1810 with 38C deck question

[cwatford]

New guy here and I need some help! I've been working on my old 1810 with a 38C deck. Tractor runs fine, but I'm going through the deck, and have a question about the blade spindles. I think I may have lost a part, the center spindle has tapered roller bearings. The cups and cones looked fine, so I cleaned everything up and replaced the two seals and polished the two spacers. Is there suppose to be a spacer between the two bearings? when you tighten the pulley nut, and then the blade nut, the spindle gets real hard to turn. I don't see how you maintain bearing clearance. If you loosen the nut, the spindle will turn, but then the blade is loose. Help! What am I missing here? Thanks!

 

[sblunier]

Yes, there is a spacer.....

 

[cwatford]

Thanks, you've confirmed what I thought, plus I found this photo which I think shows the missing spacer. So now I need to find the one I lost or machine a new one.

 

[mgonitzke]

You might be better off with a stack of machine bushings and shim washers; I have rebuilt several of that style of spindle and have yet to get one that ended up with the right preload on the bearings with that spacer. Most seem to end up too loose.

 

[jdiederichs]

Matt is correct. Using a fixed dimension spacer between to Timkin bearings was not their finest moment. As he said, they are generally too loose. His comment about using machine bushings and shims really is proper.

 

[cwatford]

OK, found the spacer in the parts washer! Put it all back together and it seems to be fine now. Thanks, all!