" x 1/4" piece of steel. Then inserted up from underneath the bracket.
Then welded on (or bolted) to the old mount, but that great if you got it fixed with a $70 bracket.
The bolts will need to be pretty good to hold an idler on; this one takes a lot of abuse.

 

[tile]

How did you find that part number for the bracket? I thought these welded on vs. bolt on.
I had envisioned a stud welded onto a ~2" x 2" x 1/4" piece of steel. Then inserted up from underneath the bracket.
Then welded on (or bolted) to the old mount, but that great if you got it fixed with a $70 bracket.
The bolts will need to be pretty good to hold an idler on; this one takes a lot of abuse.

Did so looking and seen this at a diff site.
I was not made for the JD model or year but I thought it was worth a shot to try.