Thanks for the questions you're asking, they're really helping me to sort out what's happened
In the close up pic, you can see that the pulley is at the top of the shaft.
The shaft is bolted to the deck with four bolts, they're visible but not very clear in the photo. And the blade is attached to the shaft underneath the deck.
In the damaged side, the shaft has sheared off at the point of the four bolts. The four bolts are still attached to the deck, but the shaft is no longer attached to the deck and has dropped through the shaft hole in the deck.
As far as I can tell the deck is undamaged.
On the good side the blade seems okay, it spins cleanly and I can't see any damage.
On the damaged side the blade also seems okay, although it's hard to be sure.
So I think that what I need is a new shaft, and bolts (plus a check of blades and general service).
What I'm calling the "shaft" is the circular piece visible in the pic above that holds the pulley, is bolted to the deck, and holds the blade underneath. What is that really called, is that the bearing housing?
