Export thread

I suppose this is a stupid question, but how can I tell if this bushing is bad? Will there be back and forth movement? Is it difficult to replace? This is on a 20hp 42" Ariens tractor, model number 936042.

Thanks

Question, Which ones are you referring to? 67 or 74. The 74s are easy to get to. 67s no so much.
And yes there will a lot of play in the area.


The center pivot bushings will require removal of the axle. And you might need to do a little grinding on the bushing depending on the center pivot point wear. But of course I like a tighter spec than the OEM on these joints. Like Snapper idler arm I did Saturday where I remove .002-.005" from the bushing to limit the play.

I'm already replacing the 74's. I am inquiring about the 67's. I figured it would not be such an easy repair. I've had this mower for numerous years now, and never changed any of these bushings. There's a lot of play in the steering, and I have a toe out situation, too. I have new steering linkage, new spindle bushings, and I replaced the front tires. So, it's a difficult repair?

Only if the bush has worn a ridge on the bolt
They pry out relatively easily once the bar has been removed
Check for wear on the frame
you may need to pack out the rear one to take up the slack

By the diagram I assume that 2 bushings are needed? So far I've only been able to locate them in a single bushing.

Yep.
2 of them
Not 100% familiar with that particular mower but usually the 2 bushings touch preventing the pivot bolt from being overtightened .

Can you possibly advise where I can get these in a pair? It's been quite difficult to locate just one. Is there maybe a cross reference for the same part? I assume it's used in other makes and models. The Ariens part number is 21546336. I tried doing a search on the internet for a cross reference, but I didn't find anything.

Thanks

Well AFAIK Ariens never made a mower they designed them then had them made
From the parts books they appear to be the AYP ( Husqvarna layout ) and were used on the LT & LTH series which are getting a bit long in the tooth
and low & behold, the Husqvarna part 532 19 47-37 which according to some web sites is NLA and according to others superceeds to 529 49 63-01 which some sites say they have in stock.
OTOH the new part does not seem to have any photos
They are not pairs as such so take your single new one to a good bearing shop near an industrial area and there is a good chance they will recognise it if it is a standard top hat bush

174737 superseded to 532174737 then was superseded to 529496301.

And I get no hits on 532496301 which appears to be a bad number. I have seen sites to make up their own numbers lately. Definitely no such number in my latest price files from Gardner and RBI.

local listing
Note they have a price but none in stock so they have to be ordered in
I don't usually order from this mob , just the first one that popped up
My bad I copied the number down wrong should be 529496301so I will go back & amend the incorrect post above
E bay listing that of course will only be good for a short while new bush on evilpay
The original part photo appears to be a plastic bush
New part looks the be a bronze powder pressing

It usually help to know which country someone is in too if recommending sources. One USA source has 25 of them in stock. Even my distributor has 9 of them in warehouse 7 under the older PN. The problem is I am assigned Warehouse 2, just my luck as they want an extra shipping charge to send from that warehouse.

Thanks folks, I really appreciate it.

I don't know how you searched for the bush but Jacks Small Engines has them listed under the ariens part number and the husqvarna parts numbers
Interesting that under each different brand, the price is different
For small engine parts it is always best to go to a small engine specialists like Jacks, Parts tree , Messecks, Small Engine Warehouse , Small Engine Supplies , Proparts Direct etc etc etc
Doing a google search or Amazon just does not cut the mustard .
I put in a dummy order on Jacks for 10 & it went through so they have plenty on hand .

Apparently you're correct. I would think that at least some of those you mentioned would have come up in a search. I will look into those sites. Thanks

Ammo Zone & Evil Pay and Google all work on the lazyness or ignorance of the people looking for whatever
It is all done with things called meta tags which are just key words
Because of the way search engines search, they do not go through the on line catalogues of specialist suppliers so by and large they do not appear in searches
Thus google will always send you to multiple Ammmo zone listings, evilpay listings even Craigs List listing before it sends you to the right place to look for a specific part, unless thousands of others have also been looking for the same part.
So in your case, your search should have been "Ariens mower parts"
That should bring up every supplier that sells Ariens mower parts , including Ariens themselves
You then ignore Ammo zone , Evil Pay, Ali-Baba and all the index sites , "Best buys" "go Low " etc and look at the names that are small engine specific .
And this is before you take into account all of the businesses who pay Google to make sure they get listed on the first page and the businesses who pay IT people in third world countries to manipulate the system so they appear at the top of the first Google page .

So you are in fact being trained to search in a particular way that benefits criminals like Bezos just like you train a dog .

Well heck, that ain't right!

I need some more info, if possible. I just jacked up the front of the tractor and checked the play in the axle. It easily moves back and forth in the portion of the frame where it sits. It moves enough to make contact with the frame on both sides. Can I assume that this is too much play?

No Idea
It has to have good running clearance
Sliding back & forth should not be a problem
Twisting on the pivot is
THe bush is top hat style so the flange would normally be running against a plate fairly closely otherwise there is no point of it being a top hat bush .
Time for some photos
FRomthe IPL there does not appear to be any adjustment unless the front plate has slots so it can be moved back & forth .
OTOH this is an old mower so there could be a lot of wear in there if it has never been serviced properly ( lubricated )

Well, I can tell you that the axle pivot bushings have not been serviced. I only service what the manual says to service. I'm the original owner, so the bushings are original. The axle does pivot up and down, but it also moves forward and backward and contacts the frame when it does. I'm not a mechanic, but that seems to me like it's too much play.

Slide back and forth will affect toe in/out. Not so much on this system but on NZTR steering a lot.

But shouldn't it be tighter? It's definitely moving at the pivot bushings, and not just up and down, but back and forth, also. Makes a lot of noise when it contacts the frame.

CLStout said:

But shouldn't it be tighter? It's definitely moving at the pivot bushings, and not just up and down, but back and forth, also. Makes a lot of noise when it contacts the frame.

Click to expand...

That is why we want the photos

What photos do you want? The axle pivot bushings, or the play in the axle?

We need to see the entire cross member from a distance so we can see if there is deformation in the frame
We need to see close up of the bush showing the play
We need to see both contact faces on the frame to see if there is excessive wear
You also need to loosen the front & back mounting plates , that the cross member sits between to see if there is an adjustment
From the IPL the rear looks as if it is fixed
IF there was originally a plastic bush it could have had a thicker flange section to prevent the flange snapping off .
And I need the serial number off the ID tag so I can look at the Ariens IPL from the Ariens web page rather than the equivalent model Husqvarna as there can be subtlee differences apart from the colour

Tall order, but I will do what I can.

OK, I took some pictures, but I can't seem to get them to post. Keeps telling me the files are too big for the server. Any ideas?

Try this again, using my laptop. The frame doesn't seem to be damaged, and the wear to the axle and the frame seems negligable. But, if it weren't for the frame, the axle would shift back and forth much more than it does currently. The pivot bolt is tight, but there's a lot more movement than I'm comfortable. But you folks are the experts, so I will await your response.

Thanks

That looks about right
Remember these are mowers nor Nas Car Racers so the governing factor is cheapness not precision .
IF the cross member does not roll when you turn the steering wheel or rock see saw fashion then the bush and cross member is fine
The usual problem comes from bashing into things like garden / lawn concreter edging , tree roots etc
This bends the tie rods which for cheapness have no adjustment
I have just finished repairing extreme toe in for a pensioner who is too blind to be allowed to drive a car.
As he is in his 90's the idea of replacing the tie rods at over $ 100 a piece so they got pulled off, bent a bit replaced, tried removed & bent again till the toe in was acceptable .
The rods are 5/8" and can be tapped to 5/8 unf but you need a high speed steel split die to do it as they have been hardened and after a couple of cuts the die will be blunt & need sharpening so it isa case of opening the die as far as you can taking a well lubed cut then closing the die a little waiting a 1/2 hour for the link to cool & repeat till you have enough thread depth for the tie rod end to screw in tight , WHEN THE ROD IS COLD , the first time I did not allow the rod to cool so ended up with a sloppy fit
You need to cut about 2" off the end of the tie rod.
I think the rods are a lot cheaper in the USA than they are here
The other "fix" I have used is to cut 1/2 out of the middle . thread both ends and use an "Extender Nut" ( or joining bush ).
This is cheaper because you use the original sloppy cheap ball joints at either end formed into the rod .

May I ask where you are?

I just bought both drag links, and with shipping was under $50.00. These are the OEM pieces. From Ariens they were cheaper than some other suppliers.

Have you seen the adjustable drag links? The rod is threaded on both ends, and has threaded ball joints at each end. I considered purchasing those, they were much more expensive.

The cross member doesn't roll when the wheels are turned. There's not enough room in the frame for that. However, it does seesaw very easily when I raise the front wheels off the ground.

Australia
Mower parts down here are very expensive
Not as bad as the UK but a lot more expensive than the USA
In fact JD parts down here are the cheapest & I often fit JD parts to non JD mowers because they can be up to 30% less than the exact same part in a different coloured bag.
The cross member should pilot around the bush so the wheels can go up & down
By See Saw I meant twisting so one side goes forward while the other side goes back when you turn the steering wheel like the billy cart you built when you were a child .
In fact I might now call it billy carting as most will visualize that easier .

I'd be asking myself where the play is visually.

How are things down under? I don't watch much main stream media. I pay more attention to bloggers.

It does do that seesaw thing, but luckily the frame doesn't allow it enough room to move but slightly. I guess I could check it closer for looseness.

sgkent said:

I'd be asking myself where the play is visually.

Click to expand...

I guess I need to know how much play is expected. I know it should have some play, but since the axle is attached just in one place, I suppose there is some play expected. It just seems like more than it should be. And since it's the original bushings, and never been lubed, I would think there would be some wear

CLStout said:

How are things down under? I don't watch much main stream media. I pay more attention to bloggers.

It does do that seesaw thing, but luckily the frame doesn't allow it enough room to move but slightly. I guess I could check it closer for looseness.

Click to expand...

Too much blogging will necrotize your cerebral tissue ,narrow you perception of the world and reinforce prejudices to the point you will no longer be able to perceive reality .
Like all of the people who actually believe that ex-president Trump actually won the election.
We have compulsory voting down here and because of the poor quality of news managers elections get a massive amount of coverage
We have pre-polling, actual poll day poling, postal voting and absentee voting both pre poll & overseas .
Nothing odd to see massive swings during the day so an electorate can see saw between 2 candidates then by the time all votes are cast a third candidate romps home
But perverted brains would rather believe that communist union members conspired with the Chinese / Russian communist party ( pick either one ) to manufacture votes for the other bloke than the swings being nothing more than the political prefferences of people who vote by a different means.
Postal voters are by & large on some sort of government benefit because a lot of them have some sort of dissability so postal votes always heavily favour the left parties.
Business people who don't have the time to que at a poling booth will pre-poll at the nearest poling place often absentee and will heavily favour the conservative parties
It happens every election down here .
And despite this a lot of right wing Australian bloggers pushed the stolen election conspiracy theory and because a lot of Australians would rather parrot their "hero bloggers" than look at the evidence & make up their own minds over $ 1,000,000 was sent from Australia to ex-President Trump's post election fighting fund.
The internet has a lot more dangerous stuff on it than people doing naughty stuff to other people without any cloths on .

CLStout said:

I guess I need to know how much play is expected. I know it should have some play, but since the axle is attached just in one place, I suppose there is some play expected. It just seems like more than it should be. And since it's the original bushings, and never been lubed, I would think there would be some wear

Click to expand...

I am in the middle of replacing the bushings because of extreme play in front axle, been better if I wouldnt have bothered. I ordered the bushings (yes there are 2 of them amazon has them as a pair) they pry out easy they are bronze I believe BUT the hole is so large the bolt doesnt take up any of the slack. The bolt is a pressed thread ( the thread is larger than the collar) and was wildly loose, so I went to Lowes and bought a machined thread #8 bolt to replace it (machined thread is the collar is the same diameter as the outside of the thread) it does take up a heck of a lot of slack, but not like I was hoping, Im guessing with the engineers close is good enough.The play on my unit the axle will rub front and rear depending on how you move it.Would have saved 20 bucks and a hour if I would have left it alone.

I replaced mine, if only for peace of mind. They were the originals, as were the wheel bushings. I replaced those with bearings.