Mower Gearbox Repairs: One Down, Two to Go

My small-engine guy came over this evening and we installed a new gasket, oil seal and three new shims on the mower gearbox off the Bolens 1455.  Then we took that gearbox and installed it on the Bolens 1250 rail-mower.  We switched gearboxes because we took the 1250 gearbox off the deck, removed the pulley, and found it needs not one, but two oil seals, and I didn't have any extra ones on hand.  While we have the pulley off we will install a new gasket and new shims as well.  Then we will install that gearbox on the Bolens 1455 mower deck.  I have a third gearbox to serve as a backup to these two so we will go into that as well and replace whatever needs replacing.  I sure don't want to have to manhandle those decks around any more than necessary, so it's good we are fixing problems before they develop into major trouble.  Frank Glatzl is coming over Saturday to get the rail-mower engine going and mount the mower deck onto the rail-mower, so I wanted this issue out of the way before then and am glad it is.  The only other thing I have to do before Saturday is get the rail-mower moved onto my 40-foot track so we can work with the mower deck in what will be its normal environment.  That's a challenge since my Explorer is in the shop for repairs and may not be out until Friday afternoon, but maybe it will happen. 

On the BCS two-wheeled tractor, yesterday I removed the muffler, which had quite a bit of surface rust, and wirewheeled it clean.  Then I painted it with two coats of Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer and one of Rustoleum Silver.  I also painted the mower teeth platform with both primer and Gloss Black spray paint.  I spent about an hour cleaning congealed grease and dirt off as much of the tractor as possible.  Today I  removed the wheels, cleaned up the rims with a wirewheel, and then gave the them rusty metal primer and silver spray paint treatment.  The tractor is starting to look more like it did on the showroom floor.  I took off the air filter, which looked pretty well shot, and bought an identical replacement at A-Line Auto Parts.  Also ordered a new pre-filter so I can keep the one that was on it as a spare.