Colt Case Ingersoll Garden Tractors

So basically they were fine for two seasons. Hm... I don't mow nearly as much as you guys, so I might be fine for 5 seasons. We'll see.

My RM48 deck seemed louder recently so I did some investigation and found one of my idler pulleys had a lot of play in the bearings and was noisy when I spun it so I replaced it. Haven't mowed the lawn yet but I hope the deck is quieter.

I've also had an issue with a droning noise my deck makes since I bought it and rebuilt it 5 years ago. The noise gets louder and quieter as if the blades are shifting in and out of sync with each other. I took off the drive belt and marked all the spindle pulleys front and center. Next I began rotating the center drive pulley and within 10 revolutions I could see which spindle pulley was the issue. My chute side spindle pulley is 90° ahead of the other two spindles after just 26 rotations of the center spindle pulley. Approximately every second, the blade is 180° ahead which I think helps explain the droning noise that gets louder and softer about every second. I swapped out the spindle pulley for another one I had and this one has the same problem only it takes 40 revolutions to get 90° ahead. My inboard spindle pulley stays in sync with no load but I can make it slip by hand. At this point the two outer spindle pulleys are the only parts I have not replaced in the past 5 years. Maybe @myerslawnandgarden will cut me a deal on a pair of new C31566 spindle pulleys?

Rooting for you @MattA !

I mowed my lawn Friday and the deck is still loud. The frequency which the droning noise gets louder and softer is now lower with the different spindle installed.

I might spend some time researching mulching blades that would be compatible or easily modified to work with the old case style spindles. Might as well go that route if I'm buying two spindles.