my neighbor was using it at the time because his mower is out of commission at this time. The left side (while on it) end weld broke and the axle spread apart and the spindle dropped out. We towed it back to my house with his quad and jacked it up and put it back in and beat the end of the axle back together. My buddy is gonna come by tomorrow AM and weld it back shut thank goodness... Now I see the benefit of a cast iron front axle.
craftsman stamped axle broke today while mowing
- Thread starter dwcopple
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Classic example if you get what you pay for.
Stamped axles are pretty junky and easily fatigued/damaged.
A common issue I saw was people running into things. Mowing while intoxicated is fairly common, and stamped axles just don't hold up well against a stump or large rock.
There may be a cast iron axle that will fit your model. I'd browse around on the Sears parts website and see what you can find.
A common issue I saw was people running into things. Mowing while intoxicated is fairly common, and stamped axles just don't hold up well against a stump or large rock.
There may be a cast iron axle that will fit your model. I'd browse around on the Sears parts website and see what you can find.
Originally Posted By: Slick17601
Classic example if you get what you pay for.
this is the best $275 mower/tractor I have ever owned. 6 speed Dana trans, Kohler engine, comfy seat, and large frame. I did well on it. I have wheel weights, rear weight plate, tire chains, snow plow for winter too. Other than the axle, it just keeps on going. Hopefully it will be fixed today. I'll post pics later.
Classic example if you get what you pay for.
this is the best $275 mower/tractor I have ever owned. 6 speed Dana trans, Kohler engine, comfy seat, and large frame. I did well on it. I have wheel weights, rear weight plate, tire chains, snow plow for winter too. Other than the axle, it just keeps on going. Hopefully it will be fixed today. I'll post pics later.
I had a spindle pop off of a Roper/Murray stamped axle on me and have seen lots of front-ends look like this on stamped axles /---\. Good thing about them is they can be repaired fairly easily depending on the break. Replacements can be mail-ordered for some.
Joel
Joel
Sounds like a good deal to me for a cast iron front axle. Should be a solid mower after that!
Good deal! I had forgotten about the availability of cast iron replacements. I do recall reading about that online some years ago.
Joel
Joel
Mowing while intoxicated! Better remove ALL cup holders from rideon mowers. Quick, we need LEGISLATION.
We'll also need a panel to be formed to develop and codify some regulations so this cannot happen again.
A couple billion ought to do it.
A couple billion ought to do it.
slight issue, the ends of the new axle are shorter in height than the stamped one. I need to use steel bushings to make up the space to the e clip. I have one, need to go get another. It never ends. I should've just left the repaired steel one in there...
Nah, still a good idea to go for the cast iron. Once you get it in there it won't be getting replaced again.
As for the mowing while intoxicated, one guy brought a wrecked mower back to the store raising [censored] that it just fell apart on him. The mower had hit something very hard. Front axle was bent, muffler and muffler guard were bent, and whatever he hit managed to hit the crank and bend it badly too. The bent crank caused it to leak a massive amount of oil. The guy swore up and down it "just broke" and he didn't hit anything despite everything being mangled from an obvious hard impact. He wanted to get it fixed under warranty. He was told there was no way it would be approved, but he insisted so claims were started with the mower and engine manufacturers who quickly denied them (they get sent pictures).
As for the mowing while intoxicated, one guy brought a wrecked mower back to the store raising [censored] that it just fell apart on him. The mower had hit something very hard. Front axle was bent, muffler and muffler guard were bent, and whatever he hit managed to hit the crank and bend it badly too. The bent crank caused it to leak a massive amount of oil. The guy swore up and down it "just broke" and he didn't hit anything despite everything being mangled from an obvious hard impact. He wanted to get it fixed under warranty. He was told there was no way it would be approved, but he insisted so claims were started with the mower and engine manufacturers who quickly denied them (they get sent pictures).
got it installed. Of course, the muffler had to come off to get the pivot bolt out, and of course the hood and grille assembly had to come off to get the muffler box out. Any who, the new cast axle has shorter spindle towers so I had to make spacers out of some pipe I had here in the garage. The difference in steering and handling is amazingly different. It tracks straighter, turns sharper and is just much smoother. Love that it has zerks on it too!
I'm glad I have an older Wheel Horse and don't have to worry about things like this.
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