Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Utility blade, snow caster, mower deck, weights, sleeve hitch, 3pt hitch, front end loader, backhoe, and more. Ready made or homemade.
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RoamingGnome Canada
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Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Post by RoamingGnome »

My 84' 446 (aka Max) came with a rusty, grungy looking mower deck. It was one of my first projects last summer - and the start of me lurking on Case Ingersoll forums and downloading lots of parts and service manuals (Thanks @Eugen - It's great to have that resource available online)
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(Yes, I know I'm missing tinwork on the engine... that's been taken care of now... :roll: )
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First step of course was figuring out the "Snap Fast" pins and related linkages for the deck so I could get it on the ground... Thanks to YouTube that was pretty easy :phew:
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Blades off for sharpening, and to inspect the spindles
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Up onto sawhorses for some degreasing and scrubbing to see just what is hiding under all the old oily grass clippings
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Cover off - belt was ok, but some of the spindle bearings need replacement
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Removing pulleys - Seafoam "Deep Creep" has become a favourite penetrating oil...
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Spindles were removed for cleaning and new bearings and the deck was wire brushed and sanded before getting a couple of coats of Rust Check Converter/Primer and followed up with a topcoat of Tremclad Gloss White on the inside - This old Can of Primer was found in my Dad's old apartment - probably dates back to the 1970's - (no bar code on the can) Check out the price tag - only $3.79 :)) and no... it didn't work any more :(
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Mower blades in the vice to give them a bit of an "edge" before some fresh black rust paint
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All the original stickers were masked off before sanding, priming and a top coat - I found that the white paint for my '90 Ford F350 was a pretty close match to the original - more of a warm, creamy white - Tremclad White was way too cold and blueish
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Back on Max and looking like a million bucks... Mowed the backyard with Max a couple of times over the summer - it was overkill for the actual size of
the yard (about 50' x 80') - It was a lot more obvious with a clean white deck that I had an annoying little hydraulic leak midships was leaving a puddle in the middle of the deck. - That's a story for another day... :rofl:

Didn't take any photos of putting new bearings in the spindles - they were the grey cast pot metal type - two were in pretty good shape, one had a lot of corrosion at the bottom end - still enough to retain the bearing, but I slathered it with some JB Weld to give it a little more strength and protection...
'68 Case 195, '84 Case 446, '88 Ingersoll 222 - and 1965 Case 530ck (fullsize backhoe)
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Harry United States of America
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Re: Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Post by Harry »

Nice refurbish of you mowing deck. I enjoyed the pictorial if you project. :peace: Harry
1973 444, 1974 644, 1976 446, 1977 646, 1986 226
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Re: Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Post by RoamingGnome »

Thanks @Harry It was a good little starter project - find and download manuals, watch YouTube how to videos and a bit of practice cross referencing bearings and stuff - my only regret after leaving the mower deck up north for the winter was not painting or somehow protecting the inside "V" of the pulleys - I removed a lot of scaly rust and got them shiny and smooth before putting it into use - hopefully a little buff with some sandpaper and a bit of paint will fix that when I get up there this spring...
'68 Case 195, '84 Case 446, '88 Ingersoll 222 - and 1965 Case 530ck (fullsize backhoe)
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Re: Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Post by JSinMO »

Great job Gerry, it look brand new! :thumbsup: You’ll be mowing with that for a long time. Hopefully the pulleys won’t be as rusty as your picturing them to be.
I’m with @Harry i really like the pictures of the project too!
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Re: Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Post by RoamingGnome »

Thanks @JSinMO - The pulleys on the spindle shafts were pretty gross - :109:
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Kinda like @propane1 said when he was working on his deck, - the cover on top seems like it traps a lot of dirt and moisture - all 3 of the spindle pulleys were like this - I cleaned them up because I figured they would chew up a belt in no time flat...
'68 Case 195, '84 Case 446, '88 Ingersoll 222 - and 1965 Case 530ck (fullsize backhoe)
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Re: Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Post by JSinMO »

The deck that came with my 446 is pretty rough too. Not usable at this point. If I ever get it back into working condition I think I’ll be leaving that shield off after what you and @propane1 have found.
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Re: Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Post by DavidBarkey »

The deck shield is not a problem if you remove it at the end of each season when the deck comes off and clean it out . It keeps twigs from getting in there and kicking the belt off .
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Re: Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Post by Timj »

:thumbsup: nice job, it looks great. :highfive: my L46 is on the to-do list, before mowing starts, for new bearings and some paint. Mine is in very good condition, no rust, but noisy. :107: It has the shield on but I don't think it sat outside a night in it's life and the PO kept it cleaned out. :clap:
Probably be a month and a half till mowing, :48: can't wait. :69:
:geek: Tim
:446cart: let's go, it's finally time to blow. :peace:
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Re: Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Post by RoamingGnome »

DavidBarkey wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 1:40 pm The deck shield is not a problem if you remove it at the end of each season when the deck comes off and clean it out . It keeps twigs from getting in there and kicking the belt off .
I agree with you @DavidBarkey - pretty sure previous owners have used this tractor and it's attachments hard and put it away wet many times over the years. :headbash: I think scraping the undersides of the deck a few times during the season, and removing the upper cover at the end of the season for a thorough cleaning would probably be enough to prevent the build up of the rust inducing dirt and debris - I'm not a big fan of exposed pulleys and drive belts that should have a cover on them. At least the mower deck was clean when I put it away for the winter (sitting on paving stones but outside and uncovered) we'll see soon enough how it fared over the winter. There isn't much grass to mow at the property - mostly just want to keep the weeds manageable on the 1500' driveway :please:
'68 Case 195, '84 Case 446, '88 Ingersoll 222 - and 1965 Case 530ck (fullsize backhoe)
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Re: Refreshing an L46 mower deck

Post by propane1 »

Well. My thinking on these cover is, if you do that each year taking the cover off may help. But it still gunna be wet in there through the summer. So will rust. And yes exposed pulleys and belts are not a good thing. I like my MF deck it has covers over the outer pulley and belts, but they are on stands so air can blow threw there underneath the pulley. Keeps it dry and no exposed pulleys or belts.
With the covers off, or the stand off type you can clean the deck of grass and debris after each use, with an air hose, if you want to. Keeps it much cleaner and drier through the summer.
And even thou you might take your sealed covers off and clean the deck out and then put the covers back on and leave it out in the weather for the winter, it will always be wet under the covers. If the covers are off in this situation, it will dry there same as the rest of the deck.
But you can coat the decks with what ever you want, which will help to reduce the rusting.

Any way, just my thoughts.
A Sunday afternoon ramble.

Noel :D
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