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I changed my blades this morning on my MTD Gold model #13AX795S004 and one of my blades is not spinning freely it moves in the direction it's supposed to but will not move in the opposite direction. The other blade moves fine both directions. Bearings? This thing is just over a year old why would the bearings crap out so quick? That's really quite annoying How hard is it to change can the average guy manage this? Thanks

m&p45 said:

I changed my blades this morning on my MTD Gold model #13AX795S004 and one of my blades is not spinning freely it moves in the direction it's supposed to but will not move in the opposite direction. The other blade moves fine both directions. Bearings? This thing is just over a year old why would the bearings crap out so quick? That's really quite annoying How hard is it to change can the average guy manage this? Thanks

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Sure they can fail that soon with the lack of detail some / most manufacturers exhibit in the blade - spindle - bearing department.

But before you get too huffy and hot under the collar :laughing: check to make sure a blade brake isn't holding with un-necessary force. I'm not familiar with your particular mower but most riders have them in some configuration.

As for repairing there is usually a couple of ways to go. Replace the complete assembly which has a new shaft and bearings or replace the bearings only.

Pictured is one my BIL brought to me after a shop repair failed in ( I'm guessing in less than hour ) because the spacer that goes inside between the bearings was omitted. I'm suspecting the bearings were pulled apart from undue side thrust when the blade nut was tightened. Needless to say this complete assembly was replaced.

I replace bearings only for a couple of reasons.

1) by the time the housing is removed from the deck I took of from the tractor I'm 90 percent finished.
2) The new purchased assembly may not be any better than the one that failed prematurely.
3) It's cheeeper and I'm Scottish.

Well, I see that's 3. I sometimes make mistakes. :biggrin:

If I can do it anyone can.

Just a little test to do take the belt off the pulley on the engine then engage the blades and spin the blades with your hand ( with mower off) if blade has wobble take spindle off.
Look for a crack in the top of the housing where the bearing sit in the grove.
I am going to bet that the blade brake is holding the blade as it should

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I'm not that huffy :laughing: stuff happen I guess. Thanks for your input. Though after further investigation, if I engage the PTO and disengage it the blade spins very nicely but still wont spin in reverse... so I guess the real question is should it?

Yes the blade should spin both ways

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Carscw said:

Just a little test to do take the belt off the pulley on the engine then engage the blades and spin the blades with your hand ( with mower off) if blade has wobble take spindle off.
Look for a crack in the top of the housing where the bearing sit in the grove.
I am going to bet that the blade brake is holding the blade as it should

Sent from my iPhone using LMF

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I think you are correct sir, don't I feel like a idiot jumping to conclusions :ashamed:

Carscw said:

Yes the blade should spin both ways

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hmm then there must be something up because it wont even move a little bit

Ok I'm going to quit whilst I still have a thread of dignity. With the blades engaged they both spin fine both directions:ashamed::ashamed: Thank you all and sorry for wasting your time! Just out of curiosity though why wont the one blade spin both ways without the PTO engaged?

Because the blade brake bites into the pulley in the reverse direction . Some mowers only have a brake on one spindle, or maybe the brake isn't working on the other spindle if it has a brake.

m&p45 said:

Ok I'm going to quit whilst I still have a thread of dignity. With the blades engaged they both spin fine both directions:ashamed::ashamed: Thank you all and sorry for wasting your time! Just out of curiosity though why wont the one blade spin both ways without the PTO engaged?

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You certainly aren't wasting my time because I'm retired, in the house under the A/C waiting for the outdoor ambient to drop below 100. :biggrin: So let's get to the bottom of this and as far as I'm concerned you are guaranteed to still have your dignity.

Blades spinning both directions when engaged has me somewhat puzzled though. How do they do that?

The way I see this, --- if the blade brake isn't locking, --- the belt is slack enough to not interfere, --- and there is no stick or foreign debris lodged in the system --- the bearing (s ) must be bad.

So if the top or bottom bearing is that bad one should be able to hear and or feel the roughness when rotated in the direction it will rotate compared to the other blade unit that will rotate both ways.

To my knowledge the only thing preventing opposite rotation direction would be ball bearings attempting to stack on each other.

SandburRanch said:

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You certainly aren't wasting my time because I'm retired, in the house under the A/C waiting for the outdoor ambient to drop below 100. :biggrin: So let's get to the bottom of this and as far as I'm concerned you are guaranteed to still have your dignity.

Blades spinning both directions when engaged has me somewhat puzzled though. How do they do that?

The way I see this, --- if the blade brake isn't locking, --- the belt is slack enough to not interfere, --- and there is no stick or foreign debris lodged in the system --- the bearing (s ) must be bad.

So if the top or bottom bearing is that bad one should be able to hear and or feel the roughness when rotated in the direction it will rotate compared to the other blade unit that will rotate both ways.

To my knowledge the only thing preventing opposite rotation direction would be ball bearings attempting to stack on each other.

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I didn't have the PTO lever all the way on just pulled it a bit and spun the blades. The blades spun freely both directions.:thumbsup: