We have an old riding lawnmower that was made by MTD and marketed under several brand names. Ours is a White Outdoor brand that I bought from Tractor Supply. I’ve had to repair one thing or another several times over the years, but it has given good service and lasted longer than most. I plan to keep using it until it falls completely apart.
Back in the last week of April, I was mowing the lawn for the last time before leaving for our trip when the mower deck started making an ungodly racket. A bearing had failed on one of the spindles that transfer drive to the mower blades. I tried to finish the job – I was almost through – and ended up ruining the pulley as well.
My local Tractor Supply didn’t have a replacement. Their store in Liberty, TX, thought they did, and I drove over there just to find that it wouldn’t work. The O-E-M part from MTD was outrageously expensive, but I found an after-market replacement on line at Powermowersales,com. I saved the information and ordered one while we were on the road, expecting it to arrive just after we got home.
When it didn’t come, I called them and found that the part was back-ordered from the manufacturer and wasn’t expected to ship until the end of August. Amy, the young lady who took my call, was able to find an alternate vendor and mailed the part by Priority Mail 2nd Day delivery.
The package made it to the Miami post office and then it just disappeared for over a week! Amy was ready to ship me another one and to file a claim with the post office when it finally showed up.
The spindle assembly finally arrived yesterday, but instead of looking like the one above – the picture of the one I ordered – this one came without the pulley. I tried calling the vendor, but they were closed.
As I have mentioned before, Ray DeSpain's, just down the road on the way to New Caney, may be the best chain saw shop in existence, and they do carry lawnmower parts. I stopped there yesterday, and they were able to match the damaged pulley.
When I get it all back together in an hour or so, I’ll have a functioning lawnmower again. Of course, it’s been raining for the last 24 hours, and it’s too wet to mow.
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