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On my '03 LT2000 (917273140) when I engage the blades there's quite a racket from the left blade rotating assembly. On the odd chance the racket subsides my mower sounds like a smooth purring grass cutter. The rest of the time the noise is quite loud and I'm getting tired of it. I checked the blades bolts and they were on pretty tightly, but the left blade had quite a bit of play in it.

Looking at the online diagrams it would seem the deck mower bearing or spindle bearing could be at fault. Should I replace just the bearing or the entire assembly (using p/n 137646)?

Does the play necessitate replacing either the idler pulley (173437) or the flat idler pulley (110485X)?

If there is no damage to the deck mandrel housing part 14 (128774) then yes just replace part 13 (137646) make sure that you have top and bottom bearing which I believe top bearing comes with it, because if you have play at the bottom, you will also have play at the top.

EngineMan said:

If there is no damage to the deck mandrel housing part 14 (128774) then yes just replace part 13 (137646) make sure that you have top and bottom bearing which I believe top bearing comes with it, because if you have play at the bottom, you will also have play at the top.

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I agree with this to a point. If you have never changed bearing before and don't know what you are doing you can damage the new bearings. If this is the fact you will be better off changing the complete assembly.

reynoldston said:

I agree with this to a point. If you have never changed bearing before and don't know what you are doing you can damage the new bearings. If this is the fact you will be better off changing the complete assembly.

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A very good point...!

I would change the whole thing and be done with it not worth the headache and time to change just one so then next year you have to change the other

Thanks for the advice. I've ordered the spindle and bearings along with new blades and a belt. After ten years its time to change the belt while I have it off.

Nummy said:

I would change the whole thing and be done with it not worth the headache and time to change just one so then next year you have to change the other

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I may not have until next year to do the other spindle. I removed the deck, and after cleaning the ant nursery (bazillions of ants and larvae) from the deck I discovered the other spindle bearing set is not spinning very freely. Another spindle set has been ordered.

More often then not if you need to do one, the other will need doing also, don't give up and if find the time come back and let us know how you got on.:thumbsup:

In order to get to the spindle nut I used a Dremel tool to cut away part of the plastic guard. After that I could then get the pulley off, remove the bad spindle and put the new spindle in. Each of the guard's three bolts were rusted to the point I'd need to drill them out and replace. I can do a little more Dremel work and get easier access to two of them.

Well, I need more parts. The spindle bearing arrived in good shape, but after installing it there was still lots of play in the spindle housing. See the image below of the left and right spindle housings. The left one is wallowed out since I let the bearing go so long. The lower spindle bearing had a severe defect where the race was broken and perhaps a ball or something came out.

The right spindle housing is still in good shape and the bearing was useable, but I've got another on its way including a replacement housing for the left spindle. Note how clean the the left housing looks where the bearing eroded the metal permitting play. The right side doesn't show any wear and it held the bearing quite well where the bearing could actually do its intended job.

Yes you can see in the first photo that the bearing has been running hot and on its race, better like you say to replace the lot, good work well done.:thumbsup:

I though you were going to replace the complete mandrel assembly's ? Now that you were trying to save money by just buying the bearings you will now need a new housing. Are the bearings tight on the shaft? If you still trying to save money you can tighten the bearings in the spindle housing with some JB weld and use the old housings over. You can buy the JB weld in most auto parts stores.

Spend the $16 and get a new spindle housing

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

The spindle housing was ordered prior to uploading the images. Stay tuned.

Carscw said:

Spend the $16 and get a new spindle housing

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

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As I recall that was my first post, buy a complete mandrel assembly. 10 dollars for the JB weld or 16 dollars for a housing, I agree. Now what shape is the shaft? Just why in the world would you buy parts before you know what you need??

reynoldston said:

As I recall that was my first post, buy a complete mandrel assembly. 10 dollars for the JB weld or 16 dollars for a housing, I agree. Now what shape is the shaft? Just why in the world would you buy parts before you know what you need??

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From what I can make out he did take it to bit's before he ordered, didn't he..?

The housing arrived this afternoon. Since the plastic guard bolts are rusted I further modified the guard by drilling two holes in the top large enough to pass a socket extension. Using this method I was able to break two of the three housing bolts and removed the housing and stripper. Putting the new housing in place was a little more complicated with the guard in place. The new belt behaved like a Mobius strip but got in installed with minimal foul language.

Getting the deck back on had its own set of challenges and I had to loosen a lock nut on the front arm to get all the deck connections in place.

Once everything was put back together, in place and verified I fired up the engine and engaged the blades. It sounds great and without a lot of noise now from the left side of the deck. I almost can't wait to mow tomorrow morning to see the cut with new blades.

Thanks all for your support and encouragement. I look forward to doing a few more improvements and repairs to my lawn tractor.

Your welcome, so please that you have her up and running again, well done..!:thumbsup: