overhaulin the 62c

[megotatractor]

After 7 years of use (and abuse) I am overhauling the 62c mower deck. First, a couple years ago I realized I had been using the wrong grease for the spindle bearings (oops). Plus badly worn and out of balance blades are also hard on spindle bearings. So I could actually see visible movement at the tips of my new mower blade if I jingled them in the up/down direction, that aint right.
Second issue; two of the gage wheels -the fronts- looked and felt like they were falling off. The back two gage wheels seem fine. One of the loose wheels had the inner seal fall out of place and was pinched between the hub and the arm. So for this issue I went to the dealer for gage wheel bearings. Nocando, only available as a kit that includes a new wheel. Okay so I slap the new wheel on the first arm and it still wobbles a bit. Oops, the axle is worn too! And worse, I gotta buy the whole darn arm for nearly 40 bucks! ouch! Well, this is the result of a rough lawn, not much to do but buy the parts and suck it up. Apparently three of the gage wheels are built this way but the fourth, the left rear wheel is built differently with a replaceable axle which is included in the wheel kits. But I don't need to do anything with that wheel, but since I have two extra axles that came with the two new front wheels I slapped in a new axle just for giggles.
Back to the spindles; the spindle nuts were very very tight requiring a 15/16 wrench plus a "cheater" on the end for more power. There are convenient holes in the sheaves for placing pin punches through to hold them. Watch your toes folks! I had my mower hoisted up onto a pair of saw horses and when the spindle nut is loosened the spindle shaft falls out the bottom! The center spindle came out looking a little bit "wet", a chocolate coloration to the grease would suggest some water got in.
Third; can't see it in the photo but I cleaned the bottom off nice with a paint stripping wheel on my drill. I then painted it to look nice and yellow/shiny. This has the unfortunate effect of making the topside of the mower deck look a faded vanilla color. Yuk! That's the trouble with the yellow parts, they fade. Is that why they went to green decks?
Well, back to the fun...

Note; in the photo I have the spindles sitting on top of the bearings waiting for parts.

 

[ovrszd]

Great writeup. I have the same machine minus loader. Your deck looks like new compared to mine. Maybe I "abuse" mine more... I've not had to replace any parts on mine yet. Probably just jinxed myself.

 

[thatguy]

Just curious - what grease were you using.. What grease should we be using, with as much details as specification to look for as possible ?

thanks

b

 

[ovrszd]

I just use normal grade gun grease.

 

[John_in_TN]

JD "SD Polyurea" is what that put in at the factory, and what JD reccomends as their best general purpose grease. I have used it for more than fifteen years in everything. I have had no spindle bearing problems including one JD that is 20 years old (no hour meter on it).

I have a 62C on an X740 with nearly 550 hours on it. Those gage wheels & shafts do seem to wear quickly. In fairness: my yard is not too level and I run the 62C down hard on the gage wheels (not sligthly off the ground as reccomended). I have replaced the two front gage wheels and one shaft so far, and the right front is wobbling again - havent' pulled it apart to determine if it needs just the wheel or both (shaft & wheel).

 

[ovrszd]

i only use my wheels to prevent scalping. Normally they are coasting along only being turned by the friction of the standing grass. I grease them every time I mow. Not replaced any yet. I mow a lot of uneven, steep sloped, rough surfaced areas.

 

[megotatractor]

The spindle bearings aren't all that bad, I just hate seeing the grease slinging out through the worn seals. I used cheap grease and had out of balance blades. Maybe just being picky, but having seen the evidense of moisture in the center bearing I'm glad I'm doing it. Popped in the center bearings in less than an hour tonight, nice and tight and smooth now. Two more to do.
The gage wheels, well, I set them according to specs about 1/2 inch above the ground. of course when the bumps and lumps are over an inch and the tractor is bouncin the gage wheels take a beatin. I've found that setting the gage wheels this way to "catch" the deck on the way down helps keep the tractor bouncing to a minimum. I guess I'd rather the gage wheels take a beating rather than my backside.
If my mower deck looks better than average I suppose because I clean it good oh about once a month in summer and a thorough cleaning/scrubbing/painting/greasing before storing it in winter.