[Harryc]

I have the 54 deck on my 345 that I found a noisy spindle on. I ordered the bearings and stock they are open ended (no seals). I see in the parts breakdown (below) that there are seals above the top bearing and under the bottom bearing so that makes sense. (seals are part # 45) Anyway, I was looking for some tips to make this an easier job. I can't see any C clips or locking rings so I am guessing the easiest way is to leave the spindle on the deck, remove the top nut, remove the pulley, put the nut back on the top of the shaft, pound the shaft down through the spindle, knock the bearings out, replace the bearings, then put it back together. Is that a good plan or did I miss something? By the way I am also replacing the bearings in part#21 and am replacing part #4, but that is a bit more straight forward.

 

[Cementhead]

That's about it Harry,after you remove the pulley clean the top of the shaft and make sure that it doesn't have a burr on it and they should come out easy.Sometimes those bearings can be tough to remove from the aluminum housing depending on how much corrosion is in there.Good luck!

 

[Harryc]

Thanks Bill.

 

[Harryc]

Just to finish up this thread, the spindle repair went exactly like Bill said (and I thought). When I took the top nut off of the spindle the shaft fell right out onto the ground and the top pulley came right off. The bearings came out with some gentle persuasion from a BFH and everything went back together easily. One thing I did notice was all of the grease was rust colored despite having just greased the deck. That tells me that water was getting into the top bearing, which is the one that was shot. I did remove and replace all of the old grease. There is a seal up top, but it is just a pressure fit and I doubt it is waterproof. I try to keep water off of the deck as much as possible but I will be extra careful going forward. Based on what I've seen I would highly recommend not getting water on a 54 deck. It was actually harder to get the bearings out of the double sheave on the deck than it was the spindle. I was taking my time but between all of the bearings and putting in a new battery I killed a few hours this morning. Too hot to do any more work ...

 

[Harryc]

Now that the deck is back together I am having another probloem that has me scratching my head. The secondary belt is hitting the rear lift arm (one of (2) upright posts with the J hooks) just to the left of the black double sheave in the picture below. I think it was occurring before the repair because I noticed unusual wear on the back surface of the belt. For the life of me I can't see any adjustments for this. Ideas?

 

[FD611V]

Harryc, I had the same problem several years ago on my 54" deck. There's two things that cause the belt to "slap" against the deck. One. The belt is stretched, and two. the spring has lost it's tension. Here's how I solved the problem on the spring tension. Went to hardware store and bought a "J" type hook that has two holes in the part that bolts down. Measure about 3 inches from where the spring is connected to the hook..towards the outer edge of the deck so when you connect the belt there, the idler bracket will move allowing the belt to the much tighter.

 

[Cementhead]

Check for slop on the idler pivot (under the yellow rubber cap) just ahead of the double stack pulley.

 

[Harryc]

Thanks for the replies. The spring is in good shape, the belt is relatively new, and I just rebushed the idler bracket recently. Here's what I found. There is a huge bolt that goes through the double sheave. At the bottom of that bolt the tension-er arm for the primary drive belt attaches to a bracket which is held on by the large nut on the bottom of the bolt. It's the one where you unhook it from the deck to swing it around to release tension on the primary belt. Well, If I loosen the huge bolt and readjust the bracket on the bottom of the double sheave that the tension-er rod attaches to I can get the belt away from the upright. The issue is I don't know what the right adjustment is for the bracket? It can be in any number of positions. Hope this makes sense. :dunno:
If someone can measure the clearance between the upright and the belt I can make it the same, or I suppose I can just go 1/4" and hope for the best.

Edit: The bracket I am talking about is part# 22 in the breakout in my first post.

 

[Harryc]

OK I figured it out. There is no adjustment. There are (2) little locating pins in the bracket#22 that fit into pre-drilled boles in the bottom of the arm part# 23. As soon as I attached the parts with the locating pins in the arm holes the deck belt clearance issue went away. But here's the deal, either the parts breakout is wrong or I still don't have parts in the right order because the holes are in the bottom of arm #23 and in the breakout part#22 goes on top of the arm. Can anyone take a look at their 54 deck and tell me if part#22 bolts above arm #23 or below it? It's right under the double sheave and you'll have to bend down to see it...sorry .

 

[Cementhead]

I looked at mine and 22 is on the bottom of 23,I have aprox.1/4-3/8 clearance where the belt passes through the notch on the bracket with the j-pin.Bear in mind my deck is the older 54 not the C deck,hope this is the info you need Harry.

 

[Harryc]

Thanks Bill, that is exactly what I needed to know. So the Deere parts breakout is wrong and it wouldn't be the first time I suppose. My deck is all set to cut some more grass. It's all good. :fing32:

 

[KennedyDiesel]

Be sure you replace the spacers. These are what the seal rides on and are critical to a proper seal. Watch the orientation of the reliefs in the spacers as well.

We wash our 54 deck the time. After 16 years I just replaced the discharge side bearings as they were a bit loose.

My goal is to blow the top side with a leaf blower or compressed air and wash the underside. It takes water to get the grass off plain and simple.

Testing Linex on the 60HC deck and so far have not cleaned anything underneath.

 

[Harryc]

Be sure you replace the spacers. These are what the seal rides on and are critical to a proper seal. Watch the orientation of the reliefs in the spacers as well.

OK thanks. I did install the spacers, but tell me about the orientation of the reliefs in the spacers. What is the proper orientation and why? By reliefs I assume you are talking about the slots cut into one side of them? I installed those facing up (on top) and down (on the bottom) respectively. I 'think' it's the way they came out. If they need to be pointed a certain way I did not do that. Now that I think about it, if they are meant to be grease passageways shouldn't the slots be facing inwards towards the inner spindle on both ends? On the other side of the coin, when you say 'relief' it would make sense for them to be facing away from the inner spindle so that excess grease can escape, like a pressure relief. Hmmm... One thing is obvious and that is using the Deere parts breakouts for assembling anything slightly complex is iffy at best. Lesson learned.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

I was told that the slots face the bearing by the dealer, but as I recall that is not how they came out.


I believe mine had the notches away from the bearing on the bottom one and towards the bearing up top. The notches should allow air and grease to vent grease like you stated. The relief being closed below would let gravity do it's thing yet keep the grease from dropping out and above it would allow venting as the grease needs to push up to the upper bearing, but I could be completely backwards.

This is one of those things that would be nice to have documented somewhere. Maybe someone like Ford10 could comment further as he has direct dealer service ties.

 

[Harryc]

I believe mine had the notches away from the bearing on the bottom one and towards the bearing up top.

Same here. Agreed, grease would not escape any other way. The good news is we have some good experience now with spindle and idler/pulley/sheave rebuilding on these 54's. Thanks

 

[Harryc]

I believe mine had the notches away from the bearing on the bottom one and towards the bearing up top.

I just reread your statement, and that would imply that venting is through the bottom only because if you point the relief towards the bearing on top you would in effect shut it off. Maybe someone knows for sure. I could take another spindle apart but this tractor is new to me so I don't know if someone might have rebuilt a spindle in the past, potentially putting the relief in the wrong way. On the other hand, if a member here with a 54C deck wants to be a hero and knows for sure their spindles have never been apart and wants to help out. It's just one large nut, remove the pulley and shaft, and tell us which way the bushing groove faces on the top and bottom. ... :fing32:

 

[Mike X485]

Harry, Thanks for starting this thread. :thanku:

Some very good info and thanks to the guys that contributed. :fing32:

 

[Harryc]

Harry, Thanks for starting this thread. :thanku:

Some very good info and thanks to the guys that contributed. :fing32:

No thanks needed Mike, but I appreciate it. We're all in this together. If we can help out some guy next week or next year with the same issue, that's what it's all about.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

I just reread your statement, and that would imply that venting is through the bottom only because if you point the relief towards the bearing on top you would in effect shut it off. ... :fing32:

The relief allows grease to move between the inner bearing race and the spacer until it reaches the shaft and then comes out between the spacer and the shaft. Facing the relief away makes a metal to metal "seal" preventing the grease from escaping.

 

[Harryc]

I believe mine had the notches away from the bearing on the bottom one and towards the bearing up top.

So me being the patient type (not ), I took another spindle apart to see how it was set up and you are correct. Another way to say the above is that the bushing reliefs face down on the top and bottom of the spindle. If you actually face the relief up on the top bushing, grease comes out of the top of the spindle and makes a big mess. Ask me how I know. :banghead3
Mystery solved. Thanks again. :fing32: