[Brad_ruch]

check out these kits this guy is making!!!i am going to buy one.he has them on ebay for 135.00 complete.thats for the 300 series.he also has lock out valves for the 316,318,322,332,330,420,430.http://www.aux-hyd.com/

 

[aariel]

I took my 54 inch deck apart for maintenance and the M8 x 30 carriage bolts that mount the spindles to the deck have what appears to be way too much slop in them. The square holes in the spindle body appear to be in good shape as do the bolts.

I was at the dealer today and we checked a brand new spindle and bolt and the slop is the same.

The slop made removing about 4 of the bolts a very challenging experience as the bolt would just spin and damage the spindle's square hole! (Vise-Grips to the rescue).

Possible solutions include M9x30 bolts, wrapping the bolt's square shoulder with metal, using Loctite. Switching to M8x30 cap head bolts.

My question is why is Deere spec'ing so much slop? And what can be done about it so that bolt removal is easier next time?

 

[woodpecker41]

Paul I suspect cap screws may hit the pulley. I have always used 3/8" cap screws in the decks I have worked on. Roger

 

[aariel]

Roger,

There's enough clearance between the bolt head and the bottom of the pulley to get a Vise-Grip in and grab the bolt head, so I suspect a cap head bolt will clear the pulley.

Although as I think about it, I probably need a washer under the cap head, but even with a washer I suspect the clearance won't be an issue.

I'm wondering is all the slop is there to protect the aluminum casting of the spindle. Although the square holes do get chewed up with the carriage bolt spins, so I have no idea what the Deere engineers are thinking. It's real mystery.

 

[woodpecker41]

Tractors earlier than these used cast iron castings and close was good enough. On early decks there isn't enough rood for a bolt head. Roger

 

[aariel]

The dealer pointed out that cap head bolts will trap more grass under the pulley. Which is one of the reason they spec'd carriage bolts.

The dealer also pointed out that the square neck on carriage bolts come in different lengths and that the square hole in the spindle may be tapered. And that the problem may be that the bolt necks are not long enough.

Plus I believe I've found an error in their part catalog. The catalog spec's 03M7186 for the bolt, but the catalog shows that bolt only has a 3mm neck which the original clearly does not have.

Back to the dealer to straighten all this out.

 

[aariel]

Looking at the JDParts Catalog, searching by spec, there are basically three neck depth for M8 x 30 carriage bolts, 3, 4.6 and 5.6mm. Looking at the square holes in spindle where the the bolt spun, it's clear that the old bolt necks only go about 2/3 of the way down. I believe they are 4.6s. I'm going to go order some 5.6s and I should be good to go.

 

[aariel]

I believe I've found an error in the JDParts Catalog. It currently spec's a 3mm neck which doesn't even match the old bolts.

So either they changed the bolt spec since my deck was manufactured or they've got the wrong part spec'd. My guess is they have the wrong part spec'd as a 3mm deep neck is a sheet metal bolt and the square hole in the spindle is quite a bit deeper.

I am wondering if they changed the neck depth because of thermal expansion cracking the spindle. Anyone heard of this particular problem?