Spindle

[5030]

Thankfully there are grease fittings already there

Just inspect the bearings to make sure that the grease seals are only on one side. Typically, sealed bearings come with seals on both sides which work in non critical not heavy load applications but don't work in mower spindles at all.

If there are 2 seals, remove one and place the side with the removed seal inward (or upward on the lower bearing) and inward (downward on the upper bearing). Remove any old grease from the housing and pump in fresh grease (with the spindle fully assembled) until new grease starts to show out of the lower bearing. It will most likley show there first, before the top bearing, but the grease in the filled cavity will migrate up into the upper bearing during operation anyway. Just pump in grease into the spindle cavity on a regular basis, I grease mine about ever 20 mowing hours.

Nice thing about my Kubota front mount mower is Kubota installs angled grease fitting that can be greased easily from the upper deck so no underneath is required and the center blade spindle is actually an oil filled gearbox that requires no grease at all, just 90 weight gear oil.

My wife's ZTR requires the under deck greasing however.

If you keep them greased and you installed good quality bearings, they will last as long as the mower lasts.

Most manufacturers never remove the grease seals from the spindle bearings when new and that is what causes premature failure.

 

[nyone]

Typically, sealed bearings come with seals on both sides which work in non critical not heavy load applications but don't work in mower spindles at all

Theres plenty of commercial grade ZTR mowers that dont have greasable spindles. Mine has almost 400hrs on it. Bought it used and hit things hard enough to stall the engine many times. Still have the original blades and spindles. However. I had a craftsman lawnmower that had greasable spindles and I had to stock a full set of spindles and blades every season because one rock and they shatter or bend.

 

[skipmarcy]

My Country Clipper has non-greasable, iron, rebuildable spindles. Don't know if the bearings are fully sealed or non-sealed and factory packed w/grease but at 578 hrs. of cutting they are still smooth as a baby's arse with the deck belt off. Any bearings that come sealed I usually carefully remove the seals and clean & regrease myself - have seen alot of sealed bearings with not enough grease from the manufacturer and/or grit left in from manufacturing - especially chinese bearings.

 

[WranglerX]

My JD's have greasable spindles, BUT it's next to impossible to get grease gun to connect with the zerk... Maybe next set I rebuild I will put on angle zerks....

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Great point about why some spindles have issues while others don't. The diameter of the spindle has a big impact. A thicker spindle shaft doesn't flex as easily.

 

[Dozernut]

Any of you guys have any experience rebuilding mower spindles?
I’ve got one out of three spindles possibly bad on my tractors mower.
Lots of up and down play that I don’t think any amount of tightening is going to fix. ( could be wrong)
What typically causes this kind of wear?
I’ll have to figure out how to remove the top 3 groove pulley first.
I’d assume some type of bearing puller maybe?
New one is 400 plus so I am motivated to save this one.
Here is a schematic from the parts manual
I’m gonna guess that these mower spindles don’t change much from one manufacturer to another

I have rebuilt 3 spindles on Kubota mowers. They are not hard, but you will need a puller for the pulley and good quality snap ring pliers to remove the snap rings on the top and bottom of the spindle. You will also need to order two roller bearings and two oil (grease) seals for the spindle. I would advise that you also get a new blade attachment bolt. The last rebuild I did was two weeks ago and parts ran around $200 per spindle. You might be able to source the bearings locally and maybe save a few bucks, but everything else will have to come from Kubota.