Rear Finish Mower Junkyard mower rebuild

[TraderMark]

I found a 6ft Caroni RFM at the junkyard the other day. I thought it was in great shape, but after using it for a few hours Friday, I saw that it's going to need some "tweaking"

I think the reason they probably scrapped the thing is because the center blade will NOT stay tight on the spindle. Of course the PO probably caused this when they had the threads on the spindle re-cut to 3/4 coarse thread instead of the metric fine thread it's supposed to be. Coarse thread don't strip as easily but fine threads have much more clamping force.

So I decided I'd strip this mower down to the bare frame and build it back up the way I think it should have been built to start with.

I'll post pics as I go.

First thing was to strip everything off and get down to the bare deck.

The first pic is the mower on stands, waiting for the butcher (Me)
Second pic is nothing but the deck.
Third pic is an attempt to show how much the back had been pushed in and bent.

 

[TraderMark]

First order of business was to straighten out the back. With the back pushed in the way it was, every minor bump while backing up made the outer two blades strike the cowling underneath the deck.

Between me, a large pipe wrench with accessory handle (aka long pipe), the skid steer bucket to act as a vise and a half dozen or so C-clamps, it didn't take long to straighten the bend.

Unfortunately it was about that time that my camera decided not to auto save pics for me and I didn't get any pics of the straightening process.

But after I got it straight (the mower AND the camera :laughing I thought, "Reenforcment is needed here."

A piece of thin wall, 2x2 tubing was lying close by, calling out, "Me!! Pick MEEE!!" so I used that to reenforce the back wall. I cut the ends at an angle and capped them. I thought a few plug welds from the inside of the deck would help hold the reenforcing, as well as the stitch welds along the outside.

A couple of gussets in strategic locations and I was standing back, admiring my progress for the day when the rain started.

First pic is of the gussets and the 2x2 tubing (at the bottom of the pic). You can see the 4 plug welds too.
Second pic is of the tubing and the nice straight line the back of the mower forms now.

 

[TraderMark]

After a half inch of rain and a couple hours delay I was back at it again.

I noticed from the beginning that I didn't like the way the gauge wheels were mounted on this mower. Each arm had 3 10mm carriage head bolts that came from the underside of the deck, through the arm with a nut on top. I was afraid that with all the weight of the mower on just 6 carriage head bolts, the bolts may try and pull through the deck. On close inspection, I found I was correct. The bolts had already started to pull through the deck and had several cracks from each of the corners of the square holes. With a few blows of my trusty 3lb sledge with the 10lb sledge underneath as a dolly, the holes were back at surface level.

To solve this problem I intend to use a piece of 3/8 X 2 FB stretching full length from front to back and stitch welded to the underside of the deck, holes drilled in the correct spots for 3/8 bolts to pass through the FB, the deck and the arm. On top of the arm, I'll use a piece of 1/4 X 1-1/2 FB so the nuts don't try and pull through the arms.

Since Mother Nature decided she wasn't done yet, the rain started again and I had to put the project on hold until next weekend.

More updates as available.

Pics of the cracked deck holes.