137646, 137645 Replacement Spindle Shaft Kit With Bearings.

This fits into the 3-bolt AYP mandrel housing (128774). Has the 5-point star blade drive, which wears down if you ever let your blade(s) get loose -- which frequently happens if (when) the blade lock-washer splits and falls out. Also, if the v-pulley ever gets a bit loose, it will grind off the splines on the top end of the shaft and also on the inside of the pulley.To replace,1. Remove the mower deck2. Do NOT un-bolt the spindle housings, just leave them on the deck (unless you have a bearing press handy)3. Remove the v-pulleys (sheaves), then the blades, with a 1/2-inch impact wrench4. Drive the old shaft downward with a big drift punch (like, see Armstrong 70-197, Amazon B002FCP5WE) and a 3-pound hammer (but don't get too carried away or you'll crack the aluminum housings)5. If your mower is like 10 years old, or has ever been stored in the rain, the lower bearing will likely be stuck in corroded housing and take a good bit of hammering to get it out.6. Turn deck over and drive out top bearing (you really do need a that long drift punch, or a least some re-bar)7. Important! Clean out the corroded bearing seats in the housings, where the bearings go, very well, with fine sandpaper, then grease them.8. Remove nut and top bearing from new shafts9. Put new shafts in from bottom; tap in lower bearings, then turn over and tap in top bearings, and put on v-pulleys with impact wrench. The top nut will seat both bearings fully in the housings.10. Make sure shafts turn freely -- if not, you left one or both bearing seats in the housing dirty/corroded, and the bearings are in a bind. Remove, clean the bearing seats right down into the corners of the steps, and replace. Check for free-turning again. If you leave them in a bind they won't last long! You should feel a little drag from the bearing seals, but no more than that.11. Replace blades, and use a torque wrench, 5/16x24 grade 8 takes 27 ft.lbs dry, or 20 ft.lbs. lubricated.Remember to check your blade bolts occasionally -- if they ever get loose, the blade will grind the star off the shaft, which is much softer metal than the blades.Recommended!--kv5r

This shaft and bearings fits perfectly in my Craftsman tractor mower deck. For those who want to make sure of their replacement parts, I have the Craftsman 917.255430 42" lawn tractor which has the mandrel housing part# 128774, shaft w/ lower bearing assembly 137646/133172, and upper bearing 110485X (the manual lists the lower bearing as 129895, but since this bearing is press fit onto the shaft and can't be removed for individual replacement, buying just that bearing won't do you any good). I can confirm that this shaft is an exact replacement of the previous sized shaft and bearings, and that the upper bearing diameter is in fact 1 9/16" diameter and lower bearing diameter is in fact 1 13/16" diameter, and both fit perfectly into the old mandrel housing. The 5-lobe blade mount design fits like a glove into the blade. Note: keep your old nuts and bolts because not all parts are included, such as the bolt/washer set that mounts the blade to the end of the shaft.I had to knock 1 star off this review because the bearings are clearly marked that they are made in China, which makes me doubtful of the longevity of these bearings compared to the original bearings which lasted 24 years. I'll update this review as I learn more information.Side note: the seller initially sent me the wrong part, which had a 6-lobe fitting for the blade mount, but in contacting them they promptly sent me the correct part with 5 lobes on the blade mount at no additional cost to me. So, A+ for their quick and helpful customer service setting things right.

These install really easily, probably because the bearings are undersized for the spindle housings. I cleaned out the insides of my spindle bearing races top and bottom with a Scotchbrite pad just to removed any debris, then coated in anti-seize expecting to have to press the bearings in with some force. I was surprised at how the lower bearings slid right into the race. This is not a good thing, it should be a tight fit so that they don't spin in the race. My races did not show ANY signs of wear or previous spinning. But I kept going.Once I assembled the top side of the spindle with the mandrel pulley (using a block underneath to keep the spindle from falling out) I could hear the bearing as I spun the pulley by hand. I had to loosen the nut to the absolute minimum of tightness in order for that sound to go away. And a tight nut is all that is keeping the bearings from spinning in the races. But I kept going.I went to install brand new blades onto the assembled mandrels. The first thing I noticed is that when I pulled the blade bolts out of the spindle, they were hard to remove, and when I got them out the threads were full of dirt and/or rust. I cleaned that off with a brush and test fit the bolts back into the threads and they were a very loose fit. So I figured I would use loctite and I kept going.The second thing I noticed was that the washers included were thinner than the OEM washers I had removed. So I re-used the OEM washers and kept going.Finally when tightening the blade bolt, the head broke off. I don't think I was over-tightening it. The bolt is definitely a 3/8-24, I checked with calipers and a thread gauge. But the bolt head markings indicate *metric* class 4.6, which is the lowest strength class for metric bolts. Not sure where these metric-stamped, SAE-sized, low-strength bolts are coming from but they have no place holding spinning blades in place!I hope you can see I tried to work around these poor quality parts and I was hoping for the best once in use, but now I've got to take everything apart again, and return them.

Like it

Fit perfectly

Good replacement part, works as it should

wrong part was originally shipped, seller was VERY good at shipping correct part with no further issues, parts fit my Sears Craftsman 42 inch deck mandrels perfectly

Not sure what you mean by 'thickness' in the features -But item was good quality, fit right in with no problem -- very reasonable cost

Exact replacement.easy to replace.