982 front to back repairs

[john hall]

A couple months ago I brought home a 982 with a 60" deck and 3pt. Deal was if I could get it running without much trouble and it checked out OK then I would buy. Couple weeks went buy and I had it running, drove it, and mowed for a couple minutes. Went ahead and paid for it and decided to get the bugs out of it before spring. For some reason, one of the mufflers was out of line preventing the grill from being installed correctly. One thing lead to another and I noticed the engine mounting plate only had 2 of its 6 bolts in it. Then I noticed one side of the plate was up off the frame. Oh well, pull the engine and see whats up. That's when I noticed the driveshaft was shot, everything but the fan that is. With all that out I decided to update the steering gearbox with a thrust bearing. Slightly different setup than regular Cadets but I persisted and got it done. With everything else apart I decided to pull the fender pan and give the chassis a good pressure washing. Also need to work on the hydro linkages as they are out of sync with the dash lever. With the engine out I could see a LOT of lost motion in the cast piece on the back of the front axle where the steering rods hook to. There is no bushing so It looks like I'll have to bore it out and make one. The battery tray in the fenders is the victim of a ruptured battery, need to get one out of a junker. There is some slight corrosion on the rear end and axle tubes as well but nothing I think will bother anything. Going to all this work I am going to pull the 3 pt and the back plate off the rear end to have a look inside. I am really curious as to its internal condition as one of the axle tubes has been off and reinstalled with gobs of blue silicone. Ordinarily I wouldn't be concerned but someone has been working on this machine that should not own any tools. They had the engine out, tried pricking the ball joint for the driveshaft on the motor to make the ball stay in. In the process they reinstalled the engine with new bolts, guess they managed to lose the old ones. Problem is they left 4 of the 6 out of the engine mounting plate and managed to sit the plate down on a loose nut, no telling how long it ran with the engine flopping around. They also decided to work on the hydro. First off they lost all the bolts for the fenders and put them back on with whatever they could find. Apparently they needed to replace the springs on the plate on the side of the hydro. First off they didn't pull the rear end, they took a grinder and cut the outside wall off the notch. Then they put in the wrong spring. To add insult to injury they didn't put in the lightweight one or the pins in the end--looks like they shoved carriage bolts in the end of the spring. But they did tie all this on with fence wire, guess it was necessary to keep the springs from jumping out now that the notch has been turned into a slot. Oh yeah, they squeezed it tight with a pair of Chanellocks. Some people shouldn't be allowed to own tools. After all this I did find the deck had a set of never sharpend blades in good shape, although the idler bracket and pulley as well as the pulleys on the mule drive need help. It's getting 2 new belts as well. Did I forget to mention the brakes aren't releasing as they should? And the key switch is acting funny. And one of the posts snapped off the solenoid. And if I intend to mow grass with it this year I better quit looking for trouble! Anyway, looks like I'll be spending plenty of quality time the 982.

[gt383mag]

was the price rite? wish i could find one near me that i can afford i can buy cheap. the wife dont seem to add up parts but she sure does whine bout the price of the tractor.

[cubby102]

Umm wow... glad to see its in the hands of somebody that will repair it correctly and take care of it. Good luck with it that trunion looks pretty beat up for sure

[john hall]

Bought it for $600 so even with all the new parts I should be in decent shape investment wise. Supers are hard to come by around here and if you want a comparable green one you'll at least double the price. The only thing that has surprised me so far is the butchering of the trunion. Overall you could tell the machine wasn't abused, just well used. They all break eventually, this one just met up with a sloppy mechanic or two. The trunion repair makes me a bit nervous. Dad said as best as he could recall the dealer he worked for never went in to one. I am considering alternatives to fixing it, such as welding a piece back in there, but I'm afraid something might arc internally. The worst part is this hydro appeared strong and responsive when I took it for a test drive, I left multiple black marks on concrete and climbed a few hilsl that we don't ordinarily drive on just to see how it performed, which it did just fine.

[Cubcrazy]

Thanks for the update John.
You will have it better then new in not time!

[ACecil]

Thanks for updating us, John! Keep up the good work on the 982.

[drglinski]

Originally Posted by gt383mag

was the price rite? wish i could find one near me that i can afford i can buy cheap. the wife dont seem to add up parts but she sure does whine bout the price of the tractor.

Funny, I get both.

[gt383mag]

Originally Posted by drglinski

Funny, I get both.

sad but true

[sawdustdad]

While it's not a recommended repair for that trunnion, the way it's squeezed together (by removing the long outside portion) actually takes the slop out of the control and would improve operation--until it broke completely, that is.

I can certainly see your situation, the more you dig into things, the more you discover is needed. I'd remove the hydro, open it, remove the trunnion arm, weld on a new square (from xtrememotorworks.com) and put it back together. You could just cut off the old one and weld a new square on without pulling the hydro, just be sure to keep the trunnion arm cool with wet rags to avoid damaging the shaft seal.

Will definitely follow your progress!

[john hall]

Got the steering fixed on the 982. The piece the drag link hooks to from the steering box was worn badly so I bored it and put in a bronze bushing. The pivot bolt for the front axle was worn really bad as well, especially on the threaded end, The back half of the pivot rides on the threads, not a good idea. Took a new bolt and welded up this section and then turned it down. It really should be a fine thread bolt but I didn't have one, if coarse thread worked the first 30 years it will have to work awhile longer.
Ordered all new ball joints from McMaster-Carr. The ones on the steering box and the end of the tie-rods closest to the wheels were an exact match other than needing to drill for a cotter pin, could have substituted a lock nut if I had them handy. That's as far as I got today, my quality time with the 982 has been interrupted by a breakdown on something green and 10X's heavier. Now I have both of them scattered all over the shop.