Wirewheeled the bottom of the Bolens 1455 mower deck today and then primed it, so it is starting to look mighty good. I will use the 1455 to mow the wye at Llano and along the RR right-of-way since it has the 10-ply tires that will resist puncture by miscellaneous RR hardware. I wirewheeled it in 2010, but it needed extra work done and got rusty in the meantime. Had to remove some old hardware so we could strengthen various areas by welding. My small engine guy welded on a plate over an area that was looking iffy. Plus he created some plates that will be bolted on between the lift arms and the deck, providing extra support. What worries me is that I thought this deck was in pretty good shape. If it needed that much work, will the Bolens 1250 mower deck--virtually identical--be salvageable at all? Stay tuned.
Also unscrewed the parking pawl bushing on the 1455 to replace the O-ring on it. About 4-5 quarts of new ATF came out with it, but I had an oil basin so I caught it all. Then picked up a new O-ring at Tractor Supply, put it on and re-installed the bushing and poured the ATF back in. So far no leaks but I already know, from looking at the diagram in the parts list, that I actually also need something called a "Quad-Ring" also to go on the bushing. Apparently a Quad-Ring is a special type of O-ring that does an even better job of sealing. So have queried a company that reportedly carries them and will see how much they cost.
Picked up a used gear box for my decks on E-bay for only $86.00, including shipping. My small engine guy tells me the gear box is susceptible to being damaged when the blades hit a rock or impediment, so am trying to anticipate trouble. The price was lower than any other I had seen recently so I snapped it up.
Tomorrow will be grinding off the tab on a pipe from the motorcar trailer. I pieced the pipe together using a larger diameter tube and clevis pins, but it wobbles. Leland told me he could weld the tab onto a tube of that diameter so I might bring it down to him, or get it done locally.
Bought a whole bunch of bolts and lockwashers. Noticed that my supplies were getting low, so I decided to pick extras up at McCoy's. That way I don't have to run over to Tractor Supply or Home Depot whenever I need a particular size bolt. Of course, these were all coarse, not fine, threaded.
My small engine guy picked up the bearing housing, bearings (6) and a used jackshaft and should now be putting the spindles back together so we can reassemble the 1455 mower deck. That is why I am cleaning it up and priming and painting it. I will try to finish the job tomorrow, so the deck is ready for reassembly. Will be painting it red, to keep it in the original color. With proper care, it ought be to good for another two decades or so.
That's it for now. Will post photos of the 1455 mower deck after it is painted tomorrow.
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