Simplicity 3415H Deck Rebuild

Sawdust

Jim from Kentucky
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This deck was in such good shape I wanted to make sure the belt area was good. After seeing this was good and not liking the gray primer I decided to dismantle, repair, and paint. I found a small crack on one corner so I welded that closed.
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Yesterday I spent the whole day sandblasting both sides of the deck and the other parts. The new SB gun I bought worked very well. After SB I found a tiny hole so I welded that closed. I’m not sure about the roller axle I might replace it. The rollers are in good shape.
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Today I did some priming. I’m using the rust restorer on the inside areas and the gray rust protector on the outside that gets painted orange.
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When I use my sandblaster like that I spread a big tarp on the ground and reuse the blasting media.
I usually do that also Chris but this stuff had already been used once. I always draped a large sheet of plastic inside my utility trailer that has around 18” side boards. It was kind of like having a blasting booth without a roof.
 
Well my mind of perfection kicked in again. I know it’s just a deck but I wasn’t satisfied with some of the pitting left behind after priming. I skim coated the areas a couple of times with Bondo Glazing and Spot Putty. This is good stuff if you have never used it. The first time I used it was fifty years ago. :eek:
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Ive been doing some research on the Simplicity colors. The orange paint available has changed over the years. The Dupli Color Chevy red orange engine paint was the color of choice but since then has been discontinued and pricey if found. I also read if you find it it’s old stock and some cans are bad. The most recent color and good reviews is the Rust Stop Alllis Chalmers Orange Gloss from Ace Hardware. The off white I found was Rust-Oleum Canvas White. Most Simplicity off white colors are the same with the exception of like I have is the early version 3415H they are light gray. Apparently Simplicity tried this gray and it didn’t go over to well so they went back to the off white.
I picked up a few cans of everything even their primer. I’ve never used the Ace brand of paint before so this along with the colors will be an experience. They do have the adjustable fan spray nozzle and at a sale price of $4.98 each and the second can 50% off seems like a good deal. Stay tuned!
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I've have used and still use the Rustoleum with good results. Very good results actually. I'm a big user of Rustoleum 2X paint also. For me their slow dry paints have withstood the trials of time and weather and still look excellent. One thing I have found to be a big help is one of these.
 
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Yeah Chris you cant beat Rust-Oleum paints but they didn’t have anything close to match the orange I need. I just got done painting my small parts for this deck and I’m going from finger to thumb the whole time. I think I’ll get one of them spray handles too. Thanks!
 
Everything has been sandblasted or wire brushed. All the parts under the belt covers and the deck were primed with Rust-Oleum Rust Restorer then top coated with their gloss black. I was somewhat impressed with the AC Orange Ace Hardware Rust Stopper paint. They recommended multiple light coats with two minutes in between. Last coat up to two hours or two days later. It actually took 4-5 light coats to get the orange to pop. I think when I do the body parts I might try Red Oxide Primer. I also like the fan spray nozzle.
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I could send you my Case 224 deck to fix up Jim. That’s about the same colour. I have one of those guns for the spray cans, they work great. The spot putty is great stuff. But I don’t have the patience to do all that. Looks great.
If you use a different colour primer, your finish coat may look different.

Noel
 
I could send you my Case 224 deck to fix up Jim. That’s about the same colour. I have one of those guns for the spray cans, they work great. The spot putty is great stuff. But I don’t have the patience to do all that. Looks great.
If you use a different colour primer, your finish coat may look different.

Noel
I thought about the color may be different so I’ll probably try a spot to see how it looks. I never could differentiate when to use gray or red oxide primer.
 
While I’m waiting on some front tires for this tractor I started to put the deck back together. So far about 12 hours and going back together well. I’ve spent a lot of time wire brushing hardware. I chose to replace some pieces. Getting this back together has been relaxing. I’m keeping a fire going, drinking a lot of coffee, snacking (slightly Noel), and been watching the Frontier series on Netflix.
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Did a little yard work today it was in the mid 60’s plus a little work done on the spindles. I messed up and forgot to document the amount of thrust washers on each spindle. After a little trial and error guessing I finally figured them out. I used a 4’ level as a straight edge across the end shafts. I then slid a magnetic torpedo level from the center shaft and wayla !
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My 20 ton press made light duty of pressing all the new bearings in. I bought a box of assorted woodruff keys back in the winter. I found out today I bought metric:mad: so tomorrow I’ll run down to Ace Hardware and get what I need. Hopefully tomorrow I can get this monster done.
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Yesterday I cut my grass for the fourth time and started hearing and feeling a vibration I didn’t like. Once I got it back to the shop and looked underneath the center spindle was tilted back...not good. If you remember this previously had a repair job. I put it back together the same way it came off and it seemed fine. I’ll have to pull the deck out later to see what I can do. These are prone to center spindle shaft wear because of mowing with the deck too high puts too much downward pressure on it. I have parts from my other deck that came in the 7117H but they are slightly different in design. I’ll update later. These are pics of the repair that was previously done.
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I got the center spindle out from the 7117H parts I salvaged last year to compare with the damaged one on the 3415H. They are different in design but close enough to work. I cleaned it up then installed it. The belt pulley on the center spindle is about a 1/4” higher from the deck than the other two belt pulleys along with the idler pulley. Tomorrow I’ll experiment with a few washers to raise the three pulleys up from the deck or shim the center spindle housing down from the deck to bring it down. I’ll have to check the blade height compared to the other two blades also.

The 7117H spindle on the left
The 3415H spindle on the right although it failed looks like a better design.
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The 7117H spindles were mounted on top of the deck vs the ones on the 3415H mounted from underneath. Because of using this center spindle I had to mount the other two spindles on top also. This worked out great with the exception of the idler pulley arm having to be raised up also. I was able to raise the idler pulley arm by stacking some washers under it. I used a nylock nut on the pivot bolt so I could tighten it down as much as I could while allowing a close tolerance so it could still pivot and not want to hang over. I didn’t like raising this arm up but since this will be a temporary fix until I can find another center spindle.
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