any toro groundsmaster fans on here?

[jrsavoie]

455 hours. I can get it for 3k. Not a smoking deal but OK.

I would say that's not a bad deal at all. I paid $2300 for the 1996 223D 15 or more years ago. And it had double the hours.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I agree.

 

[Creamer]

I notice the front of the deck all bent up and the left deck arm has been welded. Could be an incompetent operator or it could be a drive/brake issue. i would check it thoroughly. A ding or two on the front fo the deck is not abnormal but that is excessive and why did that deck arm did not break with a bump.

 

[jrsavoie]

I notice the front of the deck all bent up and the left deck arm has been welded. Could be an incompetent operator or it could be a drive/brake issue. i would check it thoroughly. A ding or two on the front fo the deck is not abnormal but that is excessive and why did that deck arm did not break with a bump.

The deck arm might make me nervous. I might be inclined to replace it with a used part. I haven't had a deck yet - on anything - that I didn't have to repair. I try to use stainless for patching and rebuilding. It's not that much more expensive and holds up a lot better in the long run. We tend to keep stuff forever and a day.

 

[Creamer]

I guess I have had my Deines for 20 years now and the front edge of the deck has a couple of dings on it - not that it has not bumped things but certainly nothing close to the dents shown in these photos. Mine has been driven by many people including my kids. I did have one front corner of the deck tat my wife caught on something that I have weld repaired but that was a very attributable cause. 1300 hours on it mowing around a lot of obstacles. my point being deck repair should not be normal.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I took some more pics. That arm to me was repaired by the best welder I've seen or it is factory. Doesn't look like a repair. The deck was repaired in the front. The unit was from a city. The hour meter was replaced and shows 150 hours. The owner thought I was asking about another unit he had for sale. That is where the 455 hour came from. I checked the oil and filters. They had been serviced. The oil looked new. It runs out great.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I took some more pics. That arm to me was repaired by the best welder I've seen or it is factory. Doesn't look like a repair. The deck was repaired in the front. The unit was from a city. The hour meter was replaced and shows 150 hours. The owner thought I was asking about another unit he had for sale. That is where the 455 hour came from. I checked the oil and filters. They had been serviced. The oil looked new. It runs out great.

Still would rather have this than a residential zero turn. I will used it to trim areas I can't get close to with the 75 and 6 foot RFM.

 

[Xfaxman]

:thumbsup: That is going to be your favorite mowing machine.

The brake cables tend to rust and not move, if not lubed.

You can shorten the deck lift chains to raise the deck higher. Mine are using 11 links on the left and right:

Adjust the back chain short as possible without causing contact with the driveshaft when raised:

Your model number is 30788, the first part of the serial number indicates what year it was made, starting in 1988: Toro Master PartsViewer

 

[jrsavoie]

What is the fix for sloppy rear end 1998 Toro Groundsmaster 325D?

I thought of boring and then bushing the hole on the mounting piece. Thought also about mounting a bearing there. Can I get a 1" or slightly bigger - maybe metric - about 1/2" thick - could be a little thicker if I made new plates for the outside of the axle support assembly - bearing that would be heavy duty enough to hold the weight and hammering abuse?

Can those be bought new? If so how much are they?

I also thought of boring and using a bigger shaft - 1 1/16 to 1 1/4. If I have to bore the rear end bushing, it might be better to stay smaller.

I haven't cleaned the inside of the sleeve on the rear end. Is it held in the somehow? Possibly by the grease zerk?

Is the sleeve replaceable?

I am assuming the bushing that goes through the rear end is necessary for wear purposes on the rear end. I do not remember now if there would be enough meat there to bore the whole thing and use a larger sleeve.

The sideways movement of the shaft through the rear end isn't much but visible.

I'm not sure what the sleeve in the rear end has for grease grooves. Might make it hard to bore. Something for the tool to catch on.

For those that have not had the part of the frame - axle support assembly - off that the rear axle attaches to, There is a big old cast weight in there, that is only held in by the rear weight bolts. When you take the rear weight bolts off, that hunk of cast is just sitting in there.

I am so far having trouble figuring out for sure the part number for the axle support assembly for my Toro 325D. All the pictures seem to have the steering cylinder running across the back instead of under the machine as mine is.

I am surprised that each serial number group I have looked at so far has a different part number for the axle support assembly

I found the 2 bushings that go on the axle itself By looks, My bushings look like the newer bushings - 95-7537, by serial number it calls for the older bushings 67-1750 I will order both.

That takes me back to repairing the axle support assembly. The replacement that I saw, that I am not sure matched my unit was over $500.

I am thinking more about installing a couple of 1" bearings instead. My worry is finding them 1/2" wide and heavy duty enough to hold up to the pounding.

I would also have to make a new shaft That is 1/4" longer and have the plate with the 3/4" hole put on after the extra plate for the longer shaft.

Does anybody think bearings would hold up better than just the steel the shaft rides on now?

It looks like my machine had an extra thrust washer I have 3 ea. 1" thrust washers. Part number 71-4540 and one 3/4"

Just a note. I was told the bi directional clutch should fit tight with no forward and back, movement. It should also have minimal side play.

I was told to shorten the spacer so it tightened down on the clutch. I am going to make a new spacer so the spacer fits tight to the bolt.

Thanks

 

[Turbys_1700]

:thumbsup: That is going to be your favorite mowing machine.

The brake cables tend to rust and not move, if not lubed.

You can shorten the deck lift chains to raise the deck higher. Mine are using 11 links on the left and right:

View attachment 556221


Adjust the back chain short as possible without causing contact with the driveshaft when raised:

View attachment 556220


Your model number is 30788, the first part of the serial number indicates what year it was made, starting in 1988: Toro Master PartsViewer

Thanks XFAXMAN for the helpful insight...
With the rain we've had here I have time to grease everything up good...
I need to pull the air filter and check it out...
The engine oil looked fresh...
I will look at the hydraulic fluid also...
I'll probably go ahead and service it...
The hydro's are strong...
Pulled it up a 20' deck over with no issues at all...
Looking forward to running it...
I'm sure I will have more questions...