LOL. You are a man after my own heart. Milady is really glad I don't have more room for important 'stuff' like that.

yeah, i've got them hid all over the place! Under tarps, some in the back garage, and a few waiting for the trip to the scrap man! Biggest thing is the expense of the batteries, but i can recoup that when i sell one.
That Murray of which i wrote: I removed the deck today, cleaned out 10 years of old dead grass, horse manure, bugs, weeds, and anything else that was under or in it. I don't think that guy ever cleaned it out. nor did he ever give anything a shot of oil, or grease! He even had bought a new 6-speed tranny and installed it 3 years ago! So, i might have got lucky! Monday will tell. If the battery i have on charge doesn't do well, i'll go buy a new one, and see how the thing runs and drives! The paint is good, but dirty, the tires are good, as are the belts. For all i have in it, a new battery will be a minor cost!

***"Dr. asked me what i do in my spare time! I told him nothing, because i don't have any!"***
Said the sly "old man" with a twinkle in his eye". Darn good answer!! rusty, like I said before, I wish I had a neighbor like you. Ever down to earth and a "point blank, tell it like it is" attitude. Somebody that ain't afraid to call a "yuppie" a yuppie. And you seem to have most of, if not all of, the luck. Best to you and Ruth (my mother was a Ruth too).

Well, thanks, Mownie, for the kind words!
A neighbor decided i charged too much, so he took his lawn tractor to another local fellow, to have new blades installed, and some other work.
The owner saw me recently, and asked if i'd look at his tractor--seemed one of the blades wasn't tight. So, i went and looked at it. I also took a long 1/2 inch drive breaker bar, a block of wood, and a socket to fit the spindle.
I don't know what that guy tightened one or both of the blades with, but since one spindle needed another washer or two, i tried to take off the nut! Pulling with both hands and with my feet braced against the deck--unhh uhh! No dice! I just couldn't turn it. Then the owner told me the guy had used his impact wrench to tighten the blade nut, but left the blade loose! Left out one of the spacers 'tween the blade and spindle nut!
So, the deck will be brought to my place, and i'll try to fix it! I told the owner not to bring the tractor, as the last time i worked on it, he acused me of ruining the engine, and i had to replace it, to get rid of him. He got a good used engine, not a new one. I had nothing to do with ruining the engine, but i got the blame! I'll be more wary of him, too.

rustyj, aside from being curious about what the other guy might have done to cause one of the blades not to be tight, I think I personally would have politely refused the guy's offer for you to correct the damage done by somebody else. And then there's the other deal about him accusing you of "ruining" his other engine. I swear, I believe I would have just pointed out where his "other mechanic" left out the washer and told him "good luck" with getting him to "own up to and correct his goof". But I guess you have your own reasons for being nice to people, even when they run you over. Then, on the other hand, I guess if you've been shot at and sacrificed most of a leg in combat...............stuff like a wishy-washy neighbor doesn't really amount to much. Hang in there sir.

I agree with Mownie, you must be a really
kind hearted person. It was a wise move to have
him remove the deck and have to reinstall it.
However, you do realize that he will blame you
when he re installs the deck incorrectly.
On removing bolts I don't bother with a breaker
bar and muscles. Use an impact.

Well, i would have used my impact wrench, but, since the tractor was in a shed about 2 miles from my garage, i'd of needed a mighty long air hose to use the impact gun! And, he doesn't have readily available high pressure air, except when he was dissing me about his other machine with the bad engine! And thats why i told him to bring only the deck--i'm not taking any chances on his engine!
I found out why his other engine blew! He lives on a really hilly lot, not a flat spot on it, except for a ten foot by 20 ft. patch behind the house! I mean, his yards are steep!
And, when i can't loosen a nut on the blades, bracing my feet against the tractor, i gave it up! And, i was turning the nut the right way---or at least trying to! HAH!

I have had good luck using the "poor man's impact wrench".

Put a wrench or socket and breaker on it and the use a hammer on the wrench. It works nicely. I recall removing the center spindle adapter on a 8 ft JD 'bush-hog' this way.

Rusty is a nice guy because he came from the Depression generation, just like my Dad. They weren't self-absorbed like much of the current batch.

Keep up the good work Rusty.

Well, i got the whole tractor last evening, and got started on it this morning. I had to use a pipe on the breaker bar, and finally got it loose, and off!
As the blade turned freely, with the nut on tight, i figured the spindle shaft was not well, and i found that to be true, because Off came the nut, a two-piece flat washer, a sleeve, and the blade. The spindle is smooth, with no flutes or grooves where a blade would fit, and the hole in the blade has nothing to grip the spindle shaft. The hole looks like it is factory made
I'm leaning to the possibility that the goof who worked on it before, installed the wrong blades, and was either too dumb to realize it, or didn't check the numbers of the correct blades. The blades don't appear to have had any fluting or slots, as some other types have, that grip onto the spindle, when the nut is tightened up. The bottom end of the spindle looks like it was ground into a tapered form. The spindles appear to be the original ones!
So, i Googled Snapper mowers here around my area, fairly close to me, so i'll go pick some brains tomorrow morning.
I can just about hear the guy screaming when i tell him how much it is going to cost to fix it! UGH!

Update on tractor blades, etc.
I went to a Snapper dealer, and showed him the pieces i got out of the blade and spindle assembly. He got out his parts book, then brought out a large round washer thing, which had a raised round area on each side, one side fit the spindle end, the other smaller side fit into the blade. The shaft had no splines on it-never did, weren't worn off, just that way-smooth.
So, i put it all back together, with an added Belleville washer to keep things tight. I reinstalled the deck (Yeah, he brought the whole machine to me!) and tried it out. It worked right, a bit noisy, but the blade was tight and it turned ok.
So, i called him, and he asked me if i'd deliver it, and i agreed. Took it down to his place, unloaded it, and he started it, and put the deck in gear. Immediately, he complained that it was much noisier than before!
At this point, i had the feeling that i'd like to stick his head between the blades, but, i told him to drive it back on the truck and i'd take it back home and install two brand new spindles, and he'd get a bill for that and the other work, and the delivery! About that time, he decided that the deck wasn't too noisy, he smiled, handed me the money, and thanked me, and i left! And, about 2 hours later, he called me and apologised for sounding so ungrateful, and said he was satisfied and all was well!
(Personally, i think his wife probably jumped on him with both feet, and read him out! She's a nice lady, and a good friend of the folks next door, but i imagine she'd like to smack him down, but he's a tub of lard, and -well-you know!)

Haha! That's pretty funny, until he gets cranky again.

I think i have finally fixed that loose blade thing! I got it back again with the blade loose, so i bought a nylon filled nut to fit the threads, a wave washer, and several other parts, installed everything, took it back, and so far, i haven't heard any complaints about the operation of the machine! Maybe it is finally fixed! Hopefully! I mowed my whole yard with it and it was still tight!
I'll find out, when the next door neighbors have another garden party, and if he's there, i'll surely hear any complaints! WHEW!!

Rusty,

You and Mownie are a couple of guys on here that I admire and envy. Admire for the work ethics and honesty you have. Envy for all the cool mowers (both old and new) that you get to work on.

I was smiling reading your account of the stuck blades. Reminded me of how I had never busted a socket in my life -- until I started working on this old MTD. Every bolt on the deck was rusted to the point that it broke before coming out... and my 13mm socket cracked trying to get the blades off (probably had never been off in the mower's whole life).

The socket that broke was from Montgomery Wards, same as the Wards Signature mower, what a coincidence. I sent the socket in for a replacement, but for some reason they've never replied... hmmm.