wijawha
New member
Hi folks!
I recently bought a used BX1500. This will mainly be my mower with some use of the loader and maybe a tiller or other garden and lawn attachments.
After getting it home and working on it, I realize the mowing deck was abused. It was very dirty underneath. The blades were ragged with big dings and way unbalanced. One spindle is not the same as the others with a different size bolt. Center cup was worn through all around becoming a thin washer. There were no cup washers or lock washers on any of the blade bolts. It is missing a rear anti-scalping shaft and wheel. Another front anti-scalping wheel is not rolling properly and was bent.
I overlooked the deck when I bought because I thought it would be simple to straighten the bent wheel and find a used shaft/wheel cheaply. Now, I'm thinking the deck may need a good bit of work to fix up. Pricing from Messicks, it looked to be about $250 for new parts. That leaves no guarantee of the condition of the rest of the spindles, pulleys, gearbox etc. The idea of parts failing and flying off this powerful mower kind of scares me.
I came across a nearly new deck online for $1100. Was thinking I could talk them down to $900, maybe. Also, maybe could sell my used deck for a couple hundred.
What do you all think? Should I pony-up for the nearly new deck to have that piece of mind or continue repairing the old deck.
The OLD

The NEW

I recently bought a used BX1500. This will mainly be my mower with some use of the loader and maybe a tiller or other garden and lawn attachments.
After getting it home and working on it, I realize the mowing deck was abused. It was very dirty underneath. The blades were ragged with big dings and way unbalanced. One spindle is not the same as the others with a different size bolt. Center cup was worn through all around becoming a thin washer. There were no cup washers or lock washers on any of the blade bolts. It is missing a rear anti-scalping shaft and wheel. Another front anti-scalping wheel is not rolling properly and was bent.
I overlooked the deck when I bought because I thought it would be simple to straighten the bent wheel and find a used shaft/wheel cheaply. Now, I'm thinking the deck may need a good bit of work to fix up. Pricing from Messicks, it looked to be about $250 for new parts. That leaves no guarantee of the condition of the rest of the spindles, pulleys, gearbox etc. The idea of parts failing and flying off this powerful mower kind of scares me.
I came across a nearly new deck online for $1100. Was thinking I could talk them down to $900, maybe. Also, maybe could sell my used deck for a couple hundred.
What do you all think? Should I pony-up for the nearly new deck to have that piece of mind or continue repairing the old deck.
The OLD

The NEW
