mowcub
Member
I have a GT2550. Anyone else experienced bearing failure on the double sheave idler pulley? I began hearing a high pitch whine last season even though I had greased all the pulleys, I gave them another shot and it changed the sound a bit so I knew it was a bearing. I could not tell which pulley. So over the winter I dropped the deck and removed the belt. It was easy to tell which one was the problem once I could spin them by hand. So the idler pulley has two bearings that are only sealed on the outer face. The open side is supposed to be fed grease by one nipple in the center of the pulley shaft which is hollow between the bearings. Well I think the grease tends go to the bottom bearing and does not get forced to the top. The top bearing was bad. The bottom wasn't far behind as it had some rough spots as well. The bearings are not pressed in. In fact they fit rather loose in the pulley. Not a big problem unless they bind and start to turn in the pulley. Mine showed no signs of that. So the bearings are a 40mm OD for a 5/8" shaft and 12mm wide. I bought two sealed bearings as a replacement and installed them. So far, it is the quietest my deck has ran since new. Hopefully they will hold up and not overheat. The other idler pulley has a sealed bearing. Any thoughts? BTW the MTD OEM bearings are about $15 each and I bought 2 sealed ones for a total of $7.24. They are identical in size and also made in China. I might find a better quality one if they work OK.