John Deere JX75 Lawn Mower Deck Hole Fixed with JB Weld

I purchased this John Deere JX75 lawn mower used. After cleaning it up I found there was a small hole in the right side of the cast aluminum deck. The hole was from neglect - they used the mulch plug most of the year and never cleaned underneath the deck. The wet grass would get wedged between the mulch plug and the deck which oxidized the aluminum and wore it thin. I used a wire wheel on an angel grinder to clean and roughen up the aluminum. I then mixed up some JB Weld and used it to fill the hole and reinforce the area.

[@vinces6013]

Thanks for taking the time to show us the finish product.

[@eddierodden]

Hope to do something similar to mine. Would have been nice to seen the outer side, and how that looked.

[@robremlap4071]

yeh I thot that too, and did he leave the duct tape on or remove it and paint it.

[@Mike-wf4yf]

Thanks for doing this. I'll be trying this on my mower later this spring.

[@ErikAsquith]

Mike McClellan you are welcome. Let us know how it works out for you.

[@robremlap4071]

Did the vibration of the deck ever loosen the weld.

[@ErikAsquith]

Rob Remlap the weld has held up well and I haven’t noticed any issues.

[@de_41]

Thanks for this. I just did the same on my mower. Mine wasn't quite as thick as yours. And I am a little concerned when I pull the tape off the top side that the jb weld will come off with it??
I have a feeling I'll be redoing it.

[@ErikAsquith]

Dennis Ellis I had no problems with JB Weld separating from the aluminum deck after several months of use. I wouldn't expect any problems if you roughened and cleaned surface thoroughly and fanned out the JB Weld so it could bond to a large surface area.

[@rppacheco35]

I have a 1/2 inch crack that is forming near a wheel on my Toro. Do you think JB Weld would hold up or would an actual weld be best?

[@Mike-wf4yf]

Robert Pachecou

[@rppacheco35]

I think you forgot to comment

[@ErikAsquith]

Is this a super recycler with an aluminum deck? Or one of the newer recyclers with a stamped steel deck? If you have the means to weld it I would go with that option. However, JBWeld should do the trick if you can get a large surface on each side of the crack that you can bond together - this would likely hold up better then just putting JBWeld in just the crack itself, which may fail over time if that area can flex a bit. But if worst comes to worst, you can always grind out the JBWeld and weld it, assuming it doesn't hold up.

[@rppacheco35]

It is the newer (stamped) recycler. I appreciate the input and agree that a "real" weld is probably best.

[@ErikAsquith]

Robert Pacheco let us know what option you end up going with and how the results turn out.

[@MattPSU02]

Mine was cracked way too badly for JB weld.