On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:27:50 -0800 (PST), John
wrote:

Hello

My Sears 1000 XLT tractor is driving absloulutely nuts . The pulley
that drives the left side blade keeps stripping. The pulley is
attached to it's shaft with a star connection.

Is this a spline shaft?

If I hit a root or
stick or for whatever season the blade is stopped the belt will keep
the pulley spinning and the connection is destroyed. The star opening
on the pulley gets every so slightly stripped and enlarged and begins
to saw away at the spindle destroying both within seconds. This
happens only on the left blade, never on the right. To replace the
pulley and spindle costs me about $60 each time. so far in the two
years that I have owned time machine this happened 4 times! Can anyone
tell me what going wrong ?

John

Steel is not just steel. Properly heat treating the correct type
of steel makes a huge difference in the longevity of a splined
connection.

Are your replacement parts aftermarket parts? Did Sears change their
supplier of parts? Can you swap left from right to troubleshoot this
possibility.