a lot of these aftermarket spindles that are “greasable” will have the inner rubber seal still on the bearing, rendering the 20 bucks you just spent on grease to fill the cavity’s on your spindles useless. its a good idea to take the new spindles apart and make sure the inner dust seals on the bearings have been removed. drill a weep hole for a bolt on the opposite side of the grease fitting. the weep hole will give the air in the spindle a place to go, it will also let you know when its full grease. when you see grease coming out of the hole. the weep hole will also help you from over greasing and pushing the outer dust seals off the bearings. when your done greasing your bearings plug the weep hole with the bolt you drilled a tapped, now your good to go👍
@@sociopathmercenary oh i’m sure if you pressurized the hell out of The spindle you would get a little bit past the seal and wind up hydraulically smashing the inner seal into the bearing cage, more than likely push the outer seal out under the high pressure negating the outer seals purpose.
very thorough. Did not omit any steps. worked on a clean surface, not working in the yard where snap rings, small parts are lost forever. used both pneumatic and electric impact tools where appropriate. Showed that cleaning is an important part of the process. My Dad and I both worked at International Harvester Research and Development Center in Hinsdale, Illinois. As a Technical writer my last manual was a 1966 Cub Cadet.
I'm about to replace some Cub Cadet spindles & ordered the exact same ones. I did a youtube search to make sure I'm not forgetting any steps and overall pre-brief and smooth the process ahead of time. This is a great video! Thanks for making it
I just got a 2023 Cub cadet XT1 LT46 and broke one spindle by hitting some rocks. Unfortunately I had to buy the cub cadet spindle that was over $100 because they are now "S" shaped holes instead of star pattern. In hindsight I should've gotten two of the star spindles like yours and swap them both out for less than the price of one cub cadet spindle. they got me good.
S blades are rather expensive and your choices are limited. You can replace the S spindles with the star type and moving forward have a better selection of blades that cost much less.
Bought an ebay deck rebuild kit for mine about a month ago. New spindles, g5 gatorblades, pulleys,and a belt for $89 with free shipping. They seem to be of decent quality. I had one bad spindle and a noisy pulley, so this made sense for me to buy. The gator blades leave a great cut and the spindles are grease able. Even if they dont last 10 years,its still a bargain. I'm just saving the belt as a spare because I'd just put a new oem belt on mine last summer
@@timr31908 is the bolt pattern different on the s spindles? Maybe you could replace the s spindles with the old style star pattern ones. I saw like an introductory video cub cadet had tryin to show off the s style blades. I was immediately sceptical. It looks like a disposable design
@@timr31908 mine is a 2013 model,and it's done pretty good,but when it's done for I'll be gettin a x300 series john deere. John Deere's deck design and better dealership network have sold me.
Just worked on the spindles on my 42", install new bearings and enabling greasing by taking inner side bearing protection. Anyway, those spindles and deck setup and spindles looks exactly like my deck - anybody - would those spindles be suitable on 42"?
Do you have any recommendations on different blades. I have a 60 inch cub cadet zt2 zero turn. 6 star for the blades. I absolutely hate the cub cadet blades they are so weak and thin and break so easily. I can't seem to find any blade besides cub cadets that'll fit. You have any recommendations?
I watched your video. But still have a question. The blade side of my spindle bolt's threads won't hold a nut very long despite using a die to re-thread. So I ordered a new bolt. Not the entire spindle assembly, just the bolt. You changed the entire spindle assembly and every youtube vid I find has people doing the same. Can't you just change out the bolt? If not, why did the part department allow me to order it? Well, skip that last question. I guess they'd sell me anything I was willing to buy. But again, can't I just take the bolt out of my current spindle assembly and put the new bolt in>
At that price something is sub par there's no way around that. I'd replace the bearings if the spindle housing and shaft is good you got 5 years out of the original that's not bad they take a beating.
No Do Not remove the mower deck Do Not remove the spindles On the mower with mower deck installed Remove the pully shields Remove both pulleys Spindle shaft with mower blade attached should drop out of spindle. Spindle top bearing should be removable by hand. If not tap out top spindle bearing from bottom of spindle Remove bearing caps from removed top bearing and the bottom bearing cap from the bottom bearing (leaving bottom bearing in spindle) Clean & re grease both bearings Replace sealed bearing grease caps. Install Spindle shaft Torque pulley to 90 foot lbs. FIN Total cost 50c Total time 30 minutes but you need to buy a Wal-Mart $2 can of bearing grease. Everything can easily be done on mower with mower deck never removed.
As stated in the beginning, I had hit a stump and bent a spindle and needed to replace it. Your process is fine if you’re just greasing the bearings but that was not the case here, & now I have spindle bodies with grease fitting on them which makes maintaining easier. Given the option, I will always remove the deck as opposed to lying on the ground. I can have the deck off in 5 min and then access everything with power tools. Then I also get to clean the underside of the deck too. The whole project only took me 40 min which included removing the deck. Thanks for watching.
a lot of these aftermarket spindles that are “greasable” will have the inner rubber seal still on the bearing, rendering the 20 bucks you just spent on grease to fill the cavity’s on your spindles useless. its a good idea to take the new spindles apart and make sure the inner dust seals on the bearings have been removed. drill a weep hole for a bolt on the opposite side of the grease fitting. the weep hole will give the air in the spindle a place to go, it will also let you know when its full grease. when you see grease coming out of the hole. the weep hole will also help you from over greasing and pushing the outer dust seals off the bearings. when your done greasing your bearings plug the weep hole with the bolt you drilled a tapped, now your good to go👍
Those rubber seals on the bearings do not prevent grease from going into the bearing when you're forcing it in with hydraulic pressure.
@@sociopathmercenary oh i’m sure if you pressurized the hell out of The spindle you would get a little bit past the seal and wind up hydraulically smashing the inner seal into the bearing cage, more than likely push the outer seal out under the high pressure negating the outer seals purpose.
very thorough. Did not omit any steps. worked on a clean surface, not working in the yard where snap rings, small parts are lost forever. used both pneumatic and electric impact tools where appropriate. Showed that cleaning is an important part of the process. My Dad and I both worked at International Harvester Research and Development Center in Hinsdale, Illinois. As a Technical writer my last manual was a 1966 Cub Cadet.
Thanks for getting back. Enjoy your videos.
Thanks for watching.
I'm about to replace some Cub Cadet spindles & ordered the exact same ones. I did a youtube search to make sure I'm not forgetting any steps and overall pre-brief and smooth the process ahead of time. This is a great video! Thanks for making it
Glad I could help
Good DIY video. You don't need super professional tools to get the job done excellently....Al Scott
get the job done
Thanks and thank you for watching.
Have a great Easter weekend.
Love your brittany. Video also!
Thanks. They are good boys.
Hope the video helps.
FUZZY new guy. Very good content. This is the first time I subscribed to anyone. Thnx
Hey thanks Fuzzy.
Glad to have you on board.
Ed
I just got a 2023 Cub cadet XT1 LT46 and broke one spindle by hitting some rocks. Unfortunately I had to buy the cub cadet spindle that was over $100 because they are now "S" shaped holes instead of star pattern. In hindsight I should've gotten two of the star spindles like yours and swap them both out for less than the price of one cub cadet spindle. they got me good.
Ya, you would have just needed to swap out the blades.
Live and learn I guess.
S blades are rather expensive and your choices are limited. You can replace the S spindles with the star type and moving forward have a better selection of blades that cost much less.
That's what I'm doing now, it's definitely seems worth it in the long run@@johnhenry5197
Thanks for the video!!!
...and thank yo for watching.
Have a great weekend.
Your my kind of guy ... had me at the brisket on the smoker...
Good stuff.
Thanks for watching.
great video
Thank you sir
Bought an ebay deck rebuild kit for mine about a month ago. New spindles, g5 gatorblades, pulleys,and a belt for $89 with free shipping. They seem to be of decent quality. I had one bad spindle and a noisy pulley, so this made sense for me to buy. The gator blades leave a great cut and the spindles are grease able. Even if they dont last 10 years,its still a bargain. I'm just saving the belt as a spare because I'd just put a new oem belt on mine last summer
Those days are gone MTD is really screwing us now on parts no aftermarket for this s shaped spindle bullshit
@@timr31908 is the bolt pattern different on the s spindles? Maybe you could replace the s spindles with the old style star pattern ones. I saw like an introductory video cub cadet had tryin to show off the s style blades. I was immediately sceptical. It looks like a disposable design
I think they may be different bolt pattern but I'm not a hundred percent sure I know they change stuff up like that so aftermarket can't sell
@@timr31908 mine is a 2013 model,and it's done pretty good,but when it's done for I'll be gettin a x300 series john deere. John Deere's deck design and better dealership network have sold me.
Great video Jack, quick question about the new spindles. Are the bearings sealed in those new spindles?
I didn’t take them out to look but even if they are sealed bearing the grease will still penetrate when it gets warm.
Thanks for watching.
You had me at barbecue ribs…
Thanks for watching.
I usually tighten things to an ugga-dugga as well!
Just worked on the spindles on my 42", install new bearings and enabling greasing by taking inner side bearing protection. Anyway, those spindles and deck setup and spindles looks exactly like my deck - anybody - would those spindles be suitable on 42"?
I know the 46 and 48” spindles are the same. Not sure on the 42.
Hi Ed, Do u know if these spindel screws work on a fabricated deck? (Cub cadet xt2 2019)
I do not. Sorry.
Thanks for watching.
Do you have any recommendations on different blades. I have a 60 inch cub cadet zt2 zero turn. 6 star for the blades. I absolutely hate the cub cadet blades they are so weak and thin and break so easily. I can't seem to find any blade besides cub cadets that'll fit. You have any recommendations?
I do a video on blades. Oregon Gators work well for me.
Thanks for watching.
@jackofalltrades7822 yes I tried looking at Oregon, but I can't seem to find them that fit my actual mower
Are they still doing good?
Yes they are. No noise, still smooth, no complaints.
Thanks for asking and for watching.
I'm guessing these would work on a 42" deck as well, right?
Probably a good guess but I can’t say for sure
You were going to leave a link or an address of the company?
It’s in the description.
Thanks for watching.
Amazon link to purchase these spildles.
a.co/d/eTomyFy
I watched your video. But still have a question. The blade side of my spindle bolt's threads won't hold a nut very long despite using a die to re-thread. So I ordered a new bolt. Not the entire spindle assembly, just the bolt. You changed the entire spindle assembly and every youtube vid I find has people doing the same. Can't you just change out the bolt? If not, why did the part department allow me to order it? Well, skip that last question. I guess they'd sell me anything I was willing to buy. But again, can't I just take the bolt out of my current spindle assembly and put the new bolt in>
You can change the spindle shaft but nobody does. It’s easier just to replace the assembly and get new bearings too.
Thanks for your reply. Where's the best place to order the entire assembly?
Did you save the good old one for spare?
Yup
Are those aussies or collies?
French Brittany Spaniels.
Thanks for watching.
At that price something is sub par there's no way around that. I'd replace the bearings if the spindle housing and shaft is good you got 5 years out of the original that's not bad they take a beating.
Still going strong and it mows 3 yards. I will let you know if they fail but so far no issues.
Thanks for watching.
In my opinion If you buy spindles from the brand dealer, you'll get more than the shaft!!.....Al Scott
I agree. The bearings might be a little better and I emphasize might. I am sure they are all made in China.
Thanks for watching.
It looks like your belt is rubbing against that spring.
Nope. It’s close but no rubbin.
Thanks for watching.
There's a reason why they call him scrub cadet just ask Tayral
While Removing the spindle mounting bolts, half came off half sheared. 🤦
That’s pretty typical.
Thanks for watching.
No
Do Not remove the mower deck
Do Not remove the spindles
On the mower with mower deck installed
Remove the pully shields
Remove both pulleys
Spindle shaft with mower blade attached should drop out of spindle.
Spindle top bearing should be removable by hand. If not tap out top spindle bearing from bottom of spindle
Remove bearing caps from removed top bearing and the bottom bearing cap from the bottom bearing (leaving bottom bearing in spindle)
Clean & re grease both bearings
Replace sealed bearing grease caps.
Install Spindle shaft
Torque pulley to 90 foot lbs.
FIN
Total cost 50c
Total time 30 minutes
but
you need to buy a Wal-Mart $2 can of bearing grease.
Everything can easily be done on mower with mower deck never removed.
KISS and see how to re grease sealed bearings.
As stated in the beginning, I had hit a stump and bent a spindle and needed to replace it.
Your process is fine if you’re just greasing the bearings but that was not the case here, & now I have spindle bodies with grease fitting on them which makes maintaining easier.
Given the option, I will always remove the deck as opposed to lying on the ground. I can have the deck off in 5 min and then access everything with power tools. Then I also get to clean the underside of the deck too.
The whole project only took me 40 min which included removing the deck.
Thanks for watching.
Taking the deck off also gives me a chance to flip it over, clean it, and underbody coat it.