Toro Time master making an awful racket

[Donald]

So my Toro 20199 Timemaster is making one awful racket when the blade is engaged. But no racket when just engine is running.

Turn the mower on its side and grab each blade towards the outside and wiggle. One has a little movement and the other has none. So I guess it's time for a new spindle?

Or are there other things associated with the blades I should be looking at?

I would not have thought a little movement in the blade shaft would cause this much racket.

 

[ripcord]

Worn out spindle bearings can definitely be noisy. If you've got the time and the inclination, you can just rebuild the spindles and replace bearings, or buy the whole spindle unit. I usually procrastinate until I need them right now, so end up buying the spindles but it's not hard to drive out the bearings with a long punch and use an appropriate sized socket to drive them in with.

You could also have worn out bearings on one or more pulleys, so check those too.

 

[oldcodger]

Can't tell where the noise is coming from? A dry spindle is the the most likely thing but check each idler pulley for a failed bearing. They can squeal like heck.

 

[ripcord]

Found this on the youtubes

 

[Donald]

Can't tell where the noise is coming from? A dry spindle is the the most likely thing but check each idler pulley for a failed bearing. They can squeal like heck.

This sounds like it's going to fall apart and throw the blade at my feet. Or that's what I imagine.

Definitely a lot more than a squeal.

 

[Frankrank]

They have 2 blades which overlap each other when spinning. They need to be put on a certain way so they are "timed" not to hit each other. Sounds like your timemaster lost timing. Could be the spindles or a bolt that holds the blades is loose.

 

[mk378]

The blades will bang together if the timing belt is out of time. When one blade is at 12 and 6 o'clock the other one should be exactly at 9 and 3 o'clock. The blades are designed so they only fit onto the spindle in a zero or 180 degree orientation so it is not necessary to re-time when R&R blades.

Any wobble at all unless the bolt is just loose means a bad bearing. Don't run like that since it will mess up other parts such as the plastic timing pulleys. The video is good but I would remove the blades and pulleys then pull the hubs straightaway to work on them on the bench. Bearings look like ordinary #6203 which are widely available and not expensive.