I have a Craftsman lawn tractor with a 42 inch deck. I recently replaced the spindle/bearing kit on one side and used an impact wrench to tighten it all down. My first use,
I did the front lawn and it cut perfectly, but during the cut I got an old towel caught in the blades that was hidden in the grass. The belt snapped and everything stopped. The towel was very badly wedged and ripped up into blades so I removed them and the blades spun normally once free.
I replaced the belt and when I began to cut, the deck made this metallic whirring sound and the deck started to vibrate and clatter underneath. When I removed the deck, I discovered that the top brass bolt holding the pulley to the spindle was not snug and there was about 1/4 play between the pulley and spindle top, not snug like the other one. So using a plumbers wrench and vice grips, I was able to torque it down where there was no play in the pulley.
Then after all that and putting the deck back on, it ran great for like 30 seconds and then made the same vibrating screeching metal sound. When I took the deck off again, the pulley had loosened and there was play in the pulley again. Is the impact wrench the only thing that will tighten it so it doesn't loosen, or is it something else?
Also, the side of the deck making noise is not cutting the grass like the other side.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated, thanks very much!