Hi,
My dad has 2 old Sears riding mowers and needs new mandrel/spindles (whatever their called) So the internet savvy daughter gets hauled in to scour the web for info/parts. I am learning more than I ever thought possible about sears mowers
I believe that the part is going to be an AYP part. But I only have the part number for the mandrel assembly thats through sears. #634a424 and #634a423. Which of course sears no longer carries. How do I find out the correlating AYP part? Thanks you so much for your tiime!
-Ann
I have been using my mid-1960's Sears garden tractor (Model # 917.25950) on my 5 acre acreage for over 30 years. It has a 6 speed gear transmision (2 reverse) and a 48 inch mower deck (917.253260). I have replaced the bearing in all three mandrels twice and am ready to do it again. Each mandrel requires two of each of the following tapered roller bearing sets:
Cone P/N LM11949 and a Cup LM1191
Be very sure to remove BOTH setscrews in the pulleys. If you don't you will mess up the threads on the arbor shafts big time.
The cone on the bottom of the shaft (next to the flange) is the most difficult to remove. After removing the cage and the tapered rollers, I have used a Dremel grinder and a cutoff disk to carefully notch the remaining part in two so I could split it with a hammer and a cold chisel. Some might use a cutting torch, but I didn't have one. The dust cup is sandwiched between the flange and the bearing cone and does not allow using a puller.
I've put this tractor through some very hard use over the years (including a 42" doser blade for snow removal). About 8 years ago I replaced the original worn out engine with a later Onan model that has a full flow oil filter.
Last year while using the doser blade, one side of the frame broke at a weak spot. I welded it together and added bolt-on side plates across the weak area on both sides of the frame.
All in all it is a tough, well built unit and I have never had any problems or repair expense with the gear drive transmission as others have experienced with hydrostatic units. I change the transmission oil every two years and have added a magnet in the drain to trap loose chips.
