bobw, i picked up a rancher the other day and it has the twin on it.
Probably about the same as yours, broken in the front in a few spots.
have you got some pics of yours you can post up???
It is the least of the issues that this machine has and i was going to part it out.
I was considering plating the front of the deck and putting a reinforcing rib in the centre. Re doing the skid hoops on either end. all in steel and have it bolt on.
The other option is i could fabricate a reproduction deck in steel, i have the deck here to go off and the gear here to do it, i would have to price up the cost of the steel.
I wonder how many years there was a 175 deck option??
Viable option or not???
Cheers, Bob.