G1800 Deck repair

[philkent]

I had some major work done on the deck.There was major rust around the right pulley Ive just realised that the greasing point for pulley is no longer there which was a 50mm long tube coming out of the deck with a nipple on top. Is it as simple as picking a spot similar to the left pulley and replicating it or is it more complex to get the grease to the bearing

 

[Nicksacco]

HI Phil - send a pic or 2 if you like.
Always interesting to see other guy's projects.

It's probably better to have an easy way to grease the bearing.
Making another "grease tube" shouldn't be too hard but hard to tell without a pic of what you're working on and what it looks like now.

Is this what your 1800 deck looks like?

 

[thebicman]

You can put it anywhere you want. As long as its accessible and not going to be damaged by moving parts.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

if you're welding a 'tube' onto the deck, I suggest a 'brace', maybe 2. pretty sure there's a fair amount of vibration on a deck..... be a shame,that over time, the tube comes off. If it does, it'll land in the worse place to do the most damage......according to Mr. murphy !

 

[85Hokie]

" comes off. If it does, it'll land in the worse place to do the most damage......according to Mr. murphy ! "

you mean the tow hook coming off the chain that WAS hanging on the front?

It really is amazing how far a chain hook can leave the earth when hit by a rotating blade!!
Murphy 2.0

 

[pigdoc]

Having just rebuilt an RC54-G20 deck, I am familiar with your dilemma. You should probably remove the belt and check the spindle bearings for excessive side play, if they haven't been getting grease regularly. Were they making a lot of noise?

The 'tube' that holds the grease zerk, looks like a typical 1/4" pipe nipple (probably metric), but with internal threads at the top end for the zerk to screw into. The lower end of that nipple screws into an ear off the CAST IRON spindle housing/bearing holder and the top end just protrudes through the deck shell. It might be difficult to dig out the remnants of the broken tube or rehab the female threads in the cast iron bearing holder...

If you have to do that, you're going to be removing the spindle assembly to get access to it.

Here's a detail pic:

Nevermind that I have the wrong zerk installed in this pic. It should be the straight one, not the angled one, so that it is accessible through the corresponding hole in the cover.

Here's a detail pic from the Parts List:

Not sure why they made the RH spindle different than the LH. LH is handier to grease because the zerk is screwed right into the end of the shaft, which is bored to deliver the grease to the bearings.

I'd be very tempted to get another LH spindle assembly and install that on the R side. Really, you just need the spindle itself. PN of that LH spindle is 76539-34550 if your deck's serial number is >=20001.
PN for the "Pipe Extension" (Part 180 in the diagram) that holds the zerk is 76539-34132. Part 190 in the diagram is a set screw, PN 03410-50606.

The grease is delivered to the same place on both RH and LH spindles - between the upper and lower bearings.

Good Luck,
-Paul

 

[pigdoc]

'Nother thought. You could remove the spindle and take it to a machine shop, and have them bore it and crossdrill it for grease passages. I'm predicting there's a bearing job in your near future, anyway.

I bought a hd-switch bearing/seal/oring set to do my deck rebuild (see other thread). Jury is still out on those bearings. After 2 hours of break-in, they still make a rather loud WHIRR in use. I have a hunch the aftermarket belt is a skosh too short, causing the tensioner to put too much tension on it and too much sideload on the bearings. That's easy to fix, I'll just slip a chain link or two in between the spring end and the place where it's supposed to hook. But, I'm still wondering whether those bearings are going to hold up...

-Paul

 

[philkent]

HI Phil - send a pic or 2 if you like.
Always interesting to see other guy's projects.

It's probably better to have an easy way to grease the bearing.
Making another "grease tube" shouldn't be too hard but hard to tell without a pic of what you're working on and what it looks like now.

Is this what your 1800 deck looks like?

View attachment 88062

Having just rebuilt an RC54-G20 deck, I am familiar with your dilemma. You should probably remove the belt and check the spindle bearings for excessive side play, if they haven't been getting grease regularly. Were they making a lot of noise?

The 'tube' that holds the grease zerk, looks like a typical 1/4" pipe nipple (probably metric), but with internal threads at the top end for the zerk to screw into. The lower end of that nipple screws into an ear off the CAST IRON spindle housing/bearing holder and the top end just protrudes through the deck shell. It might be difficult to dig out the remnants of the broken tube or rehab the female threads in the cast iron bearing holder...

If you have to do that, you're going to be removing the spindle assembly to get access to it.

Here's a detail pic:
View attachment 88082
Nevermind that I have the wrong zerk installed in this pic. It should be the straight one, not the angled one, so that it is accessible through the corresponding hole in the cover.

Here's a detail pic from the Parts List:
View attachment 88083

Not sure why they made the RH spindle different than the LH. LH is handier to grease because the zerk is screwed right into the end of the shaft, which is bored to deliver the grease to the bearings.

I'd be very tempted to get another LH spindle assembly and install that on the R side. Really, you just need the spindle itself. PN of that LH spindle is 76539-34550 if your deck's serial number is >=20001.
PN for the "Pipe Extension" (Part 180 in the diagram) that holds the zerk is 76539-34132. Part 190 in the diagram is a set screw, PN 03410-50606.

The grease is delivered to the same place on both RH and LH spindles - between the upper and lower bearings.

Good Luck,
-Paul

Thanks Paul and everyone else for your input.. Hasnt done much work since repair so bearing is good.. Plenty to think about.I think the left spindle has the tube delivery also so the deck may be different

 

[pigdoc]

Hey phil,

Just for reference, here's a close-up of the LH spindle on an RC54-G20 deck:

There's the zerk, screwed into the center of the LH spindle. Corresponds to the hole in the cover in the image that Nicksacco posted. I do not think there are any dimensional differences between LH and RH spindles.

Sorry for my profligate replies, but these decks interest me immensely right now, because my goal is to keep mine operational for another 20 years. At that point, I'll be too old to care much anymore...

You can bet I'll be JUMPING on any parts deck opportunities in my area!

-Paul

 

[philkent]

Hey phil,

Just for reference, here's a close-up of the LH spindle on an RC54-G20 deck:
View attachment 88108
There's the zerk, screwed into the center of the LH spindle. Corresponds to the hole in the cover in the image that Nicksacco posted. I do not think there are any dimensional differences between LH and RH spindles.

Sorry for my profligate replies, but these decks interest me immensely right now, because my goal is to keep mine operational for another 20 years. At that point, I'll be too old to care much anymore...

You can bet I'll be JUMPING on any parts deck opportunities in my area!

-Paul

 

[philkent]

Heres what happened I should point out that when the deck came back after repair i had to weld on a post for the tension spring because that was missing.Following your indepth tutorial i could see on the spindle where the grease tube should be so stripped it down ...pulley off blades off spindle out planning to mark the hole for tube to go through only to find the grease passage had been filled and not recently.This led me to have another look at the shaft on the spindle only to find that all it needed was a grease nipple.Obviously i felt a bit of a goose but there you go cheers for your help