62D on-ramp fron wheels--need a zerk?

B8FISH · Apr 21, 2006

After using this deck for the first time today, and noticing that the front wheels on the deck seemed to stick a little, I went to check the grease on the shaft--no zerks, no grease, no nothin.. Anybody else with one of these notice this? Or does yours have grease zerks? I'm thinking of adding some--I would guess that I can just drill a hole, put in a self tapping zerk and then grease--please confirm.
B8fish

RollTideRam · Apr 21, 2006

I'll let you know when Mine comes in on May 8th. JC

Toolguy · Apr 21, 2006

It probably has sealed ball bearings. Adding a grease fitting will not help. The grease won't be able to get inside the bearings. The bearing/axle alignment is probably a little off. Try tapping on the axle and wheel with a small hammer and see if it loosens up. If not, I would call the dealer.

BloomingtonMike · Apr 22, 2006

Have you ran over this deck with anything heavy that could have caused problems with the wheels? Hmm.

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B8FISH · Apr 22, 2006

Nope--this was the first mowing. I should clarify that the wheels themselves rotate fine (and have a grease zerk), but the shaft they are attached to that rotates to compensate for turns etc, does not move as easily as i would expect. It does turn, and they straighten out after 5 yards or so, but I figured it should be straight after 5 feet?

Toolguy · Apr 22, 2006

Do the front wheels of your mower carry the weight of the mower or is the deck suspended from the tractor and therefore the front wheels act as anti scalp wheels? If the deck is suspended then there should not normally be much weight on the wheels. That could be why they slide. On the other hand, if they are carrying the full weight of the mower they should have thrust bearings and grease zerks or they won't last too long.

B8FISH · Apr 23, 2006

Thanks TG--the deck is suspended, but I have a lot of rolling terrain and the wheels tend to spend a lot of time on the ground with some pressure on them (at least one of them), and that's why I was thinking of adding zerks. I'll post elsewhere on how to add them.