Last few years we have been getting many battery issue. They are getting old; batteries tend to last 3 to 5 years with these rapid chargers and off-season storage. Recently when they come in, I'm starting to clean motors and checking brushes for wear. After 7 years I find they are loading up pretty good with spent brush material. Could be drawing more power from batteries too.
Disconnect battery before starting, put it in tow first and turn key off brake set and in neutral. I like to cycle the pedal up and down a few times to draw out some of the power. You can also just wait 5 minutes before disconnecting the battery. Wearing a face Shield is recommended.
Got ahead of myself in pics. easy to remove. Caution weighs 50 + pounds. More pics below from assembling for reference on removal.
Set in on some wooden blocks.
I just marked this to install speed sensor in same location.
Every magnet so far have been cracked.I think they would be ok to reuse, I have some in stock from kits .
Remove the bolts for brush holder.
Slide it up and off the field winding case. I didn't find a need to mark where field winding case lines up it was pretty straight forward.
3 prong puller made quick work pushing it off the bearing. Caution, always be aware of the windings so they don't get damaged.
Brushes in fair shape for 7 years old.
Check bearing for play.
I'll pop the spring holders up like this for install.
After blowing out I use some contact cleaner on brush surface.
Armature needs a little cleaning.
Nylon scrub pads work well. I'm using a medium emery cloth. Spray clean afterwards. Blow out old brush material too.
Put end on your block of wood.
I'm using a large socket to lightly tap back on to bearing.
Tap it on till it lines up with brushes.
Don't forget to flip brush holder springs back on. Keep them high and off the wire.
Very lightly lube end for install.
Field windings are a mess. Lots of brush material build up.
A little air and they look like new.
Line up terminals
They are slightly offset. Snug down bolts.
A little brake clean does the job.
Check the seal before installing.
Does way a lot and a little awkward. I found moving up and down and back and forth got it on fairly quickly.
Draw it in with the bolts alternating back and forth.
Reinstall wiring red and green face you at rear and I like to keep wires 90 degree to case.
Tools needed
Final connection torqued to spec along with the rest.
Fairly easy job.
Start to finish on a lift maybe an hour.
Second one today, just retrived this one from cart barn for a no go issue.
You can see why, brush wires fell or burnt out.
Have a set of new ones.
In a pinch I have had great luck drilled out and resoldering wires back on.
And in
Also so noticed it not beeping when pushing it in tow, a sure sign of spent speed sensor.
Old 4 pass parts came in handy to replace broken spring on above motor.
I have decided to leave them. I know it was pretty entertaining for some to read my daily posts of what was going on in my shop. But after thinking about it the past few weeks I realized it's also hard on people starting out, or in the field for a while, expected by their establishments to try and keep up. Wasn't my intension to make lives harder for techs and sales people especially the service and parts. Lifes hard enough nowadays. My apologies to anyone affected in a negative way from my rantings and posts.
Enjoy what you're doing.
When you feel down and out and frustrated.
STOP
Grab a coffee and reorganize/ prioritize your day because it's always changing is my best advice.
This unit does all the dirty mowing on the course. Instead of ruining four units we decided it would be cheaper overall to do it this way. With the cost of new equipment, a lot of us will be hanging onto gear longer. This year I'm going over this unit well. Hard working machine and cart paths have taken a toll.
Finally broke down and purchased a roller. Buying metal at local metal distributor I had been retubing them with remarkable success.
Rear steering bushing was worn out. Getting to be too much play. Catching it early before it ruins the shaft section.
Self-centering bushing was also trashed. Nice to see the part keyed. can only be installed one way. I marked the upside position.
Cleaning it up while waiting for parts. It's been a bad year for getting parts in a timely matter.
Yes, some parts have arrived
That should take the play out of the steering.
Onto the fun stuff. Remove the wheel
Many times the hub is stuck on well. It must be removed to get wheel motor bolts off to make it lighter. I started with just the puller then added heat and it wasn't budging. using the air hammer, it finally popped. Tech tip always leave the nut threaded on 2 or 3 turns and always stand to the side. Some techs have been severely injured when they pop off.
She popped big time.
Throw a wet rag on to dissipate the heat as soon as possible. I've seen seals melt creating more work.
I used my tripods on this job set up this way. Worked out well. If you're worried about weight distribution on a 2-post lift, get the area you're not working on close to posts.
Remove the rear wheel mounting arm. With the screen in cab off they are accessible enough to punch the old bearings out .
A bit of work but doable
You will need 3/4 threaded rod or bigger and large washers or plating with holes drilled in to press bushings in place. Lots of torque to get them installed.
Reassemble in reverse. had to use a 5 pound maul to massage it back in place
Put a block of wood on a bottle jack to hold it in place on the underside so it doesn't just slide back out.
On to the front. Lots of sloppy bits here. Decks were moving side to side (not using controls) a good 3" causing unwanted mowhocks around green surrounds.
Surprisingly, JD CD has instructions on removing the entire unit for rebuild involving drain hydraulics a few lines if you wanted to do it on the bench. I'm blocking the front frame and removing wheels to slide the tubes out with parts for rebuilding. It was also doable. some bolts need wrench levering method to remove with a 5 lb. hammer to get them to loosen.
Driving the old bushings out.
Knocking the sides of a large washer I managed to punch it in place to take the first side out.
LOL One guy on twitter mentioned that you could have just welded a bead inside and knocked them out. Did not cross my mind because I'm thinking they were bronze or brass. These ones had enough metal content to weld maybe. I didn't try it this time but suggest it to be a quicker method if it's
Yeah!!!! the parts are here.
Brutal parts waiting game. While waiting I managed to service 4 TX gators and 2 HDXDs the old school way off the floor.
Surprisingly assembly went really smooth. I thought for sure getting the big sliding knuckles would give me issues. But not even a problem. Blocking the front frame made the room slide tubes in.
These bolts are like 320 ft lbs. I do believe. Probably the reason to remove it as an assembly. I would install the wheels back on the machine before double wrenching them back on for all your worth. I'll be rechecking these bolts after the first mow in spring. There is no room for torque wrenches.
Solid
I could have lowered the machine and muscled the decks and arms together but with my experience it's worth the time to remove lift arms for reinstalling in new bushings.
ZERO side to side deck movement with machine off.
A little video to show clearances you're working with,
