Woods Equipment issues

[Anonymous Poster]

I really like the quality of Woods equipment. I'm just starting to wonder if they have their act together. I have a gto tiller, gbc box blade and lbc landscape rake for the bx2200. The tiller works great, but someone at the factory left a gasket out when assembling the rotor shaft bearing cover at the gearbox which resulted in a puddle of gear lube on the floor. The dealer took it all apart and sealed it up. Problem 1 solved.
I just picked up a set of gauge wheels yesterday for the rake. Took a month to get, and I'm anxious to get them on as I want to be ready if this weather breaks. Opened the box tonight and started putting all the hardware together. Got everything but the six height spacers /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif. The wheel kit won't work without them (wheels slide up and down 1 1/2" without them). Hopefully I can get them without another month shot waiting. In the meantime I'm hoping to find a bunch of 1" flatwashers.
Has anyone had problems like this with Woods or am I just hitting a bad stretch with them? They seem to build a nice heavy piece of gear but I wonder if these kinds of problems are isolated or common.
DaveL

 

[JerryG]

My dealer orders my blades from Woods. I usually get them in about a week. He was ordering me some off brand. The off brand didn't last as long and were more costly. I'll only order Woods from now on.

 

[JohnMiller3]

Hi Dave,

I'm curious as to the price of the wheel kit for the rake...?

A few years back, I considered a Woods rake (extremely well made) but almost had a cardiac arrest from some quoted "wheel kit" prices... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[DIYGuy]

Your local independent bicycle shop may have aluminum spacers for 1" headsets that will work just fine. Bicycle headset spacers come in 1", 1 1/8", and 1 1/4" measured O.D. They're available in 1,2.5,5,10,20 mm heights.

Good Luck.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

If it takes forever to get the spacers, why not use a pipe nipple - pretty cheap at Home Depot. Flat washers are reasonable at Tractor Supply, pretty expensive (but usually available) at Lowes. I have the Woods Estate Series rake - love and hate it.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The wheel kit won't work without them (wheels slide up and down 1 1/2" without them). Hopefully I can get them without another month shot waiting. In the meantime I'm hoping to find a bunch of 1" flatwashers.
)</font>

I agree that without the spacers the rake is very aggressive in it's "digging" but it still works better than without the guide wheels at all. The spacers on this unit are "C" shaped and can be added and removed quickly and easily because the shaft is notched to allow the open part of the spacer to just slide over the notched part of the shaft. Works pretty slick.
Hope you get them soon!

 

[Anonymous Poster]

JonMillerIII,
The wheel kit is almost half the price of the rake. Really nicely made, but not cheap by any means.
Thanks all for your responses. Yeah, for right now I'll go the washer or pipe nipple route, it just bugs me to have to jruy rig around like this. Woods makes nice gear, but the followups/ snafus are becoming a pain.
DaveL

 

[markie61]

I bought a used RFM that was missing a couple spacers. I found ones (they were called "bushings") that work at TSC in the dept where all the lynch pins and such are displayed
Mark

 

[DIYGuy]

Error in my previous post. Spacers are measured I.D., The steerer tubes are measured O.D.

MarkS (DIYGuy)

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I have a Woods 660 finish mower which I tore the pto shaft on. It took a month of wrong part#s to get the right ones. My dealer has been doing this for over 35 years and was ticked.He let them (Woods)know how he felt. The problem is they buy from different venders who ever is cheaper thus creating a parts nightmare. He was able to stock a couple different cross kits and shafts and fix any model now he would go broke trying to stock every different part. I like what they sell I have in addition to the 660, a brushbull 72,and a RB72 backblade. On the brushbull the shaft has the sliding collar what a pain getting it on but it is a heavy duty mower works very well.

 

[HayDR]

We stock 20 different cross bearings, 15 different shields, 20 different styles of PTO tubes and specialize in metric PTO's which is 80% of the OEM market now. Most dealers hate PTO's because it so time consuming to identify what's in front of you. So if you have a PTO problem take it to the dealer. If you want to be frustrated call and say I need a shield for XYZ cutter and I'm sending someone over to pick one up. We stock complete PTO's because if 50% of the parts are damaged it will be cheaper to replace the entire shaft. Take a fertilizer spreader shaft, we sell them for $35 and labor rate is $40 an hour in our shop, plus parts & go figure, REPLACE IT.

 

[djradz]

Dave, I've always had very good parts support from Woods and their two local dealers. Because of this, I've continued to use and maintain my 7 ft Woods RFM which now is over 25 years old. All parts have always come in within one week and often less. Only on rare occasion has anything ever been back ordered, and even then, it's more like 2 or at the most 3 weeks.

 

[soarkrebel]

Hey dwight i have a brushbull 60. i cut the shroud on the collar with a box cutter so i could get it on and off easier.

i think the shaft shroud is a good idea but the shroud around the coupler is BULL. so i cut it off. i also cut the one at the gearbox so i could grease the joint easier.

all in all i have been happy. my dealer just didnt remove the quick hitch bolt and i kind of bent the support links , they straightened out. he owes me a can of paint still! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif