It's dead, Jim. Decision time.

Update: I am actually wondering if it is just the spindle that is busted.  A bent spindle housing could potentially cause the same symptoms.  It may not be ready to go on the cart just yet.  And it isn't a terribly expensive test, spindle assemblies are only 20 bucks.


So it turns out the damage to the lawn tractor is more serious than a belt.  In fact, it is a fatality.  This is what I saw when I took the deck off to put the new belt on:


The first thing I noticed was the spring that wasn't attached to anything.  It turns out the brake arm for the right spindle broke off too.


The brake arm isn't needed for operation though. It just stops the blades from spinning when the PTO is off, and there is still one on the other side.  What is fatal though is this:


It is hard to see in the picture, but the whole deck is bent out of shape.  I tried to bend it back and I think all I accomplished was breaking the spindle (you can see in the picture where I at least bent the pulley).  When I looked more closely at the belt, it fits, the belt actually looks cut not broken.  The belt that came off was flawless, not a single crack in it, except where it is broken.

I looked on Craigslist and ebay and to get a new deck for the mower would run me around 300-400 dollars, so it is decision time.  Courtesy of recent tariffs, new lawn tractors have gone up considerably in the last few years, a tractor that was about a grand when I got this one from Tim is now 1600 (Back when I worked at Sears a new LT1000 could be had on sale for 749...).  If I were to buy a new one I would like a blade on it; while I didn't use it much I really liked having the dozer blade the few times I did use it.  I also did plow the slab with it.  A new tractor with a snowblower or plow is going to set me back 3k at least though. 

This brings up an interesting decision though:

• Do I rebuild this given what it will cost to replace it?  
• I don't like this option; the tractor is 20 years old, the steering is busted, and the front end is coming apart, the tires were dryrotted 10 years ago, etc.  The engine still runs good, but I have been saying it is EOL for a while now with good reason.
• Do I bite the bullet and buy a new lawn tractor?
• I don't know if I can afford this option, not right at the moment.  Not without delaying replacing the Nissan, since this would consume everything I have saved up for the down payment.
• Do I just buy a cheap push mower (or get mine fixed)?
• This would require that I just deal with the extra time required for mowing.  Even with the yard a disaster like it is right now, I can mow everything in an hour to an hour and a half with the tractor.  With a push mower, I am looking at well over 2 hours.  I will only have to mow maybe three or four more times this year though.  
• It would allow me to delay this decision until next year.  I still have my tractor for running the dump cart and dozer blade.
• Do I buy a used real tractor?
• Suddenly 6k for a real tractor with a loader doesn't seem so bad given the prices that I am seeing for a new lawn tractors.  This kind of a purchase would likely require stalling other financial objectives though and might have to wait until after I replace the Nissan.

At the present moment, I am leaning towards to just buying a push mower, and evaluate the Nissan's health next spring.