Stens 285 923 Spindle Assembly Review

The price was good. The fit was good. Supplied with four mounting screws. others did not come. Poorly. soft metal Not original. I had to cut a new one after trying to remove the blades for sharpening. I have a backup But I think it's cheap Chinese metal. Cast aluminum spindle is good. The threads are kinked, I've never seen that before.

Replacement isn't a very interesting part considering I had to grind the old bolt off the pulley. After installation, the mower stalled severely. I bought (much more expensive!) from a local Weingartz and used a spindle bolt from them (which cost 3x the price was not included (DOH!) so I didn't return it. Might be worth the bolts alone.

They are from the same manufacturer as the factory spindles. The only difference is that Toro is stamped on the spindle. I was surprised that the noise from the new spindles was significantly reduced. The originals swung and seemed to work well. I bought new spindles because I thought I bent one. I don't think I bent it, but I did need a shim to align the blades due to the deck being bent. The new spindles are the regular version of what the Toro factory sells. Toro sells the same block but…

Let me explain the three stars of the review. The product works great after installation. Installation was a problem. We drilled but did not cut the mounting holes for attaching the spindle to the deck. I had to cut into it myself to get the screws to attach the spindle to the deck. It's okay because I had the tools to do it, but it's impractical for the average person. UPDATE: Spindle bearings failed 3.5 months after installation. The bearings got so hot that smoke came out from under the…