RCK60-24B bearing failure ??

[TresCrows]

Well, some people around here don't think I know what I am talking about but when I put it on the line I am rarely wrong--tell me?--was I right or was'n I wrong?
Like I said, the center spindle does not get grease to the bottom with normal greasing /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. My recommendation for ALL NEW decks of this type is to remove the blades and the dust cups and to pump grease into the zerks until you see it ooze out the bottom. I don't care how many pumps it takes, there is a large void in there and grease is not getting to the bottom area if you only pump in a few strokes /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. Once the void is filled I think that a few pumps every so often should do fine.

Yes, the RH spindle on my 60 inch MMM on my 2410 does have two zerks. J

 

[PowerMax]

Well, Junkman ... when you're right, you're right. I thought it sounded crazy, but I stand corrected. Now I have to take my deck off, remove the blades and dust cups and pump that baby full. I'm glad that this was brought to my attention. Thanks, guys.

>---> Jeff <---<

 

[Junkman]

Being right isn't as important as sharing information and helping others to preserve their investments. I don't want to be right (correct), but I do want to be informed and informing. I find it interesting that there are grease fittings under the caps when the blades are removed, because they are not shown in the parts breakdown nor the manual that came with my mower deck. I don't know if the spindle parts for the RCK60-24B is the same a RCK60B-22BX.

 

[Mahlon]

Now that I've read all of this, I wanna check the spindles on my RCK54-22BX. Strongly suspect that there's a high degree of commonality on these mower decks, esp. where the spindles are concerned.

I squirted a LOT of grease into mine yesterday & didn't see any come out of the spindle tops, so I'm worried.

regards,

Mahlon

 

[Henro]

Good job on finding/remembering that thread, Junkman.

First thing today I was planning on taking the deck off the bx anyway, so I'm going to flip it on its side, take the blades off and pump some grease in till I see it coming out the bottom! Hope I remember to count the pumps! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[JWE]

I have always applied 4-5 (per dealer instructions) pumps of grease to my spindles but I have never noticed grease oozing from the spindles. I plan to remove my deck before next cutting and pump grease until I see it comming out somewhere.

I talked to the dealer this morning and he said that they come from the factory full and that they check it before delivery. However, this is the same dealer that never adjusted the deck before delivery. The deck was WAY out of adjustment when I received it.

Are the dust caps easy to get off? Looks like they just pull off from the drawing (no tools needed).

John

 

[Ken_f]

I just took a small peice of wood and put it between the deck and the blade and took the blade bolt off. It was tight but not too bad. Once the blade was removed the cap comes right off.

I placed the deck on its side so I could work on both sides.

I called the dealer and told them what was up. Even with the deck 3 weeks out of warrenty they said that it would be covered. Perhaps they have seen this problem before ???

Ken

 

[JWE]

I've had my blades off 4 times but I don't remember the dust covers comming off at the same time. They may be glued on with grass juice! OR... maybe they did come off and I just don't remember. Could be a senior moment.

I sure hope that I find that mine are full of grease.

John

 

[Henro]

This morning I pulled the deck of my BX and tilted it up on its side and took the blades off one at a time.

When the blade is off the spindle cover slips right off and you can see grease come out when you put in from the other side (top).

In my case, the discharge side spindle showed no grease, but after six pumps it started coming out. The center spindle cover had some grease inside it, about two finger scoops worth, but it took seven pumps before I saw the new stuff come out. The final spindle took 8 pumps before I saw the first sign of grease.

Did not look for grease on the top. Ran out of time and had to do something else. The grease comes out the bottom so easy though that you would probably have to fill up the spindle cover before it would start being pushed out the top, or so I would guess anyway.

The spindle covers on my deck have a small hole in them, about 1/8 inch, I guess to let the grease bleed out if they get full.

Since receiveing the deck last summer I have been putting several pumps in the all the fittings each time I have it off...Guess that didn't hurt...

 

[TresCrows]

"I've had my blades off 4 times but I don't remember the dust covers comming off at the same time. They may be glued on with grass juice! OR... maybe they did come off and I just don't remember. Could be a senior moment."

Thye are probably stuck on with a bit of corrosion. Tap them off with a rubber mallet gently or knock them with the palm of your hand. There should be a wahser as well I believe. Then pump grease until you see it ooze out. Reinstall the dust cap etc in reverse. I use a torque wrench when reinstalling the blades, the value is in the MMM manual--a MMMM. This is what I have been doing since the first time I removed my deck after about 10 hours ops and found no grease. Now I just pump a few pumps every time I use it or 10 hours or so, whichever I remember to do. I expect my center bearing to fail prematurely since I used it for 10 or so hours--DRY. Oh well, in my third season now and the BX does not seem to share this problem or they had pumped it full of grease cuz all of it's spindles showed grease on the bottom--but I would check your BX's as well. J