The Truth About Mower Spindles
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- Опубликовано: 13 июн 2024
- Greaseable Mower Deck Spindles are designed to fail. I'll show you how to prevent that and keep your deck spindles in good shape for years to come.
A great tip from a viewer: tap the weep hole and put a small screw in it! I should have thought of that! Thanks Joseph!
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To answer a few questions that are coming up repeatedly in the comments:
1. This method has been thoroughly tested by myself and others. Spindle life is increased by multiple seasons for me and many others. We have disassembled spindles after multiple uses and multiple seasons after following this mod and it works extremely well.
2. I said in the video that no grease will get past the inner seals...that's not accurate. Some will, but not enough to keep the bearings greased the way they should be greased. Ideally, the new grease will push into the bearings, forcing the old grease past the outer seals (wipe this off after you grease your spindles). The weep hole prevents building too much pressure and dislodging the outer seals.
3. Most spindles will not allow the bearings to get displaced by over greasing, but....as many obviously are not aware, there are some spindles out there, on cheaper mowers, that have no retention on the upper bearing. There is a shoulder turned into the shaft that the pulley rests on. The pulley nut will hold the pulley in place, but they leave a gap between the pulley and the upper bearing. The upper bearing is just press-fit into the housing. When that fit is loose, the bearing can be pumped out of the housing. To resolve this, you can put washers between the pulley and the bearing face. The washer(s) should either cover the inner race and not touch the seal or the outer race, or should cover the entire top of the housing.
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Thanks for watching!!
Dennis Coffey
Coffey Craftsman Co.
How to grease deck spindles 
Хобби
My 1st set of Bad Boy spindles didn't last but 3 years so I did this to mine and I'm going on 7 years.
Thank you for watching, Ritchie! This is exactly why I do this and recommend doing it. I've had the same experience. I appreciate you sharing your experience here!
The bearings must be pressed out in some kinds of shafts.
our kubota zd has a beefy solid spindles plus thicker metal wich is pretty nice
So...you're saying the sealed bearings fail.
@@willybones3890 ALL bearings will ultimately fail at some point.
Sooner if they are not greased occasionally.
I worked at a mower shop/ dealer for 3 or 4 years. Lots of new machines came in for new spindles in a year or so. I noticed they all had one thing in common; I asked the customer if he kept the deck washed off. They all said "Yes. Every time I mow, I wash it off as soon as I finish." I think this was the problem - spaying cold water on these hot spindle housings. (Yes, they're hot! Grab one, you'll let go fast.) My theory was the water was being pulled into the housing. My advice was to let it cool first, or use the blower to clean off the deck. Seems to work.
I learned Never wash off a mower deck...it rusts really fast that way. I have a DYT4000, 17 years old and found that out the hard way. Always a leaf blower.
Thanks for watching!
I use compressed air only. When deck begins to pack up with grass, I pull it, pull the blades and sharpen them, and clean the bottom of the deck with a scraper, wire brush wheel on a DeWalt, and air. No water! EVER.
that is correct. most i spoke to used high pressure power washers. which will push water into the idler pulleys and spindle bearings. i tried removing the inner plastic bearing covers. and pumping grease inside the housing. what happened is the outer plastic covers pushed out when i forced grease into those bearings. what i ended up doing was remove the bearings, remove both covers on both sides of bearing, wash out the bearing of old grease, repack bearing with heavy duty red grease, wipe both sides and pop the covers back on, and reassemble spindles. removing one cover on inside won't allow grease to flow though those bearings. I've been a john deer certified tech. and tried every way possible. the only correct way is to hand pack those bearings. only use compressed air to blow mower decks. any water will cause premature bearing failures. even if you run the mower and deck. once water is ingested in bearings it will not come out. i now pull and grease spindle bearings every 2 seasons. after 12 years i still have the original bearings. but i keep 4 new bearings just in case. idlers will fail eventually. they are not sealed.
Makes sense to me.
I thought the same as you, but was told by our maintenance manager those "sealed" bearings will pass grease through. So, I took the shop's Milwaukee electric grease gun home and filled my three new spindles. Grease passed through all six "sealed" bearings. The pressure of the grease gun easily overcomes the plastic seals. Try it yourself!
Thanks for watching! I'll have to check that out! Thanks!
Ornery, Ive been looking for a comment like yours and you're 100% correct. I have tried every trick in the book because I own a lawn care business. Just pump the housing full until grease comes out the top and bottom, then replace the bearings when they're shot. Never had a seal ''blow'' out. I always use that red and tacky bearing grease.
@@augustreil Yeah, I was skeptical, but figured there wasn't much to lose in giving it a try. Thank God for the electric grease gun. About 70 pumps per spindle! I don't think it took much more than one grease tube each, probably less.
My craftsman thats actually made by Husqvarna breaks spindles on regular basis, I've replaced 6 sets since 2016 ,the bearings hold up fine never had one burn up from lak of grease its always the housing bolt holes mounts breaking off
Yes. If you look carefully at the video, you can see a bit of the ball bearings even with the seal in place. Seems hot grease will flow into the lower bearing. The upper bearing may need some extra 'help'. I wonder if a little fluid film spray on top at regular intervals would suffice.
Based on 30+ years as an auto mechanic, those are not sealed bearings.those are open bearings with dust covers, the seals on sealed bearings are not removable without destroying the bearing. With the amount of open space inside the housing, it would probably take at least 80 pumps from a standard grease gun to push grease into the bearings.
Yes, I didn't do it in the video (should have) but it's much easier to hand-pack the housings and the bearing first. And you are correct, these are actually dust shields, not seals....I think most people call them seals, but what you said is right. thanks for watching, Timothy!
No about 12 pumps you can feel when filled
I gotta call bs. I take seals out all the time. Wash the bearings. Put the seal back. Easy peasy.
Here's my method that has worked for me over the past 10 years, while running the same spindles and bearings. First, I removed the inner seal from the lower bearing, and BOTH seals from the upper. I reassembled the spindle, using a larger OD thrust washer that covered the open top bearing. I then pumped the spindle full of grease, via the shaft-end zerk (without a weep hole), until excess grease began to squeeze out from underneath the thrust washer. Don't worry about the upper bearing being open and exposed, where dirt, water, and other debris may cause problems. If you keep the spindles serviced regularly, they will be fine. Once full, it doesn't take much grease to service them. Hope this proven idea helps someone.
better Idea yet, thanks
Those are high speed bearings and putting all that grease in the bearing will damage them the raceway of a bearing has a oil wedge its only thousands of an inch its overkill to put this much grease in when it's not designed for that much
@@russellgrove7261 no way Jose
@@cs-vf2de tHanks. That does sound like an improvement on a good idea. I imagine you could make a dust shield out of thin milk jug plastic if somebody really wanted.
Always leave outer seals in dirt is number one cause of bearing wear so only remove inner seal an add a small vent hole to allow greasing pressure out
Thanks for your brave work in blowing the lid off this whole charade. No longer will I be subject to the tyrrany of Big Spindle!
It was rough down there in the trenches, but somebody had to do it!
@@dwcoffey NEVER LEAVE A MAN BEHIND
We’re tired of being shafted by big spindle!
I'd pack grease in both bearings before reinstalling. Great video. Love old school guys who improve on serviceability of mechanical parts.
Thank you for watching, Martin! Yes sir, I should have hand packed the bearings and the housing before reinstalling...not sure why I didn't!
Why just put the zerk fitting in the housing and pop both seals out of the top bearing and reassemble the spindle but leave the pulley and nut off the top and get your grease gun and pump grease into the housing until it starts oozing out of the top bearing then spin it around a few and shoot a few more pumps of grease into it. Then replace the seal in your upper bearing and put your pulley and back on and tighten it all down and your done. Unless you like having to wash grease off your hands and you don't want to pack them too full or your seal will pop back out of the bearing once it gets up to operating temperature and the grease starts thinning out. I highly recommend if you're going to do this put a thin fender washer over the seal on both bearings to help prevent it from popping out of the landing it's sitting in. Because it doesn't take much. Those pregreased bearings really aren't designed to be set up that way. Not saying it can't be done but you have to think about little things like this when you reassemble it that way. Otherwise you'll just introduce dirt and sand into the bearing which when mixed with the grease becomes liquid sandpaper. Yes you should be able to get them to last at least 10 years but again you have to do it the right way. You have to think of the little things as well.
@@JoshSmith-wo7zw Interesting idea, but I probably missed something obvious. If you take the seals off both bearings but then put the seal and a fender washer back over those bearings doesn't that keep the grease out of the bearings?
@@dwcoffey I hand packed both bearings just for extra protection. Great video
@Josh Smith I hope people don't do this to their new mowers because there is a good chance any warranty will be null and void.
Great video! Years ago when I was in a John Deere mower class around 1985. At that time the mindset was that they had gone to sealed bearings, but still had grease zerts on the spindles.
I inquired as to why? The answer was that in the residential market, most spindle bearing failures were caused by water/moisture damage and lack of greasing and the issue of over greasing (blew out seals exposing bearing to the environment) in residential mowers by customers.
The amount of hours a residential mower mows is not much. Nothing like a the hours on a commercial mower.
The consumer would mow, wash off off his mower, moisture in the spindles, then it would set a week till they mowed again. Then the mower would also set all winter with the moisture in the spindles. One of the items was that damp grass clippings, would be left sitting on the mower deck. This was a spindle and a real deck killer.
So sealed bearings was the answer. However John Deere were still recommending that the customer greased the spindles to push water from the spindle. The removal of water was to prolong the spindle.
At that time bearings in commercial mowers were unsealed and grease-able.
I think the manual now says to wash your mower, then grease, then put your mower away. I would be curious to what they print now. In the early years it was common practice to grease then go mow. Heckendorn helped introduce that thought, many, many years ago. A different mindset back then.
What drove the change to the sealed bearings was to reduce mower deck warranty claims on newly sold mowers on John Deere residential mowers.
I have noticed that grasshopper uses a sealed bearing but has a weep hole as you demonstrated.
I have also noticed some mower models only require one to three pumps with a grease gun on their spindles, per a certain amount of hours.
I really enjoyed your video, well done. Spindles take a huge pounding and operate in the worst environments and are over looked in routine maintenance. I used to replace a lot of them. When I would press them apart, most of them were full of rust.
In my life time, a grease-able bearing is the way to go, and good maintenance. But sadly only a minority of us actually do the proper maintenance.
Just my 2 cents, and thought I would share some info from the past.
Thank you so much Douglas, for that info! It makes a lot of sense knowing what you've explained. I appreciate that. I agree, greaseable bearings are the key, but proper maintenance of most things is not common anymore. We've become more of a throwaway society it seems. Still....I like to keep things maintained and hopefully minimize repair work. Thanks again sir!
@@twintwo1429 I don't consider them sealed. They are shielded, which probably means it keeps birds from nesting inside. I own several trail motorbikes that see a lot of creek crossings. Bultaco puts a true garlock seal outside of each bearing. The bearings never corrode. Older Yamaha TTR bikes do the same. New Kawasaki 150s don't have a garlock, and water gets in the bearings.
@@twintwo1429 Condensation
@@redbird82ify I haven't heard of or seen a Bultaco motorcycle in 40 years..are these older Bultacos ?
The same thing with chains . I save the used motor oil. To keep those chains wet with oil. Red rust coming off the chain is not what you want.
Reminds me of growing up watching my Daddy work. He rarely bought anything unless absolutely necessary. He had lathes etc. and just about every tool I could imagine. He and his 8 brothers were very old school mechanical inclined. Fixed the problem instead of just constantly changing parts.
Thank you for watching, Bobby! I really appreciate the comment too!!
And this is what we need to teach our youth. Get back to basics instead of a throw away society.
reminds me of my dad... except he didn't have any of the proper tools and half-assed everything and it would half-work and he'd get pissed off at it and break it again...
I’m all for rebuilding a carburetor on a small Honda, but when you can buy the whole thing for less than $20 and the rebuild kit is $15, I’ll just change the part for a new one. I’ve revived all sorts of stuff, but sometimes it makes sense to just replace a part. My company repairs small tools and equipment and charging a customer $75 labor, plus $15 for parts makes no sense when you can charge $25 labor and $20 for parts. It’s half the price and whole lot quicker.
@@stevewhiting556remember those old sandblasting sparkplug cleaners, that grit probably end up wearing out the rings and cylinders. For a $2 sparkplug 😂
Very informative. But I especially like the way you respect our time by giving a very brief intro and launching straight into the subject - I've also noticed this in other videos you do. Thank you ! ! !
Thank you so much, Bruce! I appreciate you watching. Yes sir, I don't like to waste anybody's time and unless I'm watching a video for entertainment purposes, I don't care for long intros. :) Thanks again!
@@dwcoffey I appreciate this myself, mower just crapped and got a broke john deere for 100$. I fixed it but the research was brutal, wish I found you earlier. I finally learned that "name brand" mowers cars whatever use the cheapest crap parts they can. then the one penny part they use fails, which causes something expensive to break. Just one easily maintained and built to last machine....is it too much to ask? I got a mercedes smart car, over engineered unneccessary paddle shifters. This thing literally has the smallest wires that the AC burns out the connections, it would be better off using a twisted spider web to power it. paddle shifters but a clutch actuator that literally has to be taken off once a year to service it. Just put in a brand new one, ran for a day then wouldn't go in gear. Didn't even part it out, hauled that POS to the scrapyard. expensive as hell and not one decent part. can't wait for tesla to make a small reliable electric car. I'm just going to put a solar panel on a golf cart roof and drive that
That is exactly what I did two years ago. All three spindles are still working perfectly and smoothly. I personally touch up the grease once every 25 hrs of operation with the rest of the service at the same time. Great video.
Thank you so much, Miguel! I appreciate you watching!
All good information, I have a 27 yr old craftsman garden tractor with original bearings and spindles, at the end of every season i pull the spindles and bearings out and gently pick out the bearing seal and hand pack it and replace. The bearings are all in good shape.
Thank you for watching, Andre! That is really the best way to do it....that's great!
Yeah this does seem like then you aren't using an excess of grease and you know the grease you do use actually gets into the bearings.
This is good advice. One other thing I would do, is prepack your bearings with new grease before reassembly. Then you are starting up the unit with full bearings.
Yes, very good point! I should have hand packed the bearings and the housing, not sure why I didn't before I reassembled. thanks for watching, Philip!
@@dwcoffey why not just replace with new sealed bearings? Over the long term, is having the ability to add grease to keep lubricated a better solution? Not sure how often sealed bearings fail, but that is why I ask.
Thank you! I'm glad I came across this video. I just installed 2 of these exact same spindles on my craftsman. I haven't used it yet and now they will be coming back off so that I can modify (fix) them.
Thank you for watching, Matt! Another viewer made a great suggestion about this....after drilling the weep hole, tap it and insert a small screw. Remove the screw when greasing and replace it when done. This will keep dirt out of the grease and make for a cleaner install. Properly greased, these bearings should last for years. Thanks again Matt!
Super detailed instructional video Dennis. Every zreo turn/riding mower owners should see this. I'll be sure to follow this when I replace my spindles again. Thanks for your time doing this.
Thank you so much for watching sir! And thank you for your service...welcome home!
Excellent instructable. No stumbles, Straight to the point and a clearly done video. I have seen none better.
Thank you for watching, Phyl! I appreciate the kind comments!
Your no-nonsense approach to getting after the task is great, Dennis.
Thank you Dave! I appreciate you watching!
Again, another video you knocked out of the park. Ive greatly enjoyed watching every video you posted about your Husqvarna.
Thank you very much!! I appreciate your support!
Just did this to my 2 new spindles while watching your video. Thanks, Dennis! Your videos are great! Really appreciate you taking the time to make them.
Thanks Dean! I appreciate you watching. A good tip offered by another viewer: tap the weep holes and seal with a screw.
Great job explaining the step by step instructions for something most of us didn't know, thanks
Thanks for watching!
This is great instruction. I just discovered my 25 year old Toro’s spindles need replacing. They do not have grease fittings, so I didn’t give them much thought. The bearings are beyond dry. My new spindle assemblies arrived today. I’m not confident there is room for a grease fitting. At least I know now how to disassemble and apply new grease to the bearings and shaft periodically. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos.
Thanks for watching!
The weep hole should be just below the top bearing to ensure you are getting grease to the top bearing.
Thanks for watching, Philip. Bearing grease is very viscous. It will not come out of the weep hole until the cavity is under some pressure. Id' rather have the weep hole about center vertically to keep it as far away from both bearings as possible....that provides better protection for the bearings from water and dirt intrusion (just in case).
@@dwcoffey Piece of inner tube with a hose clamp around the housing will suffice, OR a couple of wraps of duct tape
I just watched the video and address this same thing but with more effectiveness.
@@dwcoffey just tap the weep hole for a small bolt or screw to plug hole and move it when greasing ie... 10/32 or 1/4 inch screw
the cavity will have to be full before it comes out the weep hole due to pressure and the grease will follow the path of least resistance ie.. ....fill cavity before going out weep hole so it is irrelevant where the weep hole is , there is really no right or wrong spot ,
you explain things, as well as show us, how to actually do this stuff so well EVEN I HAVE DONE IT! lol
That's great!! Thank you for watching and for your support!
MATE!!!! Thanks so much for sharing this trick, i would have replaced the noisy bearings but now you taught me how to regrease them ive regreased them all and sounds frkn amazing. May all your wishes be blessed
Thank you for watching, Aischa! Since I've started doing this, I get 8 to 10 years out of a set of spindles.
Scag spindles have a spring loaded relief fitting in the spindle housing. When the spindle gets full, it vents the excess grease and closes so you don't have to worry about trash getting in through a weep hole. Scag part number 48677.
Thank you for watching, Elvin! Great idea....much better than an open hole. thanks!
@@dwcoffey Ventrac also uses spring loaded relief fittings. They are same size and thread as the zerks. The bearings are fitted with shields, not seals. Grease can get in. The shields flex and mostly keep debris out, or that is the intent.
@@rooster3019 Thanks! I have a Ventrac and am glad to learn that!
Great video, straightforward, no BS and easy to follow along to.
Thanks for watching, Brian!
Great and clear video. I’ve been doing this for years and it works! Two comments I’d add; make sure to reposition the new grease nipple so it can be accessed without removing the deck. I leave the existing nipple in the top position but, I take a small punch and punch out the ball and spring. This allows for the turret fo fill up with grease. The other suggestion is to do a video covering how to adjust the level of the blades. Many times a hard hit on a stone or stump will distort the mount and cause uneven blade level, fairly easy to correct but needs explanation.
Thank you for watching, Todd and thanks for sharing! Good idea on the blade level suggestion! Thanks!!
"The problem is the bearings are sealed".
To quote Biff Tannen, my childhood hero, "That's as stupid as a screen door on a battleship [sic]".
Thank you, Sir, for sharing your wisdom and expertise.
Thanks for watching!
As for washing off the top of the deck i would use a leaf blower or a compressed air wand to blow the grass off the top. Rarely used water.
Great idea! Thanks for watching!
Very articulate. Helps alot. Thanks brother. God bless you from a Vietnam Veteran.
Thanks for watching, Harry! Welcome home and may God bless you as well!
Must have been a high-school teacher in the past. Great vid
Thank you for watching, Nick! I haven't been a high school teacher, but...one of these days when I retire, I sure wouldn't mind being a shop teacher in a school. :) Thanks again!
@@dwcoffey - I don't think they even teach SHOP any more do they? What a shame ... I always loved SHOP class! :)
I think very few school systems have shop programs.....thanks to funding, legal liabilities, etc. I think the lack of shop, home economics, drafting, etc programs is having a terrible effect on industry, trades, etc. It is a shame.
@@dwcoffey This is why shop classes were discontinued. ruclips.net/video/0PzPfzLeDa0/видео.html I fought the lathe and the lathe won. No one was seriously injured in this vudeo.
Heard about this procedure a couple years ago.
You’re video was excellent on this procedure.
Like the weep hole idea!
Well done
Thank you Jeff! I appreciate you watching!
EXCELLENT VIDEO! Thank You , I now feel that I can PROPERLY and CORRECTLY repair my daughters mower!
Fantastic! Thanks for watching, Sterling!
My 42" Hustler did not have greasable spindles. I replaced them with Husqvarna spindles but had to have the "star' blade mount machined off so that a Hustler blade would fit. Thanks for your "weep hole" idea, I will drill them. Some people remove the inner bearing seals, then drill 2 or 3 small holes in the seals, and then reinstall the seals which will help keep the grease where it's needed.
Thanks for watching, Iggie! Thanks for sharing your ideas, too....I like them!
Thanks for great video. I usually tap them out with a socket big enough to hit against the inner or outer race depending if bearing is on shaft or in seat and extension to get deeper.
Thanks for watching, James!
This is good information. I used to have a large front and back yard. For several years I'd end up replacing a mandrel every two or three years. Often it was from hitting a rock/granite/Canadian Shield. Easy to see now that I only ever needed a bearing. Probably the larger bearing at the blade end. Live and learning all the time.
Thanks for watching!
Thank You for sharing this information. Would have never thought of sealed bearings being used.
Thank you for watching!
Ive found that the spindle bearings often come with a thin very light grease and I typically pop a seal off and pack them with a heavy duty high speed type grease and reinsta the seal.. For the bolt holes I use a sae tap and tap them out to accept sae bolts in order to make them removable in the future insteaf of using the t screws.. A dab of blue loctite on each sae bolt ensures their not loosening up until I want them to come off...also a layer of grease befoee installing the blade alleviates the rusting of the 5 or 6 lobes on the blade end of the shafts and a dab of anti seize on the blade bolts alleviates having to use the air impact to get them back off again... I'm thinking about adding zerk fittings to my zero turns and pumping grease in them once every 50 hours or so instead of just replacing bearings every 1.5-3 seasons...
Thank you for watching! All great ideas and tips...thank you for sharing! I agree about greasing the bearings.
GREAT video. I didn't read all the comments so in case nobody said this different types of grease may not be compatable so I use a can of electrical parts cleaner and clean all the original grease out of the bearings then hand pack the bearings with the type of grease I'm going to use so the types of grease in the spindle are compatable and lubricate the bearings better.
Great idea! Thank you for watching, Russ!
Great job. Good detail in the whole process.
I will definitely watch more of your videos
Thanks for watching, Gary!
great video.my knowledge comes from guys like you showing me. THANKS
Thanks so much, Chris! I appreciate you watching!
We use Grease release fittings available at most bearing companies, drill and tap the side and install the fitting. It keeps the water/moisture out and allows the grease out when you grease the normal fitting. We have machines with literally thousands of hours on the original bearings by doing this to them.
Thanks for watching, Matt! Yes, this is a great idea!
Thanks Dennis, for your very informative video. One thought I would add to the initial greasing process. Before you press in those bearings, I would manually pack them while they're on the bench. That way you know that they have a full load of grease to begin with. All the follow-up greasing is just routine maintenance after that. I'm not sure where I will find a "flip-top hole cover" but I like that idea, offered by one of your viewers. I will look for some of those also.
I'm using a John Deere E-180 mower and have to replace a spindle now (I think I'll replace them all while I'm at it.) so this will be very useful information.
Thanks for watching, Gary! I definitely should have packed the bearings before I installed them.
Thanks, I was wondering if I should do that or not. Your info helped me a lot.
Thank you Jerry! I appreciate you watching!
Finally a good post on the cheap way to keep up spindles
Thank you, Mike! I appreciate you watching!
The approach I used was to just let them fail (took over 12 years) then replace just the bearings with the exact same sealed bearings that came out. I also bought an extra set so I have them on hand when another spindle fails. I got them at my local bearing supply place. If you don't have one, you can order through McMaster Carr or Grainger. Or just see if your local hardware store can order them.
Another thing I've seen is to just keep one extra spindle around. When one fails you can replace the whole spindle very quickly and replace the bearings in it when you get the time. I just did the bearings because it failed slowly, gradually getting louder over a period of a few weeks.
Other than that, his removal & replacement procedure is spot on.
Thanks for watching, Steve! Great ideas, thanks for sharing!
You can also make sure the new assembly is properly greased as one poster said you can actually force grease into a sealed bearing you can also drill small holes into the inner seals.
I don't think I would ever beat on the inner race of the any bearing. I learned that lesson years ago....the hard way
Thanks for watching! Correct, you should never strike on the inner race of a bearing. I don't show or talk about doing that in this video.
Lightly tapping on the bearings will not effect the longevity... However beating it like a redheaded stepchild will..lol.. no offense to redheads 🙏
@@mechanicmike2858 beating it with a steel hammer is probably the worst.
This video is what the manufacturer assemblers should watch. One this is one of the best presentations ive ever watched. Two a sealed bearing doesn't have enough grease and three a sealed bearing with a zurk fitting just blocks the grease from reaching the bearing and is the reason our mowers cook the bearing in 2 years. I grew up with a AllisChalmers tractor and greased it at the end of mowing season before putting it up for storage. And greased the thing every 5 uses to top off. Maybe had a bearing go bad on the tiller because shavings made its way in. But the mower lasted 15 years before we replaced a spindle. The new spindle lasted 4 years and wouldn't take grease in the zurk fitting. The other two old spindles took two pumps of grease. Took the spindle apart after cooking the new spindle. The bearings were sealed both sides and the zurk fitting hole didn't go through the entire fitting. Imagine that.
That sounds typical of some of the stuff they do these days. Drives me crazy when I take something apart only to find that some component is basically for looks. I agree with you 100%, if they were built correctly, we would get much longer life out of bearings, spindles, etc. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and for watching, Clayton! I appreciate it!
Very helpful! I learned something new to make my mower last longer. Thanks!
Thanks for watching, Ticker!
Dennis they make a item called a grease relief and they have different ones with a different setting. They are the same size as the grease fittings .I think a 1/2 pound would be about right and as the bearings heat up while your mowing the grease will purge the excess out so the grease won't push the remaining seals out. A lot of guys mow from early in the morning until dark and this works great with them because they mow when the grass is wet and some mow when it's raining. I like the idea of filling the spindle housing full of grease because it won't let the moisture inside and it extends spindle life as well. Good video sir.
Great idea!! Thanks Carlton, and thank you for watching!
Again thank you so much Dennis prayed at all is well with you and your family be safe🙏
Thank you for watching, Kenneth! I really appreciate the prayers! All is well with us....oldest daughter has her 2nd child on the way so we're all praying for her and the baby as they will have to go to the hospital. I hope you and yours are all well too!!
@@dwcoffey all is well, your daughter and grandbaby will be fine God is in control my prayers will you and your family 🥰🙏
I saw this same thing on Steve’s Small Engine Saloon channel, but this video added more detail. Some good stuff here! As always, great video; clear and concise. Thanks, Dennis!
Thanks for watching! I appreciate the kind comments!
You'd better give Dear OLD Steve ! Another ! DUFF !! TO ! GUZZLE ; GUZZLE !! GUZZLE !! ! DOWN !!
Thanks for the video,it does my heart good to know there are good ways to extend the life of these bearings.
Thanks for watching, Gerald!
Thanks for this video. You made this look easy even to us non-mechanically minded. Also, thanks for sparing us some awful music some videos have.
Thank you for watching, Armond!
Your video is great and informative. Applying your technique is applicable to many different types of equipment also. I have used a dremel to cut a groove in the threads of spindle grease fittings which functions as a weep hole and pushes grease back out once spindle is filled. These were threaded into the side of the spindle. The idea was not mine originally, I was just replacing factory grooved zerks on the mower and made my own replacements as the grooved zerks were not readily available.
Thanks for watching, Jeffrey! Yes sir...great idea and I agree, often a little modification to an otherwise decent design will make it a great design and also make it last longer. thanks for sharing!
That is the method used on the driveshaft spindle bearing of our sickle bar mower. It works great and is designed to keep grease from being pushed out the seal and onto the pulley and belt.
I did this very thing on my John Deere 318 deck minus the weep hole. Now I'm going to go back and include it. Really good video. I subbed you.
Thank you for watching, Terry! And thanks for subscribing!
Good and clear voice and very good easy to follow description of your work.
Thank you very much for the kind comment, and I appreciate you watching!
The ID of those type bearings is a slip fit on the shaft. Moisture easily gets through, which is typically the cause of failure. So being able to grease and regrease regularly is probably the best thing one could do.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
Great tip, a money saver for sure! Thanks
Thank you for watching, Sean!
Great advice. Just lost one of the bearings in my zero turn this afternoon. Going to try this , 👍
Thank you for watching, Jon!
Great video you are the first video I found that actually answered my questions. thanks
That's great! Thanks for watching, Laura!
Got my set of spindles in from Amazon today. Glad I saw this video before I install them. Guess I'm staying up an extra half an hour tonight ;-) thank you for your helpful knowledge... P. S. I just finished. Everything went smooth. I didn't pound out the second bearings though. I just used a dental pick to reach down and take the seal off. Worked pretty slick :-) thanks again!
That's great, Scott! Glad it worked out, thank you for watching!!
Nice! Are you using said dental pick on patients today? Sorry, couldn’t resist.... 😊
Might fill the cavity full of grease before putting the last bearing on. Great video.
Thanks for watching Robert! Yes sir, I should have filled it first and also should have probably hand-packed the bearings before reinstalling them. Thanks again!
Great video. The manual is just for a general idea and doesn’t go into enough explanation about the side panels, drain, etc. Thanks for your excellent help!
Thank you for watching, Jim!
Great suggestion and nice job on video.
Even spindles from name brand commercial equipment manufacturers that featured a zerk came with sealed bearings...even 40 years ago when I serviced commercial turf equipment.
Again, nice job on video.
Thank you so much for watching and commenting, Bill!
I removed the bottom bearing and put the spindle on a lathe and made the bearing surface deeper into the spindle and put two bearing on the bottom, it has lasted for years so far.
Thanks for watching, Bill! That would definitely do the trick, great idea!
So there are actually 2 types of sealed bearings. One type is water tight and the other is not.
I guarantee the bearings you have are not water tight just by how easy the seal came out.
Those seals are to mainly in place keep debris out and they will allow grease in.
Removing the inner plastic seal will certainly help allow more grease get into the bearing but in turn, when the grease gets warm, it becomes more viscus and the grease will run out of the top bearing. Keeping that seal in the top bearing will help to keep some grease in the top bearing. As you stated, if you remain committed and keep the spindle full of grease, it will last a good long time but if not you will fail the top bearing prematurely.
I add grease fittings to my spindles (if they are not equipped) but I do not add a weep hole and I leave the plastic seal in the top bearing.
As grease is added, pressure from the gun will force grease past the plastic debris seal and into the bearing.
You can tell when the spindle is full from the added effort it takes to pump in grease with a manual grease gun.
Powered grease guns are more difficult and pushing out the bearings is a real concern. I always use a manual gun.
Good video. I just do it differently.
I have subscribed.
Thanks for watching and sharing your info! I appreciate it!
Thanks for writing all of this so I didn't have to. My thoughts exactly!
I don’t understand why so many think the spindle bearings are sealed. Easy to get grease past the seal. I have spindles that are 12 years old and performing fine due to putting in a lot of grease.
@@Johnny35130 probably does help to keep the grease in. On a real sealed bearing, the seal can’t be very easily removed without destroying it.
Hot grease will be LESS viscous!
Great video. I completely agree with your presentation and to add (not criticize) it may help to hand pack the bearings prior to installation and hand pack the hollow spindle just prior to installing the shaft in order to prevent air from becoming trapped at both ends as you fill it with a grease gun. I have often wondered how grease could get into the sealed bearings and you explained everything logically. I maintain all my equipment and I have been frustrated with sealed bearing every time I encounter one. It is engineered obsolescence and you are showing a way to overcome that. 5 STARS.
You are so right! I should have hand packed the bearings and the spindle housing before putting at all back together. Thanks again, Robert!
Explained very well , easy to understand.
Thank you Ron! I appreciate you watching!
good video. never hada greasable spindle go bad yet. mowed comercial over 30 yrs.
That's great Joe! I wish I had the same experience, but I've had to replace several greasable spindles before I started doing this to them. No problems now. Thanks for watching!
Best set up is to add a pressure relief fitting (Alemite makes them) to the side of the spindle towards the top (make sure it clears the deck), it will let grease out when the spindle cavity is full and not allow too much pressure, so you don't blow out the seals on the bearings. If you know your bearing's trade number 6305, 6207, etc. add LC to the end when ordering bearing and you will get a bearing with a single seal with a metal guard plate. This set up if you grease regularly will give many years of service, many commercial mowers come with this as the standard set up.
Thanks for watching, David! Great tips!
Great idea I am replacing the spindles on my Toro Mower at the moment and I am going to take your advice.
Thankyou for the the great idea to get much more value out of the spindles.
Top video.
Thanks for watching, Mick!
Nice clear explanation. Weep hole is a great idea. Thanks!
Thank you! I appreciate you watching!
Cut a narrow slot in the side of the zerk with Dremel grinding wheel to allow it to bleed out when it fills up. This method is used on a spindle of our 9' sickle bar mower to prevent grease from being forced out onto the pulley and belt. The other trick is to use a pistol grip grease gun that allows you to feel when the hub is full with more resistance to pump the grease gun.
Great ideas! Thanks for watching, Sheri!
If you are worried about foreign matter intruding into the weep hole, drill and tap it to 1/8 X 27 and put a threaded, straight oil hole cover in. That way you can see the grease come out, wipe it off and let the top snap back to seal the hole.
Great idea! Thank you for watching!
What is an oil hole cover?
Thank you
@@jjjsmith2497 It's a tiny cup with a spring loaded cap that we used to have on the end of electric motors for oiling. I can't put a link here, but if you go to McMaster Carr and look up item 1232K31, you will see it listed there.
@@thethriftysuburbanite5251
Thank you for the reply.
Have a great day🙂
How many farmers have regularly greased their hay balers only to have a bearing get so hot that it catches the baler and tractor on fire? You are pointing out the fact that all the grease in the world could not get into the sealed bearings. This is a VERY HELPFUL VIDEO and it does not just apply to mower spindles.
Yes sir! Thank you for watching, Robert!
AMEN! I have been thinking about exactly this. Thanks for the walkthrough...
Thanks for watching, Will!
Good video! I'd recommend just putting a selt-tapping or even a sheet metal screw in the weep hole to prevent dust and water intrusion.
Yes! Great idea. Thank you for watching, Jay!
For the relief hole you drilled, there is a fitting that will allow grease to leave and sill maintain a waterproof seal.
I can't remember the name, but pressure relief grease zerk might get somewhere.
We had them on our M113 roadwheels...two fittings, a regular grease fitting and the second to allow grease to leave.
We would pump grease in until some started coming out the other fitting.
Hope this helps!👌😁
That will be perfect for this application! Thanks! Thanks for watching, Barry!
Good information here, I wish I had seen this video a year ago before I replaced all my spindle bearings for the 3rd time in 10 years, you need to sharpen that drill bit. Thanks very much!
Thanks for watching, David! Yes sir, that's exactly what got me looking into this....I got tire of replacing spindles. Since making this mod, spindles have lasted for years, no problems. Yes, those bits are past due for a sharpening! :)
Thanks for posting, I myself would have never known the manufacturers did that, I checked my 2018 troy-bilt super bronco 50" riding mower, and those spindles were made the same way with the berrings covered.
Thanks for watching! I think they'd be ok if the factory bearings were greased better, but the cheap ones they use now are almost dry from the factory, so unless some grease gets into those bearings, they fail pretty quickly.
The vent hole is a great idea to observe how much grease is in it. If it is not done ,over pumping grease will blow the seals loose- the bearings themselves are contained between the blade mount and the pulley mount.
Nice vid, very concise, you sure have a clean work area too (smile).
I agree! Another viewer made a great suggestion: tap the vent holes and put a short screw in them. Remove the screw when greasing the spindles. Keeps the dirt out but still allows monitoring during grease input. Thanks for watching and for the great comment!
Agree with the weep hole, it's a good idea. Just forcing a small amount of grease into the hole will keep any dust from entering and the hole doesn't need to be large at all since it's just there to relieve any internal pressure.
It'll take a lot of grease to completely fill most spindles, so just packing extra grease into the bearings will go a long way. In this case, I use a needle on my grease gun and slip it under the inner lip of the seal to fill the bearing with grease and leave the seal intact.
Thank you for watching! Yes, I agree....greasing the bearings, replacing the seals and leaving them alone is far better than leaving these bearings un-greased. Grease in the housing will keep the spindle shaft from rusting, but they really could make the housings so that only a small amount of grease was required. thanks!
You don't need to force grease in the weep hole. It will be filled when grease gets pumped out.😄😄
It's what is called an Engineered Defect = more parts sold. Great video, thanks.
Exactly! Thanks for watching!
Very informative video. Going to replace the bearings in my 2 spindles and drill a grease fitting hole and an overflow grease hole like you show. The noise of my 2 spindles is so loud it is deafening. Hope to get that noise down to a hum. Now that I have seen it done, I can tackle that job easily !!!! Thank you !!!!!!!
Thanks for watching, Yawwee!
You can also use the law of thermodynamics, using the combination of heat & cold when removing & installing bearings. Heating the housing will make it expand a bit. When re-installing bearings, you can put the bearings into the freezer for 20 minutes or so, while carefully warming up the spindle housing with a heat gun or on a hot plate. Just don't burn yourself. The chilled bearings should slip right in with only a minimum of persuasion from your hammer. When the two parts reach room temperature, they should be good to go, without wallowing out the bearing pocket or beating on the inner bearing race.
Great points! Thanks for watching!
Use the old bearing instead of a socket to help fully seat the new bearing .
Thank you for watching, Daniel! Yes that will work, but I prefer a brass drift since brass is softer than the bearing races. Hitting a hardened race against another hardened race can cause damage to the bearing. Generally with any striking operation, you don't want to hardened surfaces in contact with each other.
After watching your video and having recently replacing my spindles. I began to wonder about my spindles. I called my dealer and was informed my bearing seals were set up properly, thanks for the heads up.
Thank you for watching, Royce!
I was thinking of a weep hole too, to not push the bearings out over time. Great video, Thanks.
Thanks for watching, Mark!
Hello Dennis , Yes the weep hole is very important because also , Grease guns produce a tremendous amount of pressure and without anywhere for the excess grease to go You can also bust the bearing housing when pumping in grease
But when drilling a weep hole , I strongly recommend that you tap the hole for a machine screw so you can plug the hole after adding grease instead of covering the hole with tape which will keep moisture and dirt from getting into the bearing housing
This is an outstanding idea! Thank you and thanks for watching!
@@dwcoffey You're most welcome
@@dwcoffey Hello Dennis , Yes , This is very important because once the bearing housing is full of grease , It has to have somewhere to go , One thing you don't want to do is , If the bearing housing has a grease fitting , DO NOT pump grease into the bearing housing until after the bearing housing is disassembled ,
The seals on one side of the bearing is removed
A weep hole is drilled and tapped
When Reassembling the bearing housing , Be sure the open side of the bearing faces inward so when you pump in grease ,
It will get into the bearings
As I said , Do not pump grease into the bearing housing until this modification has been done , Especially until the seals are removed from one side of each bearing
Otherwise you risk busting the bearing housing because with the seals in place ,
They block the grease from getting into the bearing and will cause excessive pressure to build up and you can end up busting the bearing housing
Another thing I strongly recommend is that after doing the modification and you add grease ,
Before putting the plug in on the weep hole
Run the mower for a few minutes to allow the bearings to get up to operating temperature and allow for expansion of the grease to prevent pressure from building up and blowing out the seals on the outer part of the bearings
After doing this , Then put the plug in
When the bearing housing is full of grease
You do have to allow for expansion and the excess grease to flow out because it takes very little pressure to push the seals out of the bearings and if that happens
The spindle must be totally disassembled and the bearings removed and the seals put back into the bearings
sorry man they are not seals they are just loose fitting dust covers ya can remove them with your finger nail lol , and are designed for the grease to go threw them , a grease gun puts out 10000 psi , grease until you see grease come out of spindle ends , the covers cannot be pushed out as the shaft bearing stop presses against them when spindle is assembled and top pully nut is tight . Infact the bearing stop is beveled around the bearing facing side to allow grease to easily escape by design. , @@ironmartysharpe8293
That is the cleanest workshop I've ever seen 😁👍
Thanks James! I have to clean it before I record a video, otherwise I'd get a ration of junk about how messy it is! haha! Thanks for watching!
I don’t have a riding mower, but watched to see a pro at work!
Thank you for watching, Michael! I really appreciate this kind comment sir!
Both sealed and shielded bearings contain the correct amount of grease when assembled in the factory. Excess grease is a cause of overheating and premature failure of the bearing.
Thanks for watching, Ken! That's the problem, though... most of the spindle bearings used today are cheap and they are not properly greased from the factory. Often they are not greased at all. Assuming they are greased and running them dry will destroy them in short order and that is why so many people have to replace the spindles in their new mower after a season or two. Properly greased, spindle bearings should last for years.
Thanks for watching, Hal. Sealed bearings are not always greased...that's really the whole problem. Many of these cheap imported spindles are assembled with sealed bearings that barely have any machine oil on them, let alone any grease. Anybody that does use the zerk fitting on a spindle is most likely to fill the cavity with grease because most people will pump until grease comes out somewhere. This is just a way that the average homeowner can make sure they don't have to replace spindles every year. With the way these spindles are made, that is exactly what happens.....homeowner puts on new spindles, next year they are worn out and get replaced again.
@@halcampbell1384 You must make a living selling parts.
I read that bearings are one of the most counterfeited items. Maybe Ken & Hal buy theirs from licensed distributors and not off ebay/amazon, which is why others are leery about their claims on QC?
I also read that grease heats up during use and having too much will hurt the bearing. If grease heats up and gets viscous then I would imagine that the top bearings would leak downwards and be more 'dry' than the bottoms, no?
You can have "too much" grease. Like Ken said, it can overheat causing premature failure
Great job, I have noticed the same. Factory installed a grease zerk to nowhere. I suggest replacing bearings with USA made bearings for much longer life. You can order bearings without seals and at higher load capacity. Great video. Thank you
Thanks for watching, Larry! I totally agree. The best thing is to put decent bearings in the spindles. These cheap aftermarket spindles have very low quality bearings installed.
Better check your packaging. Almost certain to be China or India made.
I have bought SKF bearings , came out of the same parts bin , identical box , one made in Sweden , other in China
You must ask for high quality bearings or you probably will not get them. A bit more expensive but far higher quality and long life.
@@outinthesticks1035 Unfortunately, SKF had to cave and has a plant now in China, among other countries. So sad. So many consumers now look at the price over the quality. We've become a disposable society. I recently bought 12 Nachi 6203 bearings, because Japan makes quality bearings. These were made in India. These big name companies have to go to China to compete. Whats sad is that China takes these consumer products, reverse-engineers them, and produces garbage knockoffs for pennies. These things last a fews years, break, and we go right back and buy another one from China.
Great tip. I just did my son's mower spindles.
Thank you for watching, Ed!
Awesome video, really good information I appreciate the way you explain and show ways to extend spendal life! God bless and stay safe!👍
Thanks for watching, Richard!
Dennis, if you have a thrust washer over the top bearing and a nut holding it on, when you start to overfill the cavity the excess grease should start coming out between the balls of the top bearing just like if you were hand packing it. It would take a lot of fast pressure to push the balls and outer race out. I would think.
Thanks for watching Randy! True, very good point. There are several different kinds of spindles out there and some of them actually only have one of the bearings press fit into place with no retention at all....so I've seen them actually pushed out of the spindle with over greasing. Most are not like this though and you are right, the pressure will adequately grease the bearings with no other problems.
Ive known that the bearings were sealed for forty years...Always remove inside seal and add zerks.same thing applies to many riding mower front wheels
Yes sir! Thanks for watching, George!
Great info and resolution! Thank you!
Thanks for watching, Lonnie!
Thank you Dennis. Very thorough video.
Thank you for watching, Chuck!