Older Craftsman mower deck question.

[arbateman]

I have at 20 hp ride mower. 944.603190 Can anyone tell me if all the spindles are supposed to be all the exact same height? With mine the main mandrel spindles seem to be at least half an inch higher than the others. Thanks
Alan

 

[ILENGINE]

looks fine. two pulleys in the middle are idler pulleys and have to account for the deck being in different positions. If they were the same height as the outside pulleys the belt would come off when the deck height was changed.

 

[arbateman]

Thanks so much for your reply, I thought I might have bought after market mandrels at are out of spec. I will keep wielding and see if it has another year in it.

 

[bertsmobile1]

What is important is the blade heights
Belts will happily run to spindles that are different heights
What is important is the belt is in a strait line with the pulley
If the pulley was high on one side & low on the other , that s when belt go into low earth orbit, taking yor wallet with them .