YTHJ2246 Making a Racket.

1948man

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My YTH22/46 has had a hard life but I've been trying to give it a little more attention. I recently repaired broken welds where the lift brackets attach to the deck. Now I have a lot of clattery noise when the blades are engaged. Here are the symptoms.
Mower (engine) sounds great when blades are not engaged. With engine off, you can reach under the deck and turn the blades and they are smooth and not contacting the deck which has suffered considerable abuse. With the blades engaged it sounds like a buckets of bolts. I'm going to take the deck off again and inspect but is there anything in particular I should look for on the top of the deck. Also, I think I have lost some sheet metal parts (maybe directional baffles) from under the deck. It actually cuts okay but just sounds terrible. I'm going to look for some kind of interference with a pulley somewhere.
 

bertsmobile1

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Look at the end edges of the blades for signs of striking each other
Check the mounting lugs very carefully as they can crack so under no load the spin true but when the deck belt pulls them sideways the spindle housing tilts
 

1948man

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I will absolutely do that. I can't get to the mower for a couple of days but that sounds like the type of event that could cause what I'm hearing and I'm pretty sure I remember seeing tip damage on one blade. Thanks a lot.
 

Dexterb

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Here are three things to look into:
- Both deck spindle assemblies
- Idler pulley bushing
- Mandrel pulleys (one attached to each spindle)
Might be easier to remove the deck and kind of spin each one while things are quiet. Feel for play that shouldn't be there, or grinding, or things like that.
 

1948man

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Thanks, working this weekend but will do Monday. I expect to need at least one spindle assembly. I'm thinking it's worth it to pay a little extra to get a good one that doesn't have a grease fitting for periodic lubing. I think the originals are sealed.
 

1948man

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Right-side spindle housing has one cracked lug so I ordered an assembly for that. The blade spins freely on that side. The housing on then left side looks good, with no cracks, but that blade doesn't turn near as easily when belts are slack. I don't feel rough, notchy movement but it just doesn't seem as free. Does that sound like a bad bearing? Idler pulleys seem okay.
 

bertsmobile1

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Yes
Replace the bearings
One is a standard bearing, the other is not so order them by part number from a real mower parts supplier
One is standard & one has a slightly bigger hole than standard
 
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