Saving spindles

12 years ago

Have not had to buy a new spindle in years. The box store mowers,which I buy like a lot on this board,like to sell you a new spindle every 2 or 3 years if you do a lot of mowing, and the last one I did buy cost around $60. They use sealed bearings and put a grease fitting(like the expensive ones)to make you thing you are greasing the bearings,but the grease would have to be thin as water to leak into the sealed bearing. Now I replace the 2 bearings in each spindle around every 2 years.(I cut a lot of very hard grass) Its very easy and the bearings cost about $5 each at NAPPA. You cant always tell if they are going bad by sound,so every so often check the blades by checking for any up and down movement,any movement tells you its starting to go bad,but they will still cut for a month or so,but as they get worse,the worn bearing will wallow out the spindle. I did let one wallow a bit,but did tighten up the spindle enough by center punching it. Its been working now for 2 years and tighten it up a bit each time I replace bearings. About 6 months ago,I experimented with my Cub on one of the spindles,by replacing the bearing with only one seal. Since the spindle has a grease fitting and a very small hole just below the top bearing that emits grease when its full,I re grease it every month or so and so far has not needed any grease. Will let you know which bearing lasts the longest.

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Comments (3)

mownie
12 years ago
Yes, keep us posted on your results.
For the record, I always remove the seal/shield on the side of the bearing which faces toward the inside of the spindle.
And, I drill a couple of 1/16" holes in the seals that remain in place.
These "bleed holes" allow grease to positively flow out of the spindle space when you are pumping grease in.
Without the bleed holes, you stand a chance of having the grease pressure blow the seal out of its groove.
ollieduke
Original Author
12 years ago
mownie,how long have you be getting on the bearings by removing the top seal. Never thought about leaving the bottom seal off the top bearing,as wasn't sure there was enough pressure to lubricate them,since my spindle has a 1/8 hole just below the top bearing, which relieves some the pressure. Also never thought about blowing out the seal with too much pressure,so will look into drilling holes in the remaining seal. MY minds a blank as to what kind of baffle it has to keep dirt from entering the holes drilled in the seal. I have to mow a large area of bahai grass for my wife's dog agility coarse and since we have very heavy dew in the mornings,so with no rain,it still grows at least 1/2 inch every 2 days and is a tough grass to cut. Thanks for info.
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mownie
12 years ago
First ones I did that way 4 years ago, still going today.
a 1/16" hole is not going to compromise the bearing, if you grease them at least once a season or when you sharpen blades if you sharpen more than once a season.
On my personal decks, I usually grease once a month.
All the spindles I have dealt with have a sort of "lipped washer" where the lip kinda cups over the lower edge of the mandrel housing. That lip is like a labyrinth barrier against dirt and sand being ejected directly into any of the bleed holes I put into the seal.
Grease ejected out of the bleed holes fills the cup area and that layer of grease then also becomes part of the barrier system. Grease often if you really want to save the spindles.
I have always adhered to the old adage that grease is the cheapest thing ( thing, as in "parts") you can put on a machine.