# Craftsman 'rider' mandrel short life ? (HELP)



## 7394 (Jun 30, 2010)

Hello- I have a 2008 Craftsman 46" rider.. 

Having trouble getting a year outta any new mandrel assembly. Private use & winter it sits. 

I'm going to be needing to replace another one. This wil be # 4...

2 Blade set-up, & the discharge side is still the OEM one & fine. Other side I have been changing & changing. 

The chinese bearings are holding up fine, issue I have is the *housing* gets free play on the machined shoulders, kinda like the seats get beat back, & then it just gets worse & worse.. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated..


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

Make sure the blade is not bent and has good balance, check the pulley and be sure it's not bent or pinched in any areas, finally inspect the belt to see if it has any bad spots. A vibration can cause premature wear, I would suspect the pulley or blade more so then the belt.


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## paulr44 (Oct 14, 2008)

What 30yr said, and, are you using an OEM spindle assy? If you post your model / serial number we could get you the p/n if you don't have it.


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## 7394 (Jun 30, 2010)

Thank You- 

I use new blades, & always check the balance & spinning true to the other side.. + No bad vibes. 

The Pulley spins true also, & belt has no visable damage..

*Could I be torquing the top nut down too tight ?* 

Is that even possible on shouldered shafts ? 

Mandrel assembly OE Part # is: 192870 

After paying the high price from Sears, & still not getting long life, I started using aftermarket assemblies. Which last as long as the Sears ones did..


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

Many aftermarket quill assemblies have grease fittings. If so do you keep them greased. 

I have used both OEM and aftermarket quills and rarely see much if any differences between them and usually neither one wears out before they get destroyed by rocks or stumps.


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## 7394 (Jun 30, 2010)

I have a 'quill' now with a grease fitting on top, however (looking inside it) it has Sealed bearings on both ends, so the grease fitting seems kinda useless on this quill , (I would think anyhow, but correct me if I'm wrong).. 

After your post about the pulley, I did put my dial indicator on today to check more accurately the pulley for run-out, & it has .029" run-out on the outer edge.. 

Hard to see by eye, but it is not as true as I thought.. But being stamped steel, would that be considered TOO much out of true ? 


And as I posted above, the bearings are holding up very well, it is the housing that gets the seats for the bearings beat out.


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## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

It doesn't seem like much, but I would suspect vibration to be the cause of the issue you are having. You could try swapping out the pulley's from the right and left side, and if the problem moves with the pulley, then that would indicate the cause (at the cost of a new spindle housing anyways).


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## 7394 (Jun 30, 2010)

No it doesn't sound like much.. But nothing else makes sense.. 

Your advice is Always most appreciated.. Now I have a direction to concentrate on.. 

I want to check for run-out on that 'quill' (spindle top) to see if it is the pulley or the spindle first.. 

& then test the other Good side for run-out as well.. 

If it's the pulley, I could possibly true it to a much better tolerance, or make it much worse.. LOL Time will tell.. 

I'm a bit reluctant to even touch the good side, that is still the original assembly (over 6 yrs old)..


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## 7394 (Jun 30, 2010)

*Latest discovery*

While inspecting every pulley today, I found that the "Idler Arm" at the end of it's pivot point at the Idler Pulley, can move up & down by at least 1 INCH....

This can't be acceptable, I don't think.. 

Could this be a source or a result of vibration ?


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