Brittle Fender

[Mr Haney]

Still working on my ZD326.

I have some info that might be of use to others working on older zero-turns.

The fenders are plastic. It appears they get brittle with sun exposure. Today I started shimmying my left fuel tank out from under the fender, applying very little pressure, and the fender split. No warning at all. BANG.

On the bright side, the tank is now clean. I plan to take Whitetiger's advice and blow out the lines. They are not easy to get off. I picked up a special set of Lisle hose pliers, but they are wrong for the job. It seems like no decent manufacturer makes a set of normal hose pliers, so it may be time to buy some Pittsburghs.

The right fender is much tougher. I had to wrestle with it quite a bit while working on the control panel. Nothing happened. I guess now I know which side of the mower faced the sun in the past.

My big bargain is not as big as it was to start, but maybe after all this, I can make money as a Kubota mechanic.

Now I will probably buy two fenders. It will be interesting mowing the lawn with the mower like this.

 

[Bee-Positive]

Those fenders are pricey, north of $200, not sure if used ones would be any less brittle. May be worth experimenting with a plastic welder like this one from HF (and/or lots of duct tape ). Or maybe fiberglass matt glued to the under side. New ones would be less prone to crack in the event you "bump" them in the future however.

https://www.harborfreight.com/80-watt-iron-plastic-welding-kit-60662.html

 

[Hoserman]

Sorry to hear your fender snapped. I do agree with Bee-P that those plastic welders work really well. I have one and have used it a lot. The kit comes with a couple small sheets of stainless screen/mesh that you melt into the plastic at the break and it adds a lot of strength at the break. Just make sure you used the same plastic as what the fender plastic is made from.

 

[Mr Haney]

Thanks for the help. I have a plastic welder I haven't gotten around to trying.

I can put it back together, sort of, but the plastic will still be brittle, and it will look pretty ghetto. I guess I'll run it with the fender off this week and put a new one on later. I can survive this financial hit. I bought a used mower because I'm cheap, not totally desperate.

JB Weld makes a really good epoxy for plastic. I used it to reinforce a badly-designed Bosch dishwasher handle so it wouldn't break under normal use.

A lower-hour ZD326 with fewer issues would have run me $8,000 at best around here. I tell myself this one will end up under $7K when I'm done. If the mechanicals continue to work well, that's good enough. I just need to get around 1500 hours out of it, and then I'll be with the good Lord in a place where the grass mows itself.

AI thinks 20 years of use will save me over $100,000 over paying someone else. Don't know if it's true, but it feels good to read it.

I put water and Dawn in the tank and shook it around and rinsed it out a few times. It seems like it's hard to get the last little bit of fluid out, as if the tank has baffles. I gave it a couple of final rinses with diesel and left it to dry in a location where it would not be easy for mice to build a home in it, complete with a toilet.

I am going to try blowing air into the return nipple to see if it will pump out whatever is still in there so I don't run water and dish soap residue into the filters. The fuel lines are totally clear, so unless there is a very mysterious problem, cleaning the tank should end the fainting issue.

The more I work on this thing, the more impressed I am with the tough construction. I mean, assuming new fenders aren't brittle from the factory. Looking at it, one would think it could be made to run forever for a person willing to fix moving and exhaust parts.

 

[D2Cat]

Thanks for the help. I have a plastic welder I haven't gotten around to trying.

I can put it back together, sort of, but the plastic will still be brittle, and it will look pretty ghetto. I guess I'll run it with the fender off this week and put a new one on later. I can survive this financial hit. I bought a used mower because I'm cheap, not totally desperate.

JB Weld makes a really good epoxy for plastic. I used it to reinforce a badly-designed Bosch dishwasher handle so it wouldn't break under normal use.

A lower-hour ZD326 with fewer issues would have run me $8,000 at best around here. I tell myself this one will end up under $7K when I'm done. If the mechanicals continue to work well, that's good enough. I just need to get around 1500 hours out of it, and then I'll be with the good Lord in a place where the grass mows itself.

AI thinks 20 years of use will save me over $100,000 over paying someone else. Don't know if it's true, but it feels good to read it.

I put water and Dawn in the tank and shook it around and rinsed it out a few times. It seems like it's hard to get the last little bit of fluid out, as if the tank has baffles. I gave it a couple of final rinses with diesel and left it to dry in a location where it would not be easy for mice to build a home in it, complete with a toilet.

I am going to try blowing air into the return nipple to see if it will pump out whatever is still in there so I don't run water and dish soap residue into the filters. The fuel lines are totally clear, so unless there is a very mysterious problem, cleaning the tank should end the fainting issue.

The more I work on this thing, the more impressed I am with the tough construction. I mean, assuming new fenders aren't brittle from the factory. Looking at it, one would think it could be made to run forever for a person willing to fix moving and exhaust parts.

Mr Haney. I appreciate your sense of humor, I can relate! "I can survive this financial hit. I bought a used mower because I'm cheap, not totally desperate."

 

[Old Machinist]

I hate brittle plastic. My JD F725 has broken pieces all over. Doesn't do much good to repair it since it will just break in another area. I think it was a $7,000 to $9,000 mower back in the 90s. You had to step up to the F925 diesel to get metal panels. It was probably 15-20 grand back then.

I paid a grand for it and a parts mower 7 or 8 years ago. Spent a few hundred and a bunch of hours rebuilding it. It doesn't owe me anything.

 

[Mr Haney]

If I had known it was like a potato chip, I could have babied it and kept it intact. I guess I can chalk this up to inexperience.

 

[Mr Haney]

When the new one comes in, I will take some of that JB Weld stuff, go underneath it, and build up the areas where cracks are likely to start. It's a lot harder to break 3/8" plastic than 3/32" plastic.

My dishwasher's expensive handle had less than 1/8" of plastic at the sides of the handle where all the stress was concentrated. Ripping was inevitable. It can't rip now.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

303 Aerospace protectant is your friend. If you buy new fender(s), 303 it at least 1x a year.

I have a 2003 ATV with good plastics - body panels and fenders.. It is 22 y/o.

If you park it outside in hot sun all the time. Forget about it. Or try 303 every month.

 

[NCL4701]

Fenders are over rated. Just take them off and run without them. (JK)

 

[Mr Haney]

That will be me, come tomorrow or Monday.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

the sun's UV probably 'altered' the plastic....... once repaired, spray UV inhibiting clear coat on them.

 

[lugbolt]

exactly the reason I just took the fenders OFF when dealing with the tanks. Even though the tanks will come out the bottom, it's hard on the fenders.

...had a customer bring one in once, starving for fuel (obviously). I did my dignosis and found that the tanks were contaminated with trash (leaves, dirt, etc). Did up an estimated cost to remove the tanks and flush them out, and BTW I estimated the cost of removing the fenders as opposed to dropping them out of the bottom. Called the guy and he went into orbit. After he vented, he started asking questions. Like why does it take so long? Answer is: remove fenders, remove tanks, flush them and lines, replace fuel filters, reinstall tanks, lines, refill with fuel, test. His response was "well by golly you can save me about $200 by dropping the tank out of the bottom like the youtube guys do". Ok, but be warned, the fenders may crack in doing this. He says "not if you're any good they won't". Oh kayyy mr. customer I'll drop them out the bottom and if the fender breaks, you get to buy fenders.

And they broke like they usually did (as said I quit doing it that way for a reason). Called him back & told him he will have an additional $340 charge for the fenders and he said, " leave them off I'll come pick the $*&E##$(**ing thing up. And he did. I was glad to see that one go away. Oh and it gets better. Mr. Customer said he'd never set foot back in that dealership again. That made my day!! And....he lied. He was back about a year later for winter service. LOL. Had new fenders on it too.