Whining from the blades/belt

[steheap]

A loud whining noise has developed on my 52 inch Hustler Fastrak. It stops when I disengage the blades, and is not constant - it sometimes occurs more on cornering, but can be pretty loud when mowing straight. I have just removed the belt thinking that I needed to replace that, and I found that the two outer blades spin freely, but the center blade is somewhat stiff. I can turn it by twisting the pulley, but it won't spin on its own.

Is this likely to be the cause of my whining noise, can I lubricate it, or does it need to be replaced. Is this something I can do at home, and are there any instructions on how to do it?

Steve

[mowerconsultant]

It sounds like you have bearings going / gone bad in that spindle.
Your likely going to need to replace the spindle.
It is pretty straight forward if your mechanically inclined.

Pj

[steheap]

Thanks for the advice. I've looked at the parts diagram. The problem bearing is the center blade. Do I need to drop the cutting deck down from the main frame and slide it out, or can it be replaced while still installed on the mower? I'm assuming I need to hold the blade securely and remove the nut on the top, and then remove the split ring to free up the bearings? I've not managed to find any specific instructions about removing and replacing these bearings.

Steve

[mowerconsultant]

Originally Posted by steheap

Thanks for the advice. I've looked at the parts diagram. The problem bearing is the center blade. Do I need to drop the cutting deck down from the main frame and slide it out, or can it be replaced while still installed on the mower? I'm assuming I need to hold the blade securely and remove the nut on the top, and then remove the split ring to free up the bearings? I've not managed to find any specific instructions about removing and replacing these bearings.

Steve

Your going to remove the top bolt by holding onto the blade with a piece of leather or a towel, or use a block of wood to lodge the blade to the baffle under the deck.
Use a breaker bar to have leverage on the top spindle bolt.
You can remove the entire spindle assembly from the deck without removing the deck from the tractor, it unbolts and slides out the bottom.
This is if the top spindle pulley easily removes.
Your likely going to need to replace it as a assembly anyways if its making this much noise.
The bearings have likely heated up so much that they have heated the housing to the point where the new bearings wont be tight in the housing.
This is if you can even get the old bearings out.

Pj

[Keith]

Wow, this sounds familiar, LOL. My Super Z had a high-pitched shrill a lot of the time. I knew it was the center spindle.It was noisier when it was dry, and quieter when it was very humid or rained recently. I lived with it for a year and a half. Dealer said they couldn't hear it. I guess I took it in on wet day. Same thing months later. They said bring it back before the warranty ran out and maybe it would be bad enough to replace. Took it back last week and they finally fixed it, one day short of the warranty expiring. It sounds like a new mower! If I had known just how bad it was, I would have replaced it myself in April of 2010.

[blakeaf96]

I have a Hustler 54" Sport Zero Turn Mower that I bought about 2 years ago. I've experienced this problem several times this year and last year as well.

This is what's happening... When cutting my yard's ditch at the road (which is not steep at all.. maybe a 25% bank), I will have the handlebars extended as normal to keep a straight line, and then the lawn mower will start whining really, really bad (sounds like a massive strain on the belt or something), and I have to pull back on one of the handles to stop the noise, which slows the lawn mower down a lot. Well, it keeps doing it until I end up with the handle bars back to regular position, in which the lawn mower has come to a complete stop.

Then, if I climb back out of the bank onto flat land, and extend both handlebars, the mower does not go straight at all. It bares off to the right. Then, if I turn the mower off for a little bit or something, it will fix itself and then I can resume and it's fine, but it will happen again. What in the world is causing this? It's so frustrating!!!

[mowerconsultant]

Originally Posted by blakeaf96

I have a Hustler 54" Sport Zero Turn Mower that I bought about 2 years ago. I've experienced this problem several times this year and last year as well.

This is what's happening... When cutting my yard's ditch at the road (which is not steep at all.. maybe a 25% bank), I will have the handlebars extended as normal to keep a straight line, and then the lawn mower will start whining really, really bad (sounds like a massive strain on the belt or something), and I have to pull back on one of the handles to stop the noise, which slows the lawn mower down a lot. Well, it keeps doing it until I end up with the handle bars back to regular position, in which the lawn mower has come to a complete stop.

Then, if I climb back out of the bank onto flat land, and extend both handlebars, the mower does not go straight at all. It bares off to the right. Then, if I turn the mower off for a little bit or something, it will fix itself and then I can resume and it's fine, but it will happen again. What in the world is causing this? It's so frustrating!!!

You are really stressing those hydro's out, the unit is not designed to be cutting a 25% bank.
Max slope is 15%.
the whining your hearing is the oil in the unit.
They are overheating.

Pj