In regard to welding "some supports" to get it through the season. If you have a good welding shop or machine shop in your area, it can be welded to last for as long as you care to keep the machine. What always causes concern for me in "weld repairing" something of this nature is in getting the damaged spindle back into the correct alignment, plane, and height. If the spindle mounting platten is not exactly level at all points of the compass, and is not at the same height as the other 2 spindles, you WILL have a profound difference in the height of the cut and it will stick out like a sore thumb. A good welding shop or machine shop will be able to address these issues, provided you voice your concern ahead of time. If you do decide to go the welding route, at least clean the deck thoroughly top and bottom with a good pressure washing job before you take it to someone for evaluation/estimates. And don't just clean a little spot around where you think they would weld, clean the entire deck, top and bottom. They need all the clean surfaces for alignment references. And don't use the word "supports". Say........."reinforcement". You also need to determine if the spindle shaft or quill is bent before you set out to get the deck welded. There must be a good, undamaged spindle to use for alignment at that position of the deck.

eauboy --- I am not a pro, and have no experience with the Freedom 42, so I can only mention obvious things. BTW- I hope you have access to a manual on your machinery, I would have made a worse mess if I had no manual :) My only real difficulty in putting the new belt on was loosening the idler pully enough to get the belt past the guides. the pully would not slide up on its center bolt, even after I loosened the not that holds it on. I used a penetrating liquid called Kano Kroil. Its very thin like WD-40 (and pricey), but has a smell like pine-oil. I soaked it thoroughly and let it sit for an hour. I used a small hammer to carefully tap around the pulley until it came free. The only other threaded fasteners on my deck are the cap screws that fasten the plastic spindle covers to the deck. I guess they could sieze, but so far I have had no trouble with them. Hoping this helps :)

I agree with the above usually an installation problem with the stars being worn away. Few things come to mind, first as suggested above did you align up the blade with the star, hold it and tighten the bolt? second did you clean off all the dirt from the star and mandral shaft and blade contact area on both sides?, and last did you get the blade mount bolt tight enough to hold torque and not loosen causing the blade to eat up the star on the mandral shaft? Usually the blades will make a clunking sound when the blade mount bolt loosens (unusual sound that's not normal during operation). And last the rock could of caused the blade to stop breaking the toque on the bolt and splattering the star teeth, then you would have a loose fit and in a short time the clanking effect would cause the star to be destroyed. In the future I would make sure the blade and star contact points are clean, install the blade and feel the blade slot into the star on the shaft, hold the blade till the bolt is ran all the way up so there is no dought it's still engaged. Torque the bolt to spec's using torque wrench. Inch pound torque wrench is better, but any torque wrench is better than guessing what tight is if you not acustom to tighting fastners. It's also a good idea to check the blades every month during the mowing season. I think you owners manual will have an hourly check on them could be as little as 10 hours, 25 hours, or 50 hours of use?

Thank you so much for answering my post, dchall. I will do what you said and then wait until July. I would be so pleased if the St. Augustine plugs would take off and grow into the mulch. That is more than I dared hope for. I hadn't thought of using mulch to get the sod level back up. I have read both FAQ's, but I did not see that the solution was so easy. I had the impression that I needed to be a rocket scientist to comprehend organics. I can do: corn meal + mulch + time = restored lawn -- and it fits my budget. Organic gardening makes so much more sense, it's not harmful, the plants and soil get what they need, it can be economical, and it's easy. What's not to like? Thanks a million and thank you for being so tolerant of a newbie. Bullsigh