Mower deck spindle FYI

3013 Views 16 Replies 12 Participants Last post by nonnieselman, Jun 3, 2019

JohnDeere

Discussion Starter · May 27, 2019 (Edited)

If you did what this guy suggests, would the grease would push the bottom seal out, or the top if you filled with grease. Anybody know if that's possible? I figured there's a washer or something to keep the seal in place.. IDK.. I noticed the bearing he used looked brand new and china.. Pitifull..

I cringed when he hit that naked spindle tho.. and with a claw hammer haha!!

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1 - 17 of 17 Posts

phillipd

· #2 · May 28, 2019

Yeah you don't hit anything threaded without a nut to protect the threads. I ain't a mechanic but I wouldn't try to grease a sealed bearing. I can get assembled factory spindles for my Bad Boy mower on eBay for only a couple dollars more than I can get quality replacement bearings locally. I keep 2 on hand just in case

Reactions: 3

bucmeister

· #3 · May 30, 2019 (Edited)

phillipd said:
Yeah you don't hit anything threaded without a nut to protect the threads. I ain't a mechanic but I wouldn't try to grease a sealed bearing. I can get assembled factory spindles for my Bad Boy mower on eBay for only a couple dollars more than I can get quality replacement bearings locally. I keep 2 on hand just in case

Not to jump the thread, but Phillip tell me about the Bad Boy, I am assuming you are speaking of a BB Zero Turn. I have been really giving one of their large end of their offerings (Rebel or Maverick) some consideration. Then I run into a friend that is all about the Gravely units, have a patient that runs a commercial lawn service on the side and he is all "Exmark is the way to go". Toward the end of last year his main boss bought a pair of the 8' bat wing Exmark mowers (has $$ out the whazoo and is keeping 34 acres mowed as a lawn). Patient says these mowers are unbelievable. Said he is unable to bog them down running wide open ground speed and that the discharge is some kind of impressive. As they cross water berms there is no gouging etc like they had with the pair of 72" units they were running before because the two side 2' sections articulate independent of the center 4'. I don't want/need a $40K mower though it would be nice to knock my 7 acres out in an hour or two.

Reactions: 2

bucmeister

· #4 · May 30, 2019

Yeah, I think this is just a "demo" version because there was no grease or dirt on anything I saw. Jack shaft was clean and as mentioned the bearing looked like it had just been taken out of a package. When I got new bearings for my Husqvarna spindles they were only sealed on the one side as best as I can recall.

Southern Reloading

· #5 · May 30, 2019

You can blow a seal out with grease! Ask me how I know!!!

Reactions: 3

Cliff731

· #6 · May 30, 2019

bucmeister said:
Not to jump the thread, but Phillip tell me about the Bad Boy, I am assuming you are speaking of a BB Zero Turn. I have been really giving one of their large end of their offerings (Rebel or Maverick) some consideration. Then I run into a friend that is all about the Gravely units, have a patient that runs a commercial lawn service on the side and he is all "Exmark is the way to go". Toward the end of last year his main boss bought a pair of the 8' bat wing Exmark mowers (has $$ out the whazoo and is keeping 34 acres mowed as a lawn). Patient says these mowers are unbelievable. Said he is unable to bog them down running wide open ground speed and that the discharge is some kind of impressive. As they cross water berms there is no gouging etc like they had with the pair of 72" units they were running before because the two side 2' sections articulate independent of the center 4'. I don't want/need a $40K mower though it would be nice to knock my 7 acres out in an hour or two.

I believe you could pay someone to do that mowing job... and not come anywhere close to $40K for a very long time...

Reactions: 1

canebreaker

· #7 · May 30, 2019

For that John Deere L140 that I had, from ebay I could get 3 spindles, 3 blades, 3 pulleys, and the belt for the price of 2 spindles at the dealer.

Reactions: 3

Chicknman

· #8 · May 30, 2019

You shouldn’t grease sealed bearings. Doesn’t mean Chinese bearings always get their squirt of grease at the factory. Seen dry ones before. I have learned it’s usually better to buy the whole assembly than to try and rebuild also. My time is worth a few of those dollars I would save replacing bearings.

Reactions: 3

JohnDeere

Discussion Starter · #9 · May 30, 2019 (Edited)

Some seem to think the grease pushes out water and help keep the bearings cool..

I don't wash my mower anyway and it stays dry..

It is ridiculous there isn't two tapered bearings with zerks for each in there..

Cheap crap!

Reactions: 2

Henry Bowman

· #10 · May 30, 2019

phillipd said:
Yeah you don't hit anything threaded without a nut to protect the threads. I ain't a mechanic but I wouldn't try to grease a sealed bearing. I can get assembled factory spindles for my Bad Boy mower on eBay for only a couple dollars more than I can get quality replacement bearings locally. I keep 2 on hand just in case

:yeah:

phillipd

· #11 · Jun 2, 2019

bucmeister said:
Not to jump the thread, but Phillip tell me about the Bad Boy, I am assuming you are speaking of a BB Zero Turn. I have been really giving one of their large end of their offerings (Rebel or Maverick) some consideration. Then I run into a friend that is all about the Gravely units, have a patient that runs a commercial lawn service on the side and he is all "Exmark is the way to go". Toward the end of last year his main boss bought a pair of the 8' bat wing Exmark mowers (has $$ out the whazoo and is keeping 34 acres mowed as a lawn). Patient says these mowers are unbelievable. Said he is unable to bog them down running wide open ground speed and that the discharge is some kind of impressive. As they cross water berms there is no gouging etc like they had with the pair of 72" units they were running before because the two side 2' sections articulate independent of the center 4'. I don't want/need a $40K mower though it would be nice to knock my 7 acres out in an hour or two.

I love my Bad Boy. I bought it used in 2014. It's a 2010 model with a 27 hp engine and 60" deck. I knew when I bought it that I wanted a Bad Boy and no other brand and I waited til I found one used that I could afford. Cousin Chris bought a used one at an auction in 2009 and it was old and abused. It worked and it worked well. Chris and his boys are hard on equipment and don't do much maintenance. Everything he has is pushed to the limit. I borrowed that mower to cut the 4 acres I lost in the divorce plus his 9 acres as repayment. It never had a problem other than routine maintenance and he is still using it today. I did commercial maintenance for a long time and have tried every brand made. The Bad Boy is a fuzz slower than an Ex Mark or Dixie Chopper, but at half to a third of the cost I'll never have another brand. The customer service is top notch if you ever need it. The commercial model Bad Boys at a dealership run about 1k$ more than the ones at tractor supply on the gas burners. Mine is tractor supply, Chris' is commercial. Nearly all parts interchange but his is a little heavier and has wider rear tires and a better seat. If I ever have to replace mine I'll go with the commercial model. The upgraded seat is nice and I'm trying to come up with a way to add wider tires to mine, or maybe mud grips. Back tires are really my only gripe

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Reactions: 2

Cliff731

· #12 · Jun 2, 2019

phillipd said:
I love my Bad Boy. I bought it used in 2014. It's a 2010 model with a 27 hp engine and 60" deck. I knew when I bought it that I wanted a Bad Boy and no other brand and I waited til I found one used that I could afford. Cousin Chris bought a used one at an auction in 2009 and it was old and abused. It worked and it worked well. Chris and his boys are hard on equipment and don't do much maintenance. Everything he has is pushed to the limit. I borrowed that mower to cut the 4 acres I lost in the divorce plus his 9 acres as repayment. It never had a problem other than routine maintenance and he is still using it today. I did commercial maintenance for a long time and have tried every brand made. The Bad Boy is a fuzz slower than an Ex Mark or Dixie Chopper, but at half to a third of the cost I'll never have another brand. The customer service is top notch if you ever need it. The commercial model Bad Boys at a dealership run about 1k$ more than the ones at tractor supply on the gas burners. Mine is tractor supply, Chris' is commercial. Nearly all parts interchange but his is a little heavier and has wider rear tires and a better seat. If I ever have to replace mine I'll go with the commercial model. The upgraded seat is nice and I'm trying to come up with a way to add wider tires to mine, or maybe mud grips. Back tires are really my only gripe

My neighbor recently bought a brand new Bad Boy zero-turn riding mower...

He's mowed my property with it a few times lately... and it was well worth the price he charged me at the time.

That Bad Boy zero-turn apparently handles steep inclines and grades much better than I would have guessed or anticipated.

My neighbor is a good man... with a wife and children... and he works steady, hard, and dependably. Young enough to easily be one of my sons.

I'm working on him, however, to do my best at convincing this young guy he really needs to wear some hearing protection when operating that Bad Boy mower.

Hearing loss is quite sneaky and cumulative...

Reactions: 4

DEADEYE 1

· #13 · Jun 2, 2019

On my Husquavarna ,I rebuilt the bottom with some spindles with a grease fittings built on the spindles; that I ordered from a place in Tennessee. Saved money and no problems yet. [Jack First] I think was the place.

Reactions: 2

Rusty C

· #14 · Jun 2, 2019

Cliff731 said:
My neighbor recently bought a brand new Bad Boy zero-turn riding mower...

He's mowed my property with it a few times lately... and it was well worth the price he charged me at the time.

That Bad Boy zero-turn apparently handles steep inclines and grades much better than I would have guessed or anticipated.

My neighbor is a good man... with a wife and children... and he works steady, hard, and dependably. Young enough to easily be one of my sons.

I'm working on him, however, to do my best at convincing this young guy he really needs to wear some hearing protection when operating that Bad Boy mower.

Hearing loss is quite sneaky and cumulative...

I agree Cliff. Years of shooting and heavy equipment before I realized that I needed protection has caused hearing loss

Reactions: 3

bucmeister

· #15 · Jun 2, 2019

phillipd said:
The upgraded seat is nice and I'm trying to come up with a way to add wider tires to mine, or maybe mud grips. Back tires are really my only gripe

Thank you for your feedback on the BB mowers. I too, see the factory tires as a weak spot on many of the ZT mowers BB included. That is one thing you can say for most Exmark units, good wide tires. BB now offers some really nice rear tires on the larger commercial units.

Leaning strongly toward a BB Rebel with 61" deck and likely the 36 hp Vanguard for the open ground that will be upgraded from bush hogging only 2 or 3 times per year to regular weekly or biweekly mowing.

Reactions: 1

rigrat

· #16 · Jun 2, 2019

Rusty C said:
I agree Cliff. Years of shooting and heavy equipment before I realized that I needed protection has caused hearing loss

What?

Reactions: 2

nonnieselman

· #17 · Jun 3, 2019

I worked with bearings quite a bit.
If you wanted to add a grease zerk to grease the bearings, your going to need a bearing with one sheild not a seal.
Sheild goes to the outside. Inside is open. So new grease can push out the old grease past the sheild.

Double sided Seals are 2RS on the Suffix of the part numbers.
RS is single sided seal
ZZ is double sided sheild
Z is a single sided sheild.

I just had an idea... Make some spindles with tapper rollers and see how long they last.

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