Broken Guage Wheel Bracket on LT1046

[jgriswol538802]

I have an LT1046. It is about a year old. I hit something with the right front guage wheel and bent the bracket. I was able to bend it back into place, but saw a crack in the bracket. A couple of mows later I managed to catch the wheel on something else and the bracket broke off completely. It broke right where it is welded to the deck. The broken piece also has a crack in it where it makes a right angle bend. Without the wheel I am scalping the grass in many places and getting very uneven results.

Is the best repair method to have this welded back to the deck and to weld the additional crack? Cub Cadet doesn't even list the bracket as a replaceable part. If the old bracket can not be welded where can I get a new bracket to weld onto the deck? I will be more careful in the future , but I can see this happening to the other side as well. Should I attempt to reinforce that one before it breaks?

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[OldMachinist]

I just welded the right gauge wheel mount back on my Z-Force 50 the other day. I welded the other side back on two years ago. A skilled welder will know what needs to be done to reinforce it to try and prevent it from happening again.

 

[JTKub]

I agree. A good weld, maybe even with some added material will make that section way better than new.

Now instead of tearing the wheel off, you'll rip the whole deck off. (I'm kidding!!)

My attempts at welding look like high velocity bird poop. Someone willing and able to do little hi quality fab jobs for you is like GOLD!

In the meantime, WATCH where you're mowing! If those gauge wheels are mostly contacting the ground, you're too low. You're going to break more than the gauge wheels in the long run.

Joel