Repairing some common problems on a 42" cut john Deere deck. Welding / metal work 

Ben Varela Thanks for the comment. I have fun doing these repairs. Never know exactly how each one will turn out. I just jump in and find scrap parts around the shop to get it done. Comments like yours make me even more excited to tackle the next crazy destroyed deck.

AerialLensVideo Thanks for taking the time to comment. These are pathetic quality. I'm amazed JD has continued to allow these tractors to be sold after they have proven to be over priced and under built. You can get a better AYP machine for several hundred $ less and come out with a much better deal. It's sad to see they are compromising quality for a brand that has been long established as a high quality name. I guess it's all about that bottom line for JD now. Thanks for the complement.

Yep. It is worth noting that there are "bottom lines" now and bottom lines later; JD may pull in extra dollars now, but they will pull in a shut down business in a few short years. Their decision: Use foresight or not.

Agree 100% My old green craftsman’s paint is still rock sold and deck was good Quality was amazing.as these are made by Husqvarna or whoever makes Husqvarna , craftsman etc make a much better machine for sure. But it’s like anything they make it cheaper cheaper cheaper cheaper and that’s where the world is. I had sold my old craftsman and bought this John Deere with only 32 hours on it it was nice for the first year and then paint pealed and seat cracked.

@@justaviewerortwo2924 MAYBE with a reemphasis on American manufacturing and parts, things will improve. They need to understand we will pay a little more for something that lasts. I have my grandfather's AMERICAN lawn mower from the 1950's -- just keeps on keeping on. John Deer makes their mowers in Tenn largely from Chinese parts. JD Ag products are all from China and Brasil I believe (not sure).

Awesome, glad to know it was useful. Best of luck with your project.

ksolobk Thanks, I appricate the complement

The deck repair rings are handy, Iv started using those and they really reinforce the deck shell At the mandrel mounts. The decks are thin and hold up okay for small yards but if you really want to work one of these hard it helps To beef up The deck some.

Customer already picked it up, that bad boy is ready for more abuse.

Thanks

steve eubanks cool, several ways to skin a cat. I am no pro welder. Just learned out of necessity and getting better with time. Glad your out there fixing decks. Not many of us doing it.

rarnette73 - shows what you know.

ahabthewhaler the bolt has a collar on it, must make sure the brake lever is not getting pinched.

This is an older video, I use the deck repair rings in some of my never Deere deck repair videos. Those are much better. As this video shows there are other routes to make this repair but I think the repair ring is the way to go. Thicker and much less work to install. I have been perfecting these deck repairs for years but haven’t posted any updated videos on the topic in over a year, maybe time to do another video showing more of the tips and tricks I have learned.

@@GTObearclaw1 Sounds good

Why?

@@GTObearclaw1 because he welded his spindle bolts in so that has made it difficult to remove to get to the bearings

@@nickskelton4726 actually the housing should never need to be removed unless it breaks and they rarely break unless they come Loose and shake around on the deck and that’s what had happened making this repair necessary. The loose bolts started the issue. Welded bolts won’t loosen. However if the bearings go bad. Do not remove the housing. Simply knock the shaft out while mandrel is in place and insert new bearings into the mounted assembly. It’s actually a lot easier to work on with the mandrel in place. Only takes a few minutes to do a bearing swap. And a mandrel does not need to come off the deck to change bearings.

@@KevinMiller-lh9ur yours is a commercial grade model and built in a time before they even made this junk 100 series. Yours is a superior model. Even the paint job is of higher quality. Keeping one inside is smart.

also that same pivot arm being frozen in place was keeping me from getting the correct tension on the belt. the belt was too loose. so I backed off that very small nut on that rod or arm that goes to the brake pivot arm. now the belt tension is a lot better.

Vcoldduck Iv used 6011 and 7018

Missing in action. I dont always get all the pieces that break off. And not everyone cares about a wheel being there. Some of these tractors are just beaters. Some folks just need to get the grass mowed. Just my 2 cents, Those wheels are not as useful as folks think. Cheep model tractors might have none, mid grade model has a few. Some deluxe models have 4 or 5 deck wheels. In my opinion the wheels are more of a gimmick but that’s just how I feel about them on the cheep mowers. I like them on the bigger tractors that allow them to be greased and have wider decks that can cut deep if deck leans to far one way.

aeridyne heat the nut and if that does not work then I use a torch and cut the nut from the side just above the pulley and it does not damage the pulley. Once the nut turns multin you can blow it right off the top of pulley. Just keep the direct heat off the pulley. Get new spindle assembly Pretty cheep on Amazon.

Pretty much what I ended up having to do. Little propane torch and some Seafoam deep creep worked on one of them, the other wouldn't budge for anything, not even a big arse cheater bar and a really sore elbow. I cut/split the nut off with a tungsten bit on dremel, got down to where I could just see the thread, then split it with chisel. Saved the spindle, although I do hate using it because the fine metal shavings and dust seem to bother my craptacular sinuses really bad. Need to invest in a oxy act torch at some point.

Depends, is it electric PTO or manual engagement?

Hard to Say but maybe better to Find a used deck

Deck brake? Yes, sometimes they get bent and require tweaking the brake bracket so it will lay the pad flat on the pulley when engaging. There is also a little nut on the end of the brake rod that can be tightened so that the brake pad just makes contact with the pulley. If the rod is sloppy and loose, the little nut needs to be tightened to remove the slop from the brake linkage on the deck.

Woodchuck Russ the Deck Dr

Woodchuck Russ the Deck Dr v

First weld up the deck. Then you need to use straight blades to get a visual of how the spindle is sitting. If your deck is beat up, your blades might be bent. Make sure your blades are straight. You can use the blades to check and adjust the spindle position. I use a hammer and hit the deck on top or from the bottom to adjust the angle of the pulley. Use the blades to see how the positioning is Comming along as you work. It helps to remove the pulleys off the top of the spindles so you can hit closer to the spindle. I use a mini sledge hammer. I have found just using my eye I can get blades running close enough to the proper position and it looks perfect when you get grass cut. Not enough difference to see on the yard.

Woodchuck Russ the Deck Dr ......you and taryl dactyl......are the best. how much is saved over buying a new deck?

I’m glad you have a sense of humor because serious rust in not reparable. At least I have t had any luck. You must live near the coast or a slaty area. I see a lot of that type of issues with folks near the coast.

Fort Worth

@@GTObearclaw1 well that's a bit far for me! Lol

Replace what with a new? I'm lost.

⁠@@GTObearclaw1a completely new deck, all parts pre-installed, cost me $695 last year. 15 minutes to swap and back to new. My original lasted 14 years. But paying my local shop to continuously repair (and pick up/drop off) a 14+ year old deck that will eventually completely fail didn’t seem to be a smart move. (Like paying $4,000 to fix an oil leak in my 2010, 240,000 mile car makes no sense)

@@rdspam well yes Anyone can spend the money and buy a new deck if that’s the route they choose. Or if they have the tools and skills or use this video as inspiration and want to save $ they can fix one for a small fraction of that 700$ and not to mention make the deck stronger than from the factory. As for autos, I have several trucks with well over 300k and one at almost 400k and I’d spend the 4,000$ to fix a leak because the tax on a new truck alone would be over 4 k. But why pay someone to fix something I can fix myself. Also why spend around 700$ on a deck that will arrive new with the same flaws designed into it that will lead to guaranteed failure again, if the tractor can outlast another deck. I can beef up the one I have and make it better. With the right skills things can be fixed and then I can use the money for things I can’t do and there are plenty of things id rather pay someone to do for me. However buying a new deck is not something I would do because fixing things is fun for me and a skill I like to keep growing so I can get better at it. So maybe this video will help some folks because not everyone wants to replace the deck with a new one. Repair is an option therefore this video is here to help those folks. I guess everyone has a different idea of what’s the best way to go about it.

Hopfully you can get it fixed.

Yeah the vibration and cracking problem is a cheaply made stamped out mower deck and mower painted John deere green and yellow with matching stickers priced to sell and having NO quality of a true John Deere.... that's the problem, the solution is use it 3 years, throw it away and buy a new one... well, except in this case, its weld it again and do it again in a few more years

Make sure the belt was the proper length. If it's to long, it will not be pulled tight enough to engage the deck.

IT WAS THE BELT.THANKS!

I love my Evo This one was a larger repair. Couple bills for one this bad.

Woodchuck Russ the Deck Dr thanks for getting back to me

I love my Evo cool,,,, glad you got what you needed. Hope your cutting again.

It’s only enough to remove the threads out of the holes. It’s not actually opening the hole wider than the deepest part of threads that was already there. And I don’t believe it changes the structural integrity. I have not experienced any issues with that. And the spindles used on these mowers have a much stronger design than some like the craftsman with large openings between each bolt hole. These are some of the most durable housings I’ve ever seen. So if I had to guess, your probably not talking about the type I’m showing in this video. And when you say been through it, have you only worked on your personal mower or do you fix many machines and have had reports from customers that this is an issue? Because I have not had one single broken spindle housing due to drilling out the threads. When these break is almost always not the bolts or where it is mounted. Unless the bolts loosen and then the hosing rattled the deck to the point it oblongs the mounting holes in deck shell and eventually rips off of the deck. And reason is one of the main reasons why I’m putting better hardware on to avoid this issue.

Rich B. Lol. I know that’s right.

Noman Jones the 48” deck has the same problems with spindles breaking off mounts. Same metal used for both decks from what I can tell.

That gives me a special fuzzy feeling knowing how you would do it. Just make some videos and I’ll watch you do it.

Jorge, you are dead wrong. I rarely tell anybody to buy a new deck, for several reasons. Fist, the new deck has the same design flaws as the broken deck. Those flaws will eventually fail. Second, because the new deck shells are over priced. Why spend 550$ -700 for something that can be fixed for a fraction of the cost. And these low end big box store deere decks are the absolute worst. Iv worked on many tractors and never seen a deck consistently fail like these do. This deck is no longer trashed, you can see the final product and it came out pretty nice.

The mindset of throw it away and replace it with new is what drives people to be parts changers and not craftsmen... it takes less money to fabricate this to work again and gives the owner more money in his pocket. That is also wasteful

I don’t know anything about all that. I mainly weld mower decks. I learn as I go and have been fixing stuff most people say is trash. Even some mower shops say these decks can’t be fixed, I just like fixing stuff most people say can’t be fixed. I also like getting better and finding new ways to make my repairs better.

Yes, the deck can be replaced with a new one for around 600$-800$. I fixed for 175$ and in my opinion it's stronger after my repairs than a new one is. The mower is not worth the cost of a new deck. I guess folks with money to waste can buy a new deck but more than likely folks willing to waste money like that don't mow their own yards anyways. So I posted this video to help people who want to fix a deck and save a little money,

+Woodchuck Russ Russ, where are you? How do we get in touch with you?

Why pay 600+ for another POS deck? The reinforcements make it better and usable again while a new deck will just fail again because these things are shit. I've had two I bought just to keep one running and it's been hell. I've had to reinforce the crap out of my deck as well and weld up pretty much every mount.

First time I fixed it, now it's actually stronger than new. These mowers won't outlast my repairs to the deck. You can take that to the bank. You ever plan on posting a video, or just going to bust my chops for offering help to folks that actually care.

Wrong, no you can’t get one complete ready to use for 600$ so your comment is not accurate. The cheapest deck on line is 670$ and shipping is 150$ and then there may be tax. So easy $800 before even figuring tax. Took me a few hours to fix it with some skills and tools. For folks who want a new deck that’s a great option. I’d rather fix stuff.

Johnny Hollingsworth shows what you know. I love this throw away society, something breaks and some folks run out to buy a new one. I fix what they think is broke and hone my skills. Just because something breaks does not mean it can’t be fixed.

@@GTObearclaw1 pal, that deck is way beyond broke but if you like to spend your time working on cutting decks that's your business. i got better things to do. by the way, my john deere mower is really old but the deck looks fairly new because its been maintained and kept in a garage with a cover on it during the off season.

Johnny Hollingsworth - it’s your pal here checking in. Not everyone takes care of equipment as well as you do. But I like to do the same and take good care of my equipment much like you. I think you might be missing the point of this video. It’s not always about buying something new. Apparently the repair is not something everyone will want to do. But I showed how I do it and I have seen from the comments of some videos I posted that folks find it helpful. A new deck is around 600-700. I fixed this one in a few hours. Not sure about you but saving 600$ is a good use of a few hours of my time. Even if I made 100$ an hour at work I would not want to drop 600$ on a new deck. I guess I don’t have better things to do. But I mastered taking a beyond broken deck and made it better than new. Did you even watch the whole video? I feel like you didn’t see how awesome it turned out. I would not be surprised if John Deere came to me for ideas on how to fix there crappy flawed design. I have profected the Deere deck repair. I have other videos where I weld on repair rings. That’s the best way to go about this type of repair. This stuff is easy to fix for folks who have the tools and know how to weld.

@@GTObearclaw1 or people who care about reuse, recycle, repurpose, repair, or any of the rest of it... some people have a different thought process... mine is like yours russ

@@terryhites1 thanks.!!!

Or use the info I provided in this video and fix it yourself. After all, that's why I put it up. I wanted to show how to fix it and keep mowing and save money. John Deere built a crapy tractor and many people out there have these issues.

honey boo hoo Yes, rod welding. Type of rod just depends on what I'm welding.