Mower deck wash ?

[RandyT]

My atv has seen more water and swamps then dirt, has 7000 miles on it, and has the original bearings... people really over exaggerate bearing failure.

And I do repairs on ATV's and the like every year with far less miles than yours with mud inside of axle shafts, mud inside of differentials, An I have done more than a few differential rebuilds which even required ring and pinion replacement because the spline inside of the ring gear had been rusted out allowing the axle spline to slip on the ring gear spline.

Talk to your local ATV shops about having to rebuild differentials on less than 30 days old units with the bearings out.

 

[5030]

That 'deck' wash feature is flinging water at high velocity right into the spindles that have marginal seals at best in the first place and I bet when you are done 'deck washing' it, you put it away so the spindle innards that are wet, never have a chance to dry out.

Terrible option but in a another way a good one, because you'll be replacing spindles alot. Both my zero turns have it and I've never used it and never will.

 

[LittleBill21]

That 'deck' wash feature is flinging water at high velocity right into the spindles that have marginal seals at best in the first place and I bet when you are done 'deck washing' it, you put it away so the spindle innards that are wet, never have a chance to dry out.

Terrible option but in a another way a good one, because you'll be replacing spindles alot. Both my zero turns have it and I've never used it and never will.

if 10+ years is a lot, guess you got me, mine are still good, and get washed at least once a week. but thanks for let me know

 

[5030]

if 10+ years is a lot, guess you got me, mine are still good, and get washed at least once a week. but thanks for let me know

I will say I did use it ONE TIME years ago when they were new and all I got was 'grass cud' in the driveway I had to clean up.

 

[LittleBill21]

I will say I did use it ONE TIME years ago when they were new and all I got was 'grass cud' in the driveway I had to clean up.

LOL, what did you think it was going to do? magically disappear?

 

[5030]

LOL, what did you think it was going to do? magically disappear?

It has because I never used it again.

 

[LittleBill21]

It has because I never used it again.

Think about how much money you saved on spindles over the years..... prolly could buy a new tractor with all the cost savings.

 

[bmg88201]

And you believe a video where the guy drills a hole in the spindle housing for a weep hole that can allow water and other contamination inside the housing. Drives the shaft out with a hammer, and I know for a fact with that spindle the shaft is now bent. And then plies the seal out that easily and you think that grease can't get past it. And then says the overfilling will press the bearing out. maybe if he hadn't removed the inner seals, but in this case it now pops the outer seal out and create more issues than he fixed. And the housing doesn't have to be full of grease to do it. Just the resulting air pressure increase will pop out the seals. And then proceeds to tap the bearing back in with hammer where any body that sells bearings will tell you is a no-no because it can cause flat spots on the balls.

Murray conducted testing years ago where they put one color grease in the housing and another in the bearings, and then ran them for several hours and then removed the bearings from the housing and disassembled the bearings and determined that the two greases had mixed because the grease inside the bearing was a corresponding color of the two mixed greases.

Hmmmm, I got 650 hours on my X300 JD. I have gotten about 300 hours with my spindles then have to replace them. If the bearings are sealed then what good is the grease I put in the housing, just asking. I do rinse under my deck often, is that my downfall ? What is the best way to maintain my spindles? Thanks

 

[Richard001]

Wow, good thing we are not talking politics here or this thread would go on for 3 pages, OH wait is has !

 

[arto98607]

Have any of you folks installed a mower deck wash ? Does it work well ?

No need for "deck wash" installation with these type mowers.

PS. This was a photo of new replacement deck shell been installed and the rear middle "anti scalp" wheels were installed right after this photo was taken!

 

[RandyT]

Hmmmm, I got 650 hours on my X300 JD. I have gotten about 300 hours with my spindles then have to replace them. If the bearings are sealed then what good is the grease I put in the housing, just asking. I do rinse under my deck often, is that my downfall ? What is the best way to maintain my spindles? Thanks

The greaseable but sealed spindles are more of a convenience to people that want to grease their spindles, but in reality most people are doing more damage than good. The grease if added too quickly pressurizes the area between the bearings and creates a side loading effect on the balls. Basically tries to push the bearings out the housing,

Actually had a case several years ago with using an aftermarket spindle on an L120 that per the instructions was to pump 10 pumps into the spindle prior to installation. Replaced every one of those 10 hours after installation. Installed the new spindles without grease and they lasted several years.

With sealed bearing but greaseable spindles 3-4 pumps per year is adequate if you want to grease them at all.

 

[5030]

Wow, good thing we are not talking politics here or this thread would go on for 3 pages, OH wait is has !

If it was politics the 'hallowed one' would have closed it.

 

[5030]

The greaseable but sealed spindles are more of a convenience to people that want to grease their spindles, but in reality most people are doing more damage than good. The grease if added too quickly pressurizes the area between the bearings and creates a side loading effect on the balls. Basically tries to push the bearings out the housing,

Actually had a case several years ago with using an aftermarket spindle on an L120 that per the instructions was to pump 10 pumps into the spindle prior to installation. Replaced every one of those 10 hours after installation. Installed the new spindles without grease and they lasted several years.

With sealed bearing but greaseable spindles 3-4 pumps per year is adequate if you want to grease them at all.

Yes and no... If you take your spindles out of the deck and take them apart and remove the bearings and pop the inner dust seals, the regular greasing will prolong the life of the bearings and that is exactly what I do. What eats my bearings up is the plastic bailer twine I run over in the yard. That stuff will destroy a bearing in short order.

I grease mine until I see grease oozing out from under the metal caps on each end of the spindles.

 

[RandyT]

@5030 A lot of people don't have that luck by removing the inner seals. Because they do exactly like I said and pop out the outside seals overgreasing, and then they fail shortly after or over grease the sealed bearings and pressure side load and they fail quickly . And baler twine is a major nemesis for bottom bearings.

 

[5030]

Tell me about it. Only takes a tiny bit and the lower bearings are shot. I only remove the inner seals, never the outer seals. Most pre assembled spindles have inner and outer seals intact so greasing the spindles really does nothing. First thing I do when replacing a spindle assembly and I've done a few thanks to poly bailer twine is take them apart and remove both inners. Planned obsolence.

 

[stuckmotor]

I installed a wash port about two weeks ago. Couldn't find a suitable step drill to put a hole in the deck and had to go with a large twist drill with a reduced shank. My mind must have wandered at the worst possible time because the bit hung twisting my hand around further than it was designed to go. My thumb hurt to the elbow and my elbow hurt to the shoulder. They feel much better now, but in the confusion, I forgot where I left the female coupling to hook on the hose and can't say how it works until I find it.

 

[Cycledude]

Kind of surprised to hear of so many spindle failures, I’ve mowed quite a bit and never had a spindle fail or talked to anyone that did.

 

[RandyT]

Some of the better commercial mowers that run sealed spindle bearings have higher quality bearings that are rated for 500 hours or more. Consumer box store mowers not so much. The biggest issues with spindles more so in the home owner models is stuff getting wrapped around the shaft damaging the seal on the bottom, and hitting known or unknown objects that unbeknown to the owner put micro bends in the spindle shaft while causes wobble and side loading of the bearings which also leads to failure.

 

[panamaguy]

I was a welder/machinist all my life until I retired and in my opinion he is not giving bad advise. And you saying you know for a fact the shaft is bent tells me you do not know what you are talking about.

 

[ljjhouser]

Wow! I never wash my mower deck. What a discussion. not 3 but 4 pages. I didn't there were so many VALID considerations about this, but I have learned a lot. By the way, I don't have land in the Ozarks flat enough to mow. And since it is in STONE county, there is no grass. Only stones. That is why I have no mower to wash. Still, learned a lot if I ever do.