Honda Ride-on Mower Repair

creedp

Im looking to replace the deck on my Honda HF2417 HME as its completely corroded through. I ssripped the timing belt but don't know how to remove the spindle bearings or the spindle part onto the which the blades are connected. Would welcome any and all advice as my lawn is getting wild and I'd love tyo give it a quick topping to get it under control before this next phase of mild weather makes it evn worse.

Also I though the blades should be at right angles to each other but that is not the case in the image below. Should I re-install them at right angels to each other?

LW1.jpg

LW2.jpg

LW3.jpg

LW4.jpg

creedp

Sorry for Bumping this but I would really appreciate any assistance with this query. Hoping to have another go and getting the spindle's / spindle bearings off this tomorrow and would love a bit of advice on the best technique to achieve this.

thanks

HandsomeRover

You should be able to pull that apart from above..

Did my timing belt recently, was all very straightforward.


The only thing i had to think about was the locking of the drive pulley while undoing the bolt.. a garden fork fitted nicely into the two holes on the pulley and it was a breeze from there.


I found a great guide which stepped me through - i'll search for it later and post if i find it...



I have a blade alarm on now which I'm looking for help with if anyone could advise? Comes on 75% of the time when engaging the blades. Is it blade alignment or deck alignment maybe?

HandsomeRover

HandsomeRover wrote: »

You should be able to pull that apart from above..

Did my timing belt recently, was all very straightforward.


The only thing i had to think about was the locking of the drive pulley while undoing the bolt.. a garden fork fitted nicely into the two holes on the pulley and it was a breeze from there.


I found a great guide which stepped me through - i'll search for it later and post if i find it...



I have a blade alarm on now which I'm looking for help with if anyone could advise? Comes on 75% of the time when engaging the blades. Is it blade alignment or deck alignment maybe?

https://www.lawnmowerfixed.com/mower-deck-belt-replacement

Here's that link.

creedp

HandsomeRover wrote: »

https://www.lawnmowerfixed.com/mower-deck-belt-replacement

Here's that link.

Very much appreciate the link as it will greatly help me put the whole thing back together again. I have removed all the parts as set out in the link with the exception of the toothed pulley's sitting on top of the spindles (see diagram 9 in the link) and the actual spindles that fit through the deck.

Even if I get the pulleys off I still don't know will that allow me remove the spindles from the deck. I'm tempted to try and force these pulleys upwards but I'm worried there is a technique for removing them and I could just do damage to them by applying brute force?

Any idea if any special tool / technique required to finish the job so I can fit the new deck and bring the lawn under control!!

Thanks again for information / advice to-date

HandsomeRover

I didn't need to go that far as I was only replacing the belt but looking at it again I think if you strip the drive pulley out as well as the guides (these had to come out for the belt) and the bolts on the case then the case will come away and expose the mandrels (spindles). I think they might be aligned with keys on the shafts and bolted from below.. what I mean here is if you undo the blades the circular cover between the blades and the deck comes away and you'll see the mounting points for the mandrels which should unbolt handy enough.

I fixed my blade alarm.. the grass box switch housing was full of dried grass and affecting it contacting - an easy fix!

creedp

HandsomeRover wrote: »

I didn't need to go that far as I was only replacing the belt but looking at it again I think if you strip the drive pulley out as well as the guides (these had to come out for the belt) and the bolts on the case then the case will come away and expose the mandrels (spindles). I think they might be aligned with keys on the shafts and bolted from below.. what I mean here is if you undo the blades the circular cover between the blades and the deck comes away and you'll see the mounting points for the mandrels which should unbolt handy enough.

I fixed my blade alarm.. the grass box switch housing was full of dried grass and affecting it contacting - an easy fix!

My problem is I don't know how to strip the drive pulleys from the spindles. Is there a special tool needed or is it just a cases of forcing them upwards? On my mower there is no case between the blade and the deck. The blades are attached directly to the mandrels (see 3rd and 4th attachment on my first post) and I can see no method to disengage the lower part of the mandrel to allow it to pass upwards through the hole on the deck.

Thanks for tip on blade alarm .. will have a look at the grass box switch housing while I'm trying to work out how to remove the pulleys!!

HandsomeRover

OK I see what you're at now!

This is the other side of the blade boss in image 3. Note the half moon key (slot) that keeps this aligned to the mandrell.

As far as I know it doesnt go up through the deck to come away..? The three square alignment tabs give it the horizontal stability and the half moon key keeps them mated to control the rotation.

Save for a few washers and bearings either side of the deck there's nothing else in there.

If you remove the bolt on top of the drive pulley and take it off you 'should' be able to partially disassemble it as there is only one other bolt fixing it to the boss.. you should be able to access this from the shaft in the boss in image 3.

Look at this link.. the photo shows the threaded shaft on the underside of the mandrell.. the bolt I'm on about threads in here.. its labelled 17 in the assembly image in this link..

creedp

HandsomeRover wrote: »

OK I see what you're at now!

This is the other side of the blade boss in image 3. Note the half moon key (slot) that keeps this aligned to the mandrell.

As far as I know it doesnt go up through the deck to come away..? The three square alignment tabs give it the horizontal stability and the half moon key keeps them mated to control the rotation.

Save for a few washers and bearings either side of the deck there's nothing else in there.

If you remove the bolt on top of the drive pulley and take it off you 'should' be able to partially disassemble it as there is only one other bolt fixing it to the boss.. you should be able to access this from the shaft in the boss in image 3.

Look at this link.. the photo shows the threaded shaft on the underside of the mandrell.. the bolt I'm on about threads in here.. its labelled 17 in the assembly image in this link..

OK so the blade boss should simply release from the mandrell axle with a bit of downward pressure which would allow the mandrell to pass up through the deck. I might then not have to remove the belt pulley as I could lift the whole lot off the top of the old deck and drop it onto the new deck, replace the boss and blade on each mandrell and I'm back in action! I hope this works out as well real life!!

Really appreciate all your advice and links on this issue HansomeRover.

HandsomeRover

No hassle..

I don't think you'll be able to release the two by just pulling apart.. you'll need to undo remove the bolt. I could be wrong but looking at the assembly diagrams it looks like that's the only fixing. Let us know how you get on..

creedp

HandsomeRover wrote: »

No hassle..

I don't think you'll be able to release the two by just pulling apart.. you'll need to undo remove the bolt. I could be wrong but looking at the assembly diagrams it looks like that's the only fixing. Let us know how you get on..

Thanks. Unfortunately away for a couple of days. Will have a look again on return. Sure no problem on progress (hopefully) update!

creedp

OK so I finally got around to this job. With a bit of gentle persuasion with a hammer the blade boss released from the mandrell axle and the mandrell then passed up through the deck. I then dropped the whole lot onto the new deck and started the time consuming process of putting the whole lot back together again.

I should have bought new bolts for the blades as the old ones were very difficult to remove and I must have 'rounded' them. Anyway as I was doing the job yesterday I just put them back on. Could be fun removing them the next time!!

Replacing the timing belt was a pain as difficult to keep the blades in time .. I'm sure there is a better technique that my approach!

I've noticed there is a fair bit of play in the pulley sitting on the blade mandrell. I'm not clear if this is wear on the mandrell shaft, the pulley axle or the little key which slots into the shaft.

Anyway got it all back together quite late yesterday evening and went to switch on to test and of course the mower ran out of fuel. As I had thrown all mine into the mower I borrowed a couple of weeks back I decided I had enough for one day. Will try it again next weekend and hopefully all is well.

Thanks again for all advice. Sometimes its quite enjoyable to get the hands dirty and actually fix something .. although I might be counting my chickens a little early!!

HandsomeRover

Good man..

Word of caution...don't start it up until you've gotten rid of the play.. there's a nice bit of torque there, especially when you engage the blades. I know this because I had a high-tensile bolt sheer on mine because i didn't reassemble it correctly the first time. I thought I had torn the belt again and when I pulled out the deck I saw the damage to the bolt.. it popped about 2 seconds after the blades were engaged.

Any decent stockist will have the blade bolts and the keys for the shaft.. buy a few of both types so you have spares..

Theses some good info on the belt/pulley tension available on line.. its measured in the length of the springs when engaged so worth double checking/adjusting those before you fire it up - saves having to tear down again if something was overlooked.

A lick of copper slip on the bolts will make removing them easier. Helps prevent thread rust as well.

creedp

HandsomeRover wrote: »

Good man..

Word of caution...don't start it up until you've gotten rid of the play.. there's a nice bit of torque there, especially when you engage the blades. I know this because I had a high-tensile bolt sheer on mine because i didn't reassemble it correctly the first time. I thought I had torn the belt again and when I pulled out the deck I saw the damage to the bolt.. it popped about 2 seconds after the blades were engaged.

Any decent stockist will have the blade bolts and the keys for the shaft.. buy a few of both types so you have spares..

Theses some good info on the belt/pulley tension available on line.. its measured in the length of the springs when engaged so worth double checking/adjusting those before you fire it up - saves having to tear down again if something was overlooked.

A lick of copper slip on the bolts will make removing them easier. Helps prevent thread rust as well.

I took your advice and although a PITA I opened up the deck again and added a bit more tension to the timing belt. I then replaced the drive pulley and key although I had to file down the new key a little in order to get it to fit. However, this made a massive difference to the play issue. I then realigned the deck which was badly misaligned. I started up the mower and when I engaged the blades there appeared to be a bit more pressure than normal on the engine and I couldn’t disengage the blades. However, this was primarily due to the belt not sitting as well into the new pulley so I adjusted the belt length and on start up everything seemed fine. I did a quick test cut and the mower is running much better now with no rattles and vibration on engaging and disengaging the blades.
Thanks again for all advice

HandsomeRover

Fantastic.. great to get a good result. I struggled with mine for a while, but the alignment specs are quite detailed and if you can take your time and follow correctly they should bring you back to a newish machine. Its what they'd do at a good service shop anyway so it makes sense.