38 " deck spindle and bearings

[John Lane]

I have found that the middle spindle on my 38 " deck is worn excessively and needs to be replaced. I wonder if anyone can give me information on where to get a new or good used spindle, and what bearings and oil seals are needed to rebuild it. Thanks, John

[Paul B]

John
There were several different bearings used in the different decks over the years, so it will depend on which model 38" deck you have (the model number of the tractor it's on can help determine which deck you might have). Some use replaceable bearings and cones and some use a sealed, water pump type bearing/spindle assembly (pricey) but a Cub Cadet dealer should have, or can get, what you need.

[Ritter107]

o'm off to buy a 38" triangle deck tonight as spare parts for the 42" i have. It seems my tensioning spring decided it didn't want to work anymore.... The good part is i'm getting the deck cheap as some idiot thought it was a great idea to weld the center pully to the hollow bolt....

[Ritter107]

are the bearings and etc in the spindles the same on the 421u deck as the 38u deck? I figure i should ask this question and if i have the designation wrong, i apologize as i'm ruinnig off memory. Both are the triangular shaped decks with the cast nost piece used on the 1x4/1x5/1x6/1x7 style tractors.

[Ritter107]

Ugh... and in my raw jubilation of finding a another deck i didn't notice that the spindles have the external threads and jam nuts on the new 38 inch deck that retain the pulleys. My 42inch deck that i'm currently using has the internal threads on the spindle with the bolt retaining the pulleys.

If memory severs me correct, this is the style that the spindles were changed to during the run of the 1X8/1X9 series. So... my question is can i get away swith switching a whole spindle assembly out, or would that somehow missalign the belt or jsut not work? I may just pass this deck on to another person i know and wait for the exact deck i want. However... i'll ask first if anyone knows for sure that i can still get away with switching the entire spindle assembly out. I originally wanted the 38" deck just for parts, and then to rebuild as a backup for the 42".

[Fordlords]

It just might be one of those, "try and see," things Ritter. I bought a new 44" deck housing for my 682, and one of the three spindles in the old housing had no wear at all, obviously having been replaced at some point when the other two were well worn and wobbling. I figured good, I only have to buy 2 new spindle assemblies.

I got the two new ones from MTD, and they looked nothing like the old ones. They had cast aluminum housings, and were designed to be mounted from the underside of the deck. The old 44C spindles had a stamped steel housing that mounted from the top of the deck. I figured I was out of luck and would have to get the 3rd outer spindle as there was no way the two new pulleys would line up with the old style one. But- in putting it back together, how wrong I was. The new ones retrofit perfectly with the pulley height of the old style, making them interchangeable. You just gotta try it and see if it works, as there seem to be a lot of different mount style spindles used on the various CC decks that carry the same part numbers. The newer MTD cast spindles look to be better than the old IH ones, but they are probably not, you know how that goes

-Fordlords-

[Ritter107]

any more ideas?