Hustler Spindles/Pulleys (deck) junk?

[Batt4Christ]

I bought my Hustler Raptor SD back in mid-summer of 2016. I moved almost 200 miles from where I bought it - so I found a local dealer to do service I don't, can't or simply don't have the time for. They have been pretty good - including working with Kohler to get my starter replaced despite being a bit out of warranty (very low hours).
But what I have been frustrated about - and this dealer doesn't seem to have any options: The spindles and pulleys on the deck are garbage. I've replaced all three at some point over the last couple of years - two have been replaced twice. And one I rebuilt myself as an experiment. But what seems to be the biggest problem - is the system for mounting the pullies on top of the spindles. There is a thick bushing/spacer, then the pully, then another thick spacer and washer, then the bolt. It seems that this is the primary failure point - the pully just shreds the center and takes out the splines on the shaft of the spindle.
It appears that the center of the pulley is made of seemingly thin and weak steel, and that is not helped by the sandwich method of attaching it to the spindle.
I was hoping to either find a different pulley (same spline size and diameter) that is made better - or even replacement spindles altogether that would be a direct swap, but better quality.

 

[StarTech]

Have you been torquing them to 73 ft-lbs using a known accurate torque wrench or just winging it. Also it would not hurt to upgrade to grade * screws and increase to 80 ft-lbs.

 

[Batt4Christ]

Any time I wrench on a part with a torque spec, I use a torque wrench. As to the higher-strength bolts, I only recently discovered them being sold specifically for this application (blade bolts).

The first pully to fail like today's did, was with the last spindle installed by the servicing dealer.

 

[bertsmobile1]

It is not a problem that appears here regularly so there must be something you are doing or some thing wrong with your mower.
The top washer should be cupped and it goes on so you are flattening the washer against the pulley.
Over time these tension washers actually loose their tension & flatten out.
Once the pulley has stripped out on a spline both the pulley and the shaft will usually need replacing .
The other trick is add another washer to the bottle to shift the contact point to a clean area with good splines .