Fix Bob's pulley

Bob is the name of our ride on mower. He's a Hayter Heritage RS102H. We've had him nearly 14 years so he's getting on a bit and I've done a few services and repairs on him over the years.

Last weekend, Shelley brought him back in, from mowing the long bits in the paddocks, noting that the cutter belt had come off.

When I took off the cover to put the belt back I found that the idler pulley had separated from it's shaft and upon closer inspection the bearing had disintegrated.

The Hayter RS102H is long since obsolete and no one, that I could find, stocks spare parts. Luckily it is the same running gear as various AL-KO models, like the AL-KO T18-102HD Powerline. Even easier the numeric portion of most of the part numbers are the same and I have parts diagrams for both.

I was able to get the pulley, a spacer, a replacement tension spring and even the plastic cover that had been worn through by the pulley. I've raised the new cover up with thick washers in the hope that's enough to stop it wearing out.

The pulley was an easy swap and I'm getting better at putting the belt back on.

In the past I have tried to get the belt over the spring loaded idler pulley but I found it much easier to put it on the sprung idler first and then lever the belt on to the static deck pulley. I released the tension as much as I could by putting a very long screwdriver in the coils of the tension spring and levering it with that.

All back together and up and running.

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