KENDELL - My first mower deck refurb was back in about '87 or '88. The 38" for the CC 72. I also made a few modifications to get the cut grass out of the deck better and allow trimming closer to things on the left hand side. Still is the nicest mowing deck I have, as long as I watch the rear tire pressure on the tractor. I mowed with it last week and the left rear tire was about 2 PSI lower than the right rear tire. And I didn't notice it until I was about half done.
I used to have to work on the spindle bearings on that 38" deck every year or two and then I switched brands of grease. I use Lubriplate in everything now and I haven't had a spindle bearing problem since. When I had the 50C deck apart I did notice some looseness in one of the spindles, but it's between the bearing housing and the bearing insert itself. I tried "shimming" it but I don't know how long that repair will last. It seems to be still mowing O-K, but the deck's only run for four or five hours so far.
The "stripe" these decks leave when turning is between the outer deck blade on the inside of the turn and the center blade on the deck. When the blades are new they normally won't leave the stripe, but as they wear down and You sharpen them WAY beyond what IH recommended they will leave the stripe. I solve that by just not turning as sharp or turning on grass already mowed.