Cub Cadet 1605 Mower Deck Vibration

[Texas Blues]

Howdy folks, happy Labor Day. I have a question about this deck vibration. This lower line 1605 was going to be a parts unit at first, but in the end I decided to fix the blown transaxle because for a lawn tractor, its pretty well built. Anyhow, once I got it all back together, I mowed the front yard. It mowed quite nice, but something on the deck was screaming. My neighbor 2 houses down said he could hear it over there lol. So yesterday I decided to rebuild the spindles to quiet the deck down. In each spindle, I drove out the old bearing races, replaced them. Put in new bearings and seals. Mounted the spindles back on the deck, put the blades on, and gave them a test spin by hand. They felt smooth and quiet, great. Also put in a new deck belt. Put the deck back on the 1605, and fired it up. At a lower rpm I turned on the blades for the first time, and sure enough it was ALOT quieter. However at full throttle there is a bad vibration in the deck. So naturally I thought it was something that I had done while doing the spindles. But upon removing the deck and inspecting things, they still seem to spin true with no play and I don't feel any rough spots. Put the old belt back on, same thing. Replaced one of the idler pulleys, same thing. There is still the spring loaded tensioner pulley that I have not replaced, but it seems fine. Also replace the two bearings in the dual drive pulley. Watching the pulleys spin, I just don't see anything out of the ordinary. I have not replaced the blades yet, but they seem ok. This vibration is not something I noticed before working on the spindles. Any Ideas on what else to check? I do have spare spindle assembly's, I guess I could try one at a time and see what happens.
Sorry for the long winded explanation, Just trying to provide as much back ground info that I can. Thanks for any advice, TB

[Shotgun Wedding]

Hi there,

First thing I would do is pull all the blades and inspect for cleanliness and balance. Then, with blades off, run the mower and see if the spindles themselves cause the vibration.

With blades off you'd be able to visually see possibly if a spindle is off and vibrating.

But the blades would be my first look if the spindle bearings were put in right.

[Texas Blues]

Originally Posted by Shotgun Wedding

Hi there,

First thing I would do is pull all the blades and inspect for cleanliness and balance. Then, with blades off, run the mower and see if the spindles themselves cause the vibration.

With blades off you'd be able to visually see possibly if a spindle is off and vibrating.

But the blades would be my first look if the spindle bearings were put in right.

Thanks Shotgun. You are right. I called a buddy, said he had a blade balance tool. Sure enough 2 of the 3 blades immediately dove down to one side as soon as you let go. Being Labor Day with NOBODY laboring (except me) I was not able to call any of the local repair shops to see if they had any blades. I will try tomorrow to find some locally, if not I will order them online. I will report back and let you know if that's all it was. Thanks again, TB

[Sam Mac]

Before you buy new blades you can probably sharpen yours and get them to balance just buy grinding the heavy side down.

[Texas Blues]

Originally Posted by Sam Mac

Before you buy new blades you can probably sharpen yours and get them to balance just buy grinding the heavy side down.

Thanks Sam. That may have been possible at one time. But after stacking the blades on top of one another, one a good 1/4 in narrower than the others on one side and the second one is not too far behind. I already ordered new blades, these were wore out. Possibly they were the original ones. I should have then by the weekend and will report bac on how they do. Thanks TB

[Texas Blues]

Just like magic. The new blades made it smooth. I don't consider this 1605 cub a 30/40 year tractor, but I have to say, for a vertical shaft mower, it mows quite well and is well built. Thanks TB

[Sam Mac]

Glad you got it sorted out TB.