Long time reader of these outdoor king posts, first time poster.
I've got a Deutscher 280 which seems to be having a gearbox issue. What is currently happening is that the unit won't move when in gear. I have it push it along with my body weight to get it to move (and even then it won't move far before stopping again). So I had a closer look at the gearbox to find that it was covered in oil including the side walls of the machine. I'm guessing the gearbox has suffered from an oil leak at some point. On a side note, i did check the gearbox drive belt to make sure it was spinning the gearbox pulley correct and that all seemed to be working correctly. So i continued to remove the gearbox to have a closer look. I pressure tested the gearbox to confirm if their were any oil leaks to which i found many and figured that I would have to split the gearbox anyway to repair the leaks so I may as well check the gears inside. When looking inside I found that the brass worm gear was very badly worn and is all rough and sharp to touch. The input shaft gear feels smooth to touch but I'm guess it maybe somewhat worn also. See attached pictures.
So I have 2 questions to ask: 1) Would these be the likely cause of the mowers drive issue? 2) Can you even get these parts anymore?
I did see some other posts referring to somebody by the name of Terry who knows the ins & outs of these machines so I hope he can help me also.
Hello Gordon - most of the rumours you hear about me are correct and mostly complimentary. Deutscher can still supply blades,BNW sets, cutter and transmission belts but very little else unless it is common to the walkbehinds they still make. I can supply nearly all other parts for R-series machines and occasionally some of the walk behinds.
Your bronze gear still has plenty of life left in it. This gear is designed to wear out (very slowly if you use the correct oil) and will keep going until it wears right through the teeth. From what I can see in your photo there is probably 85% life left in it. The next thing I would look at are the rear wheels to see if the axle ends are damaged or more likely the wheel hub that engages the axle end. It may look OK from the outside but could be chewed out when viewed from the inside. Also check the crown gear and the other gears in the differential Beyond this I need to talk to you to work out what else may be the problem. Give me a call. Terry Scanlon 04074 13028
I think your all over it Terry. Axle ends and Wheel 1 all look to be good. Wheel 2 on the other hand appears to be chewed out as you described. I didn’t notice it from the outside, but I can clearly see the difference now between the two wheels now. I’ve attached pictures so other can see it also.
All gears appear to be in good condition. I was surprised to hear your assessment of the brass gears condition being acceptable but if your happy then I’m happy to reuse it. I did however notice that the axle assembly has a fair amount of side-to-side movement in it where the center gears are. Is that normal?
