I took my Cub Cadet mower out for the first mowing of the season last week. In extending the mowed area slightly, I ran into rements of some hog fencing. 12 ga. wire wrapped around one blade and in the few seconds it took to stop the mower deck, the blade had locked up completely. I drove it over to the patio and took a peek underneath. The wire had wound tightly around the housing and crossed over a couple of times . I got out my linesman's pliers and diagonal cutters and started to dissect the wire. A few minutes later all the wire was removed but the blade was still locked tight.
With all that done, it was apparent that I would have to drop the deck. Once that was done, I removed the blade and with a 3/4" breaker bar, still couldn't budge the shaft. So I removed the housing and pulley and was able to remove the upper bearing and spcaer, leaving just the lower bearting and the shaft in the housing. A couple of sharp raps with a 3 Lb. hammer and block of wood freed the shaft. The wire wrapping around the blade and the housing swaged the end of the housing down and in welding the housing to the shaft. A little cleanup work on the lathe and some file work on the housing put everything right again.
I reassembled the mower deck and remounted it and set about mowing again. About twenty minutes in, I was having trouble mowing up a grade so I decided to work on some flatter terrain. About 200 yards from the barn, my left rear tire went completely flat. I mean tire off the rim flat. Ihe tractor wasn't driveable and my air compressor was 200 yards away.so I brought out the diesel tractor to tow it back.
Once back at the barn, I fired up the air compressor and set about inflating the tire. Anyone who has tried mounting a tubeless tire knows you have to get both beads reasonably seated in order to build up pressure. On a 20-8.00 tire, this is like trying to corral a bunch of greased pigs. Finally, I got my tie down strap from my boat and wrapped it around the tread several times and hooked it into a loop. By tightening the strap, I was able to distort the tread enough to seat both beads aqnd I inflated the tire to the specified 10 psi.That done, I took the Cub around to the other side of the barn. By the time I got there, the tire was going soft again. I decided to pull the wheel for a closer look. The single bolt which held the wheel on the axle would barely budge. I was afraid the I would snap the bolt off. Eventually, with the aid of some WD40 and a bigger wrench, I was able to tease the bolt out. No rust on it so I can only surmise that there was Loc Tite.
With the wheel off, I reinflated it and the leak was readily apparent. Just above the tread on the inner sidewall there was a steady jet of air escaping. Apparently, before the wire had wrapped around tightly, it whipped out and punctured the tire. I dismounted the tire and assessed the situation. From past experience, sidewall punctures are not repairable although the thought did cross my mind to try some Flex Seal
. Not wanting to run around on a quest for a tire with COVID 19 lurking, I decied to take advantage of our Amazon Prime subscription and order one on line. The tire shipped out from Utah that evening and is due to arrive tomorrow. The Cub is only 20 months old and the tire is practically new. When things ease up out in the world, I'll order an inner tube so I will have a backup for any future mishaps.
I should have gone fishing.
