50A deck spindle questions
 

I have a 50a deck on my 1650 that i run pretty hard. i relegate it to the rough mowing of my 2 acres. It regularly chomps up dead branch parts and even the occasional mesquite tree. it has the hardened IH blades on it and the water pump bearings. i had one that was making a little noise so i threw in some more grease and it didn't quiet down. i wouldn't say that it is too bad sounding but the other 2 don't make any noise at all. when i grab the blade and wiggle i can see the spindle shaft moving in the bearing holding housing. the bearings themselves seem tight. so I'm not for sure yet if my bearing holders are getting a little loose from all the violence or if thats just how they are. i see there is an upgraded replacement unit that can be rebuilt but they are pricey. i have also heard something about the 2000 series may work but there is something with a spacer to deal with. are there any other options for upgrade out there. its just getting mowing season and i dont want to be stuck without. I'm also looking to put in the speed pulley too

Without any pictures, it is hard to say.

But it sounds like you need the ST745 bearing.

I found it available at: ST745

Sounds like the bearing is wallowing in it's stamped housing.
Don't think a new bearing will fix that.
I have eliminated those old style bearings and replaced them with the newer
taper Timken style bearing assy's much,much cheaper to replace, ( Lm 11949 and Lm 11910) (outer wheel bearings on older GM vehicles) but you have to change to the Aluminum housings also.
I was lucky as I had a junk deck from a 1720 and just used those assemblies.
I didn't need any adaptors/spacers.
As far as using that deck for a "brush hog" they are aged and thin now-a-days and the spindles tend to bend the housing mounting area causing the "cut" to not be as nice/even as it was new, I'm sure. BTDT.:bigthink:

I for sure want to upgrade to the new bearings. Seems like it would hold up better for what I do withr the deck. So what all model of deck should I be looking for. Anyone have a lead on a set of used bearings

:HeadScratch:

I see a lot of the newer models still used the 50/38/44 C decks. I'm trying to expand what I'm searching for when searching Craig's list and eBay for used decks to strip the spindles from