Jeff - glad to see/hear nothing has changed. I had sorta figured you may have relagated your wide frames to an ultimate destination and allowed the Super what was it, 2072 to take over all the duties. I know that power steering is hard to ride away from but just think of it this way. Gas still ain't cheap and the Super doesn't have the best fuel efficiency, and the Super just doesn't allow you to smeel those original Kohler fumes you get with the K-series. Real seat time is on a wide frame Cub, not the Super. And like Josh said, I can smell the dirt. (I suppose I'll get some comments now from Steve, Mr. Plow)
Now for Matt and Dennis, and the benefit of Mike. I probably actually do agree with what you guys are really saying.
Matt - I agree a mowing deck doesn't need to compare to a Space Shuttle for accuracy. I was only trying to say the rear gauge wheels should be accurate. I should have said they are not intended to ride on the ground and if used that way more than likely will crack the deck skin where they are attached. The deck is designed to be used in a floating position not fixed, as you well know but is often ignored. If the gauge wheel brackets are mis-matched or out of alignment with each other then, if the deck is leveled, one wheel will likely be hitting the ground often and eventually break thru the deck skin.
Dennis - I've had several of the decks where the bolt for the front roller is worn, and the hole inside the roller is worn. This results in the roller itself actually rising about the lower level of the nose cast piece holding it. You end up driving the nose cast piece thru the uneven ground surface and the roller serves no function at all.
I agree you could rotate the bolt 180 degrees and probably have alot more surface, but Mike's roller may be really worn on the inside hole so he needs to check it out when it's installed.
I have no issue making a new one out of pine as you suggested. If the deck is set up correctly and operating correctly the front roller shouldn't hit the ground to often anyway. In other words - I can't argue with your many years of experience using a pine front roller.
I do happen to like the black plastic ones you see on the later decks and I think they hold up well and don't chip off like wood tends to.
So Mike C - that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Looking at the picture of your front roller again, it may be just the end that's banged up some. The roller itself may be fine.
And if the bolt doesn't look all worn on the shaft on one side then just keep on using it, or as Dennis suggested, rotate it 180 degrees when you install it.
Just make sure when you've got the deck all together you check the roller. I'd suggest you lay the deck on a hard concrete/asphalt surface and see if the roller actually holds the nose of the deck off the surface. I can't recall by how much, but I believe Dennis is saying you can't get more than 1/2 or 3/4" clearance. If you get this clearance then the roller is doing it's job. If the roller just rides up and the nose cast piece is touching the concrete/asphalt then you need to change the bolt and/or roller.
And on the brackets I hope you get that pair from Kraig but if not and you make some if you've got enough adjustment holes you'll figure out where to install the gauge wheels themselves just like Matt said.
The important thing Matt did point out is that they be mirror images. If the holes are mis-matched the gauge wheels will be mis-matched in their setting.
Another good point Matt eluded to was the sub-frame carriage being re-worked so it's not all sloppy. You may have to fill and re-drill the holes for the hangers or the fork, etc. and/or get new hangers which aren't cheap either.
Jeff - and now I'm back to you again. I hit the enter key after a few sentences and it looks like I did it to often. Now it looks like I said alot more than I really did say, but I suppose most everyone will read it anyway. Here's another one or two for you
