Woods 59CL Caster Arms

[lyle11]

I bought a Woods 59 for my 55 Lowboy last year and I’m just finishing up mounting it. I decided to upgrade the entire caster assy on both sides and, because I had plenty of time, I bought the parts over a period of a few months when I found them at a good price. I prefer to run with casters based on where I use the mower and 16 years mowing with a Woods 59 on a FCub.

Once I finally got the casters installed on both sides with all new parts, I noticed the left side skid had about 1 1/2” clearance between the caster and the (very level) floor and the right side about 1/2”.

I then noticed that the caster arms are welded to the cylindrical part the yoke passes through at different positions. This explains why it rides higher on the left. I guess that’s one disadvantage of not buying a pair from Messicks because I bought them separately on EBay over a few months for less than a third of Messicks price.

I’m not a welder so I guess at this point I’m going to saw off the bottom of the left side arm and move my new removed “spacer” above the arm. Both these arms had the correct 59CL3 and CL4 Woods part numbers on little white stickers like I’ve always seen. Both appear brand new with no re-welding after a break or even grease fittings installed in them.

Anyway, I was just sharing my experience. As much as Woods charges for parts it sure seems sloppy to weld the 2 parts of the caster arm together in different places. The parts I got were NOS so perhaps they changed the weld location at some point but that doesn’t seem likely, unless, it was done to allow the front of the mower to ride an extra inch lower.

One thing with the 59 on the Lowboy, there isn’t much elevating you can get at the rear of the mower with the finals oriented close the ground. So, using Casters as I prefer, I can’t just put an extra spacer on the left side or the front end of the mower will be too high.

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[staninlowerAL]

I understand completely your frustration with dealing with a problem such as this. Looks like QC was taking a day off when the mismatched part was built. If you want them to match, using a 4 inch mini grinder and metal cutting disc you could cut the welds to remove the incorrect shaft housing and have it re-welded at the correct height. I have replaced all of them on another brand mower (due to wear). It's not a difficult or time consuming job for a welder and could be done without removing the arm. Obviously you would have to repaint the corrected part. Good luck with your choice.

[tucker86]

Where have you been able to find these caster assemblies at a decent price? I have been looking over the last year for new ones at a good price for the Woods LB59 on my 184 and have not had any luck.

[lyle11]

Where have you been able to find these caster assemblies at a decent price? I have been looking over the last year for new ones at a good price for the Woods LB59 on my 184 and have not had any luck.

I monitored EBay on a daily basis over a period of months and got what I needed a part at a time. I got one actual new Woods caster wheel for $25 on EBay plus $20 shipping. I bought the caster arms for $22.75 each NOS plus shipping on EBay. One yoke on the Vine.

I had the advantage of looking all fall/winter for the parts I needed a piece at a time. I finally had to give in and pay full price for one caster wheel. There seems to be a decent amount of NOS Woods parts out there that turn up on EBay periodically. Most of mine were dirty and scuffed like they sat in a bin full of parts for years but were new. There isn’t one specific seller that lists them. I bought every part from a different source.

[lyle11]

Before I did anything drastic, I figured the smart thing to do was to move a yoke spacer and raise the low side. I did that and measured from my wood shed floor to the cutting edge of the blade at the front of the mower, and at the back on both sides. On the left side, with the blade oriented front to back, the front is right at 3” from the floor to the cutting edge and it’s 3 1/4” at the rear. On the right side, doing the same thing it is 3 1/16” at the front and 3 3/16” at the back. The Woods 59CL manual says “It is assumed that the mower is adjusted to run approximately level”. So, I think that will be a good start. I won’t have grass to cut for a month to truly test it. I think 3” should be good. I don’t like to scalp the grass. I suspect there is some flexing of the blades once they’re spinning and the cutting height might end up something like 2 3/4”.

It still seems like you are really limited with how much you can raise the back of the mower on a Lowboy. It’s unlikely I’ll want to cut the grass higher but I have the rear of the mower at the highest usable mounting hole. If I raise the front one yoke spacer it seems like the front will be higher than the back. I have a couple more questions but I’ll create a new topic with pictures.

[SONNY]

can you move the top spacers to the bottom on the low side? I would try that just for giggles---it could come close to what you need on height.
If it were me I would just hack off one side and reweld the tube back on at correct height and go! lol!---but thats just me!!!