Don’t trust the “Experts” Grease your mower deck sealed spindle bearings Common sense maintenance.
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- Опубліковано 28 тра 2021
- In this video I test the theory of bearing seals preventing grease from entering a bearing. I show a bearing before and after greasing a deck mandrel assembly and prove that grease does penetrate into the bearings. as a side note, consider getting a locking grease fitting for your grease gun. They are worth every penny and will stop the gun from coming off the fitting. one of my top 10 best tools in the shop and i use it every day. here is the link to the one i use. amzn.to/3cWBkYA its absolutely impossible for a inner seal on mandrel bearing to prevent pressurized grease from penetrating into the bearings. a grease gun can exert 1,000 to 5,000 PSI. hand held grease guns are extremely powerful. the actual pressure passing through the assembly is relatively low and only a fraction of what can be exerted but my point is that the seal / shield can not stop pressure and grease will pass. I would rethink any advice given from a “mower
Mechanic” that is trying to tell you that greasing a deck spindle / mandrel / bearing housing will not Benefit your bearings because of a light duty dust seal / shield that is not capable of stoping grease From passing. Why not test it for yourself if you don’t believe me. But hey, here is a video that can save you time money and iv done the work to show the results. Rather than just blabber on about a theory that I have not tested, I Actually get dirty and show the proof. I highly recumbent buying a locking grease fitting. its something i wish i would have known about a long time ago. the regular style grease fittings pop off with even a small movement or putting the connection at a slight angle but with a locking connection it will save grease and also makes it so you don't have to hold the grease coupling on the zero. now i have both hands to work the gun and I don't waste grease or get greasy. here is also a link for the deck repair rings as i have installed in some of my other videos in case you came from watching one of those videos here is a link the MTD / cub cadet style deck repair rings amzn.to/3oGQeok . and here is a link to the john deere 100 series deck repair rings. amzn.to/3OF3Ta5 .
one of the best common sense mower tips i have seen in a long time.... grease and oil is the life of any mower ,,,PERIOD !
Thanks for the coment. So many people want to
Argue over something that seems like it should not even need to be explained. Always glad to see a coment like
Yours. Thanks a lot!
Finally some common sense, factual and concise advise. No fluff. Strait forward and proven, mate you are a legend. Cheers!
I need to consult with you before I title any future video, your comment was worded great. The last part is pushing it but hay I’ll take any positive feed back I can get.
I would agree Legend
Good job!
yep
That was the best explanation WITH hands on proof! Awesome video!
I always have said a good laugh or learn something new is a great day. At 70 I learned something new about sealed bearings. Precise and to the point, well done !
Thanks for showing support and leaving a comment. Appreciate you good sir.
It's funny, but I never thought that grease would pass by the seals ... but after seeing your great video, it all makes perfect sense. Thanks for sharing!
Appreciate the comment. I worked on mowers for many years before I figured it out. I use to
Dismantle the deck and grease bearings
Individual because I didn’t trust that grease was making it into
The bearings.
Great video. You de-bunked a lot of other videos on UA-cam who said that these sealed bearings don't get greased. Once again, great video.
Hey Russ,
Excellent,factual explanation that has changed my mind by simply proving it. I have several John Deere riding mowers
and have disassembled both decks and rebuilt after your other videos you have made that I consider valuable tutorials.
It’s amazing that Amazon sells spindle bearings with inner covers removed based on info that people perceive is correct,
but your comment about those seals are dust covers says it all and educated me on the facts.
Doing your work for a living,and having exposure to problems/solutions is invaluable.
To your credit,I really enjoy your “No Nonsense “ approach. Thank you!
Thanks, I appreciate the comment and glad to know it’s helpful. I don’t know many tips to help in life but if I come across something I think needs to be shared I try to make a video and get it out there. I lean on you tubers that are experts in their field to help me with tings I don’t know as much about. We can all help each other. Can’t tell you how many times Iv figured out how to fix something on my trucks just checking for a UA-cam video first. Lol
@@GTObearclaw1 Yes...you help and others Help and it makes a better world for those who like to help themselves.
nice job proving that point.
@@GTObearclaw1 never knew I could fix so many things until I began searching UA-cam from vehicles lawn mowers washers dryer fridges wells shit you can even find videos to make your junk few extra inches in girth and length Lmao 🤣 cheers
@@caseG80 you took that in a interesting direction. Right off the road into the ditch. Lol
I have opted to by new bearings for spindles before and would pop one seal off and fill it sufficiently with grease , install the seal and finish the assembly to get back to cutting grass
Even if the inner seals do allow some grease to leak in when grease pressure is high enough (i.e. when it is being pumped in by a grease gun) I still think the inner seals are going to restrict the free flow of grease. If you are going to fill the spindles with grease it makes sense to remove the inner seals so that grease can easily flow to the inside of the bearings..
The seals can’t stop any grease from passing when using a grease gun, as for in normal operation, grease would not be moving around inside the assembly anyways. Only the grease inside the bearings would move a little as bearing rotates. As for the bottom bearing grease will eventually migrate down and into that bearing. But the upper bearing would have the opposite effect and grease would eventually migrate down away from upper bearing without a grease gun pumping grease back up to it, unless of course the inner seal was in place. Grease can easily pass up past the inner seal with pressure from grease gun but gravety alone can’t overcome the lip of the seal. Just leave all the seal and greased the assembly once in a while. Bearings last forever. No need to take things apart or overthink it. Just try it. Won’t regret it. Hard to say removing inner seals on both would be a positive. As it would negatively effect the upper bearing as much or more than it would help the lower bearing. It takes very little pressure to push past those super week seals. But no grease and or gravity cant work past the seals without some pressure behind the grease. Not only will
Some grease pass the seals. The bearings will
Receive more grease than necessary. You should see how little grease is in some new bearings. It would probably shock you. Some of my videos show that. But back to topic. Removing Inner seals make no difference in how much grease will get to the bearings. And removing them
Is a waste of time. That’s a huge point to touch on. Because dismantling a deck just to
Remove those seals is ignorant. Just meaning Becasue the person doesn’t know better and just things it will make
A Diffrence. But actually they can do more bad than good by taking everything apart for no
Reason. Other than thinking it matters and having a warm fuzzy feeling. Yea it won’t necessarily hurt anything to
Remove the inner seals but it won’t help anything either. Think
About it man. Why would every manufacturer leave the inner seals? Simple, Because they don’t matter in the slightest. Your letting a flimsy rubber seal Give you mental block. The grease will only pass the seal while being pumped, that’s never been an argument of mine. A few pumps and good to go for many many hours of operation. Even without seals in place, you would still need to pump more grease when it’s time for the next
Service, and then some fresh grease would push into
The path of the bearings. But really a full
Bearing from
The first greasing will
Already be a leap forward from what the factory provided when the bearing was brand new. That first proper greasing already added many hours more life to
The bearing even if it’s never greased again. That first greasing did the most good. Super super simple. Stuff but working on this stuff makes it easer to
See for someone who has done it hundreds of times. For folks that haven’t actually been into decks and seen failures of bearings under 100 hours, they just have to imagine processes. And it’s hard to imagine what’s not been seen. very basic stuff but hands on knowledge is a big help. Some folks
Way over think this. A little grease goes a very long way for
This application. Like
Grease once a season for home owner machines, could make
Your bearings last forever. Huge difference over most folks just running forever without grease and taking them to failure. If no grease is ever added that’s not smart. Also dismantling a deck to remove a few inner seals is not smart in my opinion. Especially considering it can be argued that the upper seal holds grease into
The upper bearing. Gravity will
Surely pull grease to the bottom of assembly especially after it warms up on a summer day inside a assembly with fast moving parts adding more heat the the situation. But that little pesky inner seal is there to kick gravity in the butt and support it’s buddy and keep the grease right where it needs to be. folks feel like something works one way and say “I still think” well, stop thinking you know it and test the process. Then you won’t have to think you know something that you haven’t tested. Sometimes thinking about a process doesn’t play out in your brain the way it works in real lie. Test the processes, You will
Actually know what your talking about. That’s exactly why I walked through this process step by step rather than post a video of myself telling folks how I think it works. I posted a video of how I know
It works. Learned from years of trying different things and figuring it out for myself when I didn’t even know I was figuring it out. I was just trying to stop the bearings from failing so soon. Once I finnly realized what’s going on and seen other numb nuts posting bogus information I could not just sit back and let it go unchecked. I’m
Not saying I’m a pro or the expert. I’m
Saying test this for yourself and don’t trust the experts especially if they tell you not to grease these bearings. I’m
Not here to get input so I can learn how this application works, Iv figured it out. It might be one of the few things I really understand. That’s why I shared. And one reason I don’t try to share 1000
Videos. Those guys that do that, are either really smart or not really an expert on anything. Just here for views and giving mediocre advice. I may only post a few videos but when I post one, you can bet I’m not just here to get views. I could care less
@@GTObearclaw1
Kinda depends on the nature of that grease and its tempture range as to how much flow you get with gravity dosnt it?
Some grease don't get liquidity from high heat and spindles don't generate a lot of heat or do they?
And no berrings dont last forever .
@@bobbg9041 as for heat from
The spindle / bearings. That could all
Depend on the conditions of the bearing, is grass packed around the housing holding in heat and blocking the air from circulating around the housing as designed? Lots of factors to consider as well
As the type of grease.
And as far as bearings lasting forever, if the bearing lasts longer than the machine as a whole, that’s forever enough for me. A well greased bearing could easily last as long as some of the cheep tractors they sell now days. Couldn’t even tell you how many machines I part out because they are so far gone and not worth getting back to operating condition.
@@GTObearclaw1 thank you!
@Woodchuck Russ the Deck Dr it's only a grease fitting you don't need to make a documentary out of it put some grease in it and keep on mowing DUH
One of the first jobs my dad had me do on my first vehicle was to greese the wheel bearings. He was a mechanic all his life. It was pretty satisfying 😌. I may be weird now I'm in my late 60s my grand kids are going to learn how to grease everything there is. I even put zirk fittings in my suspension parts that the car companies don't anymore. Thanks for the video. All least in bit trying to get grease outta my fingernails. Smart using this gloves
Thanks for the comment
I
Don’t think your weird. I think it’s weird that we can’t het zerks on our cars anymore. Lol
He's VERY smart using hearing protection for "Merely Hammering out a Bearing" TOO !
Thank you it nice to see someone actually do the experiment and put all the naysayers to rest. Really really appreciate the time you took to make this video 🙂
Thanks, always appreciate a positive comment. Funny a few folks are still arguing and commenting on how this process does not actually work. 😂
@@GTObearclaw1 I Don't know what more evidence a person needs. People are weird LoL thanks again
Oh crap! Smack me up the head. I've been pitching a bitch on sealed bearings on my Landpride mower, and why the hell would they put in a zerk fitting if bearings are sealed! I'm going to keep my mouth shut, and thank you for informing us of your test. I'm gonna pump the heck out of my grease gun and fill those new sealed bearings this morning. THANK YOU A TON! Give this guy a THUMBS UP for his hard work in putting ths educational video together for us!!! THUMBS UP!! Hit that thumb, guys!
Thanks
Good luck with your machine!!
Thanks for the comment.
They are “capped” not “sealed” bearings. 2 different animals that most know it alls don’t have a clue about. Great video
In my first employment I often lubricated "sealed" bearings in small motors by forcing grease in by hand. This video is spot on. Recently I pumped grease into the spindles on my 54 inch deck until grease oozed out through the bearings. I guarantee they are well lubricated and it didn't require removal of the seals. Glad I found this video. It proves I was right.
Thank you for making this video. I am aware that the blade spindles have grease zerks on my 42" deck but after watching various you tube channels I anticipated having to pull my deck off, remove the blades and the upper and lower bearings, removing a top and bottom rubber seal and then repacking the bearings before re assembly. Then filling the spindle with grease. I watched you're video twice and then went out to the garage and proceeded to grease the two blade assemby's. Worked just the way you described. I only needed 40 pumps on one side and less than that on the other side. Visible grease was observed so I knew that grease was where it should be. Thank you so much for making this video, you have saved me a tonne of time and unnecessary dollars. I have had this JD tractor for a number of years and I've had the unpleasant pleasure of paying for service from a JD Dealership.
Nice. Thanks for the comment and I am glad it helped you get your deck serviced.
' so I knew that grease was where it should be.'
Realize, for the seals the outer edge presses into the outer race. The seal to the inner race hub is where the tiny gap is so it can spin.
Force press grease into the bearing, it almost 100% goes in through that inner hub gap. Goes past the bearing balls, and out the other side seal inner hub gap.
You may be replacing only a very small amount of grease actually between the seals, and most of what exits coming from the new grease simply blowing by from one seal gap to the other seal gap.
Did tons of bearing maintenance for my RC helis in the 1990's and 2000's, if you want to replace all of that grease the only efficient way is to take the seals off.
Even some new grease is much better than none, and for the convenience doing that may still be fine. Just realize you're probably only doing maybe 20 percent replacement with the seals staying on, not 100 percent. The outer grease just stays there when pushing by the seals like that.
Another idea is on the top side seal, use a syringe and inject grease through the seal from near the outer edge. That will actually replace much more of the grease in that area by going in from the outer edge, pushing through, and then out near the inner edges. Do that in 3 or 4 spots around the seal and you will have replaced most of the grease inside.
Quite a bit more hassle and probably not remotely worth it for just mower deck bearings. But injection pays off on some equipment where you really need to replace almost all the grease with new, but bearing and seal removal would cost a fortune.
@@ModelLights I do agree exactly with how the grease moves through the bearing. The fact that some folks don’t get it just shows me they don’t understand the way these bearings are made. It’s really not as complicated as some folks think. changing out old grease for new has never been a concern for me. If a bearing goes a long time before it receives new grease, the old grease will harden and stop moving around and has never bothered me even when I completely dismantle a deck assembly I always add more but never worry about removing the old. If there are issue that would cause the need to remove old grease, that would also justify just replacing the bearings as they most certainly already operated with the debris in contact with the moving parts. Adding more is all that’s needed 99.9% of the time in my opinion. Completely cleaning and or changing the grease might give some folks a warm fuzzy feeling and by all means go for it. But I’m not interested in wasting time on that. I have plenty more important things to do. I have videos showing using a grease needle but even that won’t push out old grease unless the bearing is well maintained and already filled with grease in good condition and not hardened.
You guys are causing me a lot less stress going into spring! Om getting ready to remove and clean my 42" deck, and really wasn't feeling much like tearing into the bearings .... BUT bearings do bother me, never knowing if there's grease in there or not. Now I know how to be sure without the added hassle. I'm 75 and facing hip surgery! Lol
@@robertbowling8393 just keep them greased and as long as they are full of grease you should have a lot less issues. Thanks for the comment
Excellent video , I Refurbish & tinker on the side now for 4yrs. I usually would just remove the seals , pack , & reinstall. Seeing you're video puts it into perspective now, I shall continue w this method for MANY applications !
Just what i was looking for on greasing my JD that i got last year. Nice to see when somebody states their case and then clearly and thoroughly proves it and doesnt waste one single second of my time doing it! I wish i got this much value out of every video 8 watched!
Thanks, I think it’s vital information And nobody else seemed to be offering the truth. I’m glad you find it useful and thanks for taking time to leave a comment.
Another guy reminded me that the front wheels have a void and also need to be filled before grease pushes past the bushings to provide adequate Lube and I’m thinking this could be a good topic. I like to find things that are not well covered elsewhere. I’ll have to investigate and see if it’s out there.
I did not think the grease would penetrate the spindle seal bearings. You proved me wrong. I was taking the seal covers off and hand filling the bearings and replacing seals. You saved me a lot of work. Thankyou hero.
Thanks for this video. At 57 yrs old I bought my first new rider last year. Gonna really try and take care of it. This helped increase my knowledge on spindle maintenance. 👍
God luck and glad you can ride and mow!!! Thanks for the comment.
So glad you're back! Your videos are the best education for DYI'ers like myself....Thanks!!
I got away from making videos because I’m so busy fixing stuff in my spare time but after seeing donyboys video telling folks the grease seals stop grease from getting the the bearings I felt it would be a good idea to show the truth. I like doing videos and need to get back into it. Just hard to find topics that are not overdone.
@@GTObearclaw1 Even very experienced people like Donyboy73 can be in error sometimes. I've learned a lot from him, but I always bookmark UA-cam creators who are experts in specific areas like you, in mower decks. Thanks very much for all your expertise.
@@Rein_Ciarfella thanks. Yes you are 100% correct. I believe he does have many great videos but when I reached out to talk specifically about the video he posted on this topic he lost a lot of respect from me because of how he chose to handle it. He is not one bit interested in finding the truth for his viewers and stubbornly stuck on his conclusion without considering he could be wrong and misleading many people. Once it was brought to his attention he should do right and test the theory.
@@GTObearclaw1
Oddly, just a few minutes ago I sent your video link to Steve (Small Engine Saloon) to get him to dispel that myth in his current 30-day series of viewer questions and myths because he also believed it wasn’t possible and published a video about it. Argh! We’ll see! 😉
Awesome video! Thanks for proving your theory! I will always and forever grease those spindles to the max. 👍🏻
you won't regret it, thanks for the comment.
Thank you for this video. My manly intuition told me that grease would get past the "seals", but that manly intuition dropped the ball by not warning that the cavity needed to be FULL of grease. I believe you have saved me a repair that I did not want to undertake.
Did your intuition tell you what happened to the pieces of seal you hydraulically smashed into the bearing from the inside?
@@twosencefromcleveland6084 nothing like that happens. You obviously think you know more about the process than you actually do. But if you care to put in some effort to prove that can happen I’d love to see your proof. Unlike you I create videos to prove my point. I don’t just run my mouth about theory that I can’t prove.
It
Works just fine. Try it and see. Love to hear how it goes. It has worked for
Me on every single assembly Iv greased. Unless the unit has existing issues this works great. Don’t listen to meatheads that think they know everything but can prove nothing.
I have saved quite a few sealed bearing using my needle greaser until I see grease coming out in several locations , but you are very correct in your video !
Love my grease needle. Well at least until they break. But they are cheep enough. Now I really love the grease needles Even more because I found out about the lock and lube tips. Those are awesome for grabbing and hood grease needles and can release them without breaking.
I've seen several other guys saying no need to grease spindles or just 3 pumps because bearings are sealed but I remembered this video from last year you did that actually proved you really need to grease them heavily. I'm glad I listened to you! Thanks for doing this video! 👍
Lots of clowns making videos on this topic who dont have a clue what’s really happening. Lol, 3 pups will barely get any in there and would never reach a bearing. What a joke. I can’t even watch anymore of those videos. Just want to reach through and shake those guys. Thanks for the comment
Great informative video! I've been doing this for years in my lawn equipment repair shop I also do all trailer hubs when there are no bearing buddies,ie pack the housing and as temperature increases with driving,grease expands,thus keeping bearings greased!
Well if it's already full of grease 3 pumps might be beneficial if you are doing it often. If there is no grease in there then 3 won't do much.
@@dpeagles precisely. After all these years of fixing decks I can count on one hand the few Iv seen that had the mandrels filled. I don’t know if I mentioned it in the video but yes after the assembly is filled the next time will only require a few pumps before grease should become visible. So you are correct.
Great research. Thanks for the work! I’m replacing my spindles, hit a chunk of fossilized coral (turned to dust) and now affects operation. So, I’ll be sure FILL the bearings and spindle cavity(s) with new grease. I’ll leave the seals in place.
I could have used this information 7 or 8 years ago but it's not to late. Thank You very much.
Thanks Russ from Australia. I just love that you showed everything in realtime.
Well, I did cut a lot of stuff out to try and shorten the video. But I left a lot in as well because I think seeing the process is vital for folks who don’t fully grasp the concept. Thanks for your comment. Good to see folks find the information useful.
Thanks for this video. You helped me rethink the whole sealed bearing debate. I will start greasing my spindles more heavily instead of not so often.
Hope you find it to be helpful and good advice
Thanks
I've been greesing sealed mower deck bearings for decades even when they don't have a grease zirk . I simply drill a w hole between bearings and thread a grease zirk in to the whole . Once the bearing is sllightly warn , so is the seal. Which allows grease to be pushed in. I have mower decks that are 25 . old that where never meant to be greased that are still working for me
@@paulsmith5339 smart man, your one of a few who put in the effort and see the benefit. As for the bearings or seals needing to be worn, even a new bearing with tight seal can not stop pressurized grease From The grease gun. I recommend even greasing new bearings if the cheeper bearings are used. Iv pulled the dust shield off new bearings and found almost no grease. Sometimes they are packed full. I recon it just depends on the bearing or manufactures but I always add more if the bearing is not already filled. It doesn’t hurt to add grease. Seems like you already know. I appricate the comment.
@@GTObearclaw1 I grew up on a farm. I learned at an early age greese and oil is the life blood a of any machine . Even on a cheap sealed bearing mower deck thats at least 2 years old or even a sealed bearing piece of farm machinery . Drill a hole , put in a grease Zirk, and pump it full of grease. We've had sealed bearings that the seals where bad last 40 years.
Your dealer thanks you in advance.
Thanks for the detailed video. I can see where people have concerns about the bearings not receiving any new grease with a seal. The different type of material that the seals are made of makes sense. One rigid , one flexible to allow grease to flow. It is a design that needs improvement since this is a question of contention. I had a Marty J mower and the spindle bearings and grease port worked great! I had that machine for years and I mowed 5 acres weekly.
Thanks for the comment, I always appreciate someone taking time to leave a positive comment. As for the design needing improvement, I think they work exactly as designed and the main issue I see is the lack of information from the manufacturer on properly adding grease to service the units. It seems as if they want us to avoid the servicing of the bearings so they will fail and cause owners to need repairs or Replacement of mower.
Spot on Russ! Just run across this video. It makes me chuckle and giggle. Basically, grease fittings on these types of mandrels is pointless, false or useless. By the time a person that would grease their mandrels on a regular basis, the bearing would be worn out before they would have or might have enough grease in the mandrel to have an effect. In fact, there is a lot of equipment out there that have this kind of stuff. Most mandrels I've seen that have a grease fitting and have dismantled, didn't have a speck of grease in them from the factory. I'm glad there are people like you, making the public aware of this atrocity. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the comment. I believe if folks knew to grease them till
They were filled the first time they add grease then from that point forward they only need to hit it with a few pumps on future services. But we have to get that mandrel filled before grease will ever be able to fill the void and unless inner seals are removed the grease can’t reach bearing until
Cavity is filled and it can build enough pressure to slip past seals. I was sad to see some folks posting videos telling folks not to even bother greasing and that’s sad because they should be adding grease, but they just need to know the first time will take more grease to get them filled. After that it’s smooth sailing. But as you stated most have never had a grease gun attached and I see the same thing. Most mandrels have absolutely no grease inside so nobody has even tried. And as I’m sure you know sealed bearings don’t necessarily mean they can go a long time without grease added. Yea some might last a long time but not all can. And Iv seen bearings fail in under 100 hours.
I just got a secondhand Yardman and noted all three blades are nearly seized. I really appreciate your video as I had no idea how to service and maintain the deck. Thanks from Australia!
Good luck and hope the best for ya. Thanks for the compliment. Get that bad boy fixed up!!!
You know, the proof is in the pudding! Great job and very convincing because your made your case. I never doubted for a minute. I suppose I need a bigger grease gun now.
My Encore Professional Grade had
NO grease fittings on the shaft flange at all !!
After 3 seasons , I took them off , installed grease fittings & new bearings & filled them with grease just as you recommend . It makes perfect sense !!
Thanks for the comment.
I get a kick from the guys saying it’s a waste of time and better just to replace the bearings when they go bad. Why the heck not just keep
Them
Greased and save all the hassle latter down the line? It’s been working great for me so I’ll keep greasing mine.
Thank for this. Doing maintenance on church lawnmower this spring, and this is exactly what I was wondering
I've seen a few videos where it was said that you didn't have to, and one where the guy's spindles didn't have any Zerks, so he drilled, threaded, and installed his own. I've always greased mine because I couldn't think of a good reason for not doing it, especially if the zerks are there, they must be there to be used, however, I never filled them as much as you did, not realizing why they probably should be. I will from now on. Thanks!
Once you know that is fully greased it will just take a few pump the next tine.
Perfect and concise video showing exactly what I’ve always thought about. Thank you, nice job. Besides, any guy with a Hilti shirt is ok by me. 👍🏻
Thanks Russ, great video, very informative and dispels the myth of no grease getting to the sealed bearings.
Glad I watched this, i just watched a video yesterday saying the zerks were pointless because of the inner seals, so they say either remove the inner seals so grease will reach them or take the spindle apart and pack the bearings by hand. You just proved them wrong and by doing so will save me time. Thx!
Thanks for the comment. The main motivation for making this video was because every video I found on the topic have the crappy advance like you just said you found. I knew those guys were wrong and they are misleading thousands Possibly millions of people by providing that garbage advice. They are absolutely 100% wrong and I felt like someone needed to try and show the truth. Also the reason for the title of the video. Thanks again for the comment.
Awesome. Glad to see someone put this to the test
Really? Just a bunch of fuss about nothing. My John Deere 155c with 48" deck was bought new June of 2006. 3 of the exact same spindles as shown and I do about 8 shots of grease per spindle every spring. So that's 16 years, 690 hrs. on the meter and those spindles will probably do 1 more year. That's also mowing a rough farm yard banging into tree roots and what not. The spindles and bearings owe me nothing but the bearings can be changed for what $20 per spindle or I believe a brand new spindle from J.D. is about $55. Big deal. Not much to grease on cars anymore and joints last longer than back when you could grease them. There's more important things to worry about than spending time trying to alter bearing housings or bearing seals as some suggest. Belts, 3 batteries, blades, both deck idler pulleys ( no grease zerk there either ) and just now easily putting in a steering pinion /sector kit with nylon bushings that some worry about. John Deere didn't make a cheap, throw away mower as some comment. That's very little repairs for that many years and hours.
Interesting video. I'm currently replacing one spindle on a John Deere due to it being bent. I watched several videos that suggested removing the inner seals so grease can get to the bearing. I questioned that because I don't think the seals are providing much of a seal and your video shows that I was right.
He came to the correct conclusion but he didn't mention why and I suspect he doesn't know. That grease gun he is using would pump 5000psi or more, lever grease guns are usually 8000 to 10000psi and can go to 15000psi. No run of the mill sealed bearing will stop that kind of pressure.
@@mrsock3380 I’m aware and this information is available as I looked it up to find out. It blows my mind that these other so called mower repair guys posting videos can be so closed minded. As soon as they hear seal they seem to have a mental block. Folks need to use there brain and question the theory especially from guys posting videos who just ramble on about how something will or won’t work but don’t bother to prove it. They just want the glory of making a video. And some guys have awesome quality videos but offer bad information.
@@GTObearclaw1 no doubt. Someone who was supposedly a Ford mechanic told me torque specs for lower intake manifold on a 2004 Mercury sable duratec was 21 ft lbs. Broke one bolt while torquing to that then two more getting the others off to remove the broken bolt and then found out there's no after market producer for those bolts and a Ford dealership said there was only 4 left company wide for that specific model year and they were $200 a bolt.
Afterwards found out from other forums the torque was supposed to be 89 inch lbs which is a far cry from 21 foot lbs.
Thank you Russ for going through this thoroughly and explaining to everyone so they understand.
Purely common sense...if there's a bearing there must be grease! Period! This pre-sealed garbage is due to engineered obsolescence, everything nowadays is made to fail much sooner, and of course, purposely. How can parts companies sell you replacement parts or moreover, an entire new unit when they don't fail due to old school engineering? Think about this...look at all the after-market parts companies in business today! There were never that many, 50-60 years ago we really never heard of "after-market replacement parts", just OEM or remanufactured parts. It's disgusting! That's why major kitchen and laundry appliances fail in short order. I have a 36-year-old KitchenAid washer AND LP gas dryer in the tack room in the barn, use it every week for my really dirty bibs and rags, never had to do a damn thing to it yet! 36 years old! You'd be hard pressed to get 1/4 to 1/3 the life out of something similar today!
Look at "sealed" batteries, even the front bearings I put on my Infiniti were "sealed".
I like the fella above that installed grease zerks where there were none, we do that here too on occasion when we maintain our equipment.
Again, thank you Russ. Your channel is what youtube should be...I did subscribe as well.
Thanks for the comment and I totally agree with you sir. Stuff is made to fail these days. The fact folks argue about this topic shows that plenty of us have been brainwashed and no longer thinking for ourself. I love the comments about the manufacture would tell us if these cheep box store model machines needed grease in the deck mandrels. Lol, They haven’t for years so why would they start now. I won’t hold my breath.
Good point, I need to say I was always under the impression that sealed bearings were just that, sealed. Apparently not! Thx! Nice job brother!
I am so glad you covered this. Seals on standard bearings can extend the life because they keep dirt out but the seal does not prevent grease from passing into it. This no grease sealed bearing myth started when electric motor manufacturers figured out that grease guns had so much pressure they were pushing grease completely through the bearing and into the motor windings which caused overheating and electrical failure. Many motor manufacturers switched to, no grease, sealed bearings and removed the grease fitting. A spindle bearing can not be over-greased. Excess grease will squeeze right through the seals and out of the housing. The #1 concern when greasing is to wipe the grease fitting clean so the new grease does not push dirt into the bearing. The other myth is that the grease is the lubricant when it is actually the oil within the grease that does the lubricating. Bearings will quickly overheat when rolling through thick grease but as long as the grease can be expelled, the elevated temperature makes the oil come out of the thickener and within a few seconds it will cool down. Another tip I have learned is that a few squirts of oil directly on top of the housing where the shaft goes through will slowly penetrate into the bearing below. My spindles have no grease port and I used this trick when the bearing got hot and loud. I oiled it with chain saw bar oil every time I used the mower and after 6 times the bearing got quiet and quit heating up. Oil is your friend. Many seized-up motors can be revived with a good oil soaking directly on the motor shaft so it drains into the bearing. Light oil for small bearings.
Thank you sir for taking time to comment on this. You are one of the few who feels the way I do. It’s hard to provide proof of this but I have experienced the same results you have. I have revived many old fans and other things by just greasing the shafts and letting the oil soak in. I have a fan I found in the trash 5 years ago. I jibed the shaft on the engine and it’s been running ever Since. I add a drop of oil on the shaft once a year. It’s just a cheep fan but why buy one if I can get one free and fix it. As for the topic at hand. Great to have some folks who can support my claim. I get a ton of naysayers who are unwilling to even try it and already know so much from all the years of doing things another way they are unwilling to accept or even try it this way. It’s sad and silly that some people can use the excuse that grease is too expensive as a argument on why this is a waste of time. I’m not sure what they pay but a tube of grease ain’t breaking the bank over here. Lol. Also I never really thought about the grease as not actually being the lubricant but that makes sense to me. I notice when it’s really hot my grease guns will drop oil on the floor in the shop. So Iv kinda suspected it but after you explained it I think it is a very relevant point. I have stated the same thing as you in many of my comments to naysayers about not being able to over grease these. Just fill them full and stop when you see grease. It’s so simple you would almost think it would not need to be explained but even when it’s explained in great detail folks still argue. But those same folks that argue are usually unwilling to even try it. I just say maybe they should make a video showing prof it won’t work.
@@GTObearclaw1 You're welcome. I have 30 years of mechanical maintenance experience on rotating shafts with preventive maintenance as a huge part of my work. I have replaced bearings in every kind of housing you can think of and there is a lot of science in lubrication but the rub is in the individual application. Many inexperienced repair craftsmen have heard stories that they try to crossover to their work without understanding the differences in application. Salespeople are not to be trusted. I learned many hard lessons by letting salesmen do my thinking for me. The engineers that develop the bearings and the lubrication are a better source but good maintenance experience is the best teacher.
@@GTObearclaw1 About "a drop of oil" : EXACTLY ! I have saved many Home "Window-Mounted" Air Conditioners by simply oiling the fan motor shafts. I put it on its back and oil the front shaft from the top - wait 1 day - Flip the AC on its face and oil the rear from the top - wait one day - flip it to flat and wait one day (for the Freon to re-distribute).
They 95% of the time start right up with no squeals, and if not, they have a bad compressor start cap.
It's funny that 20-50 year old AC's still hold their Freon for decades, and a 2020's AC looses its Freon charge before the motor bearings fail.
P.S. Most very old AC's had oiling ports on their fan motor bearings, and printed instructions in the manual and on a sticker too!
@@ToIsleOfView that’s worded so well I wish I would have said it exactly like you just did when I replied to some of the know it all people who left comments saying this won’t work. Lol, I know it works and has worked perfectly every time. Thanks for sharing your thought.
@@joeteejoetee that’s exactly information. I love to fix things that can be fixed and hold off on spending money on something new that may not be any better than what I have. Great comment thanks for taking time to share.
Excellent topic! ASE Master Tech here. I have replaced the bearings on my 46” Cub Cadet 3 times in 250 hours. The spindles do not have a grease fitting. Before I installed the bearings, I removed the seal on both sides and packed them with grease. I was shocked that the new bearings had almost no grease. Great video!
Thanks, I’m no longer holding current certification but I was ASE master tech certified for many years. Appreciate the comment.
Thanks this was very informative I always wondered if I had put enough grease in the assembly
Thank you for doing this video. I have always been unsure that I am getting the grease to go where I want it to bee. You have set my mind at ease regarding seal bearings. I will pump till I see it. Cheers.
This is a great video that answers both questions that I needed answered, (1) do you need to fill the cavity, and (2) will the grease get by the shield and into the bearing. This information is suprisingly hard to find.Man, it really does take a lot of grease to fill up thse spindles. Thanks for a well done video. It really helps.
Thanks, I agree
this info is hard to find. Most the mower guys out there are spreading the opposite information misleading the DIY community and I have not found any other videos where they take the time to back the claims. Iv been greasing decks for years. Never had an issue. Thanks for the comment. Lots of haters out there but if I can help a few that’s good enough for me.
Thanks Doc, good to know. Last time I changed my mandrels, I took them apart, lifted the seal and packed them with grease. Then I put them back together, filled the void space with grease until I saw grease at the ends, THEN installed the new mandrels on the deck. If I had only known, it would have saved me all that work! But now I know for the future. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome. You did exactly what I use to do years ago before I figured out how to make the zerk work and figured out just to grease it until the spindle was filled. Now I stick to this technique and it’s been working fabulous and yea it saves me a lot of time. Thanks for sharing and leaving a comment
A good point. I mean if you've already gone through the trouble of disassembling then why not just pack them with grease from a tub. I service my deck every year and it doesn't take much more to just take it apart.
@paddyomalley6835 Yes , that's I was thinking if you already have the bearings out pack them puppies by hand. 😂
Thanks for the video. I have worked on a lot of equipment, and most often if there is a grease sert the bearings will not have seals. When I replaced spindle bearings on my 18 year old snapper for the first time as preventive measures is when I discovered the sealed bearings both sides. I keep my machines greased up, maby the reason they lasted so long. But wheen I saw that they were using sealed bearings, I thought what is the use of wasting greese, so I did not grease the new bearings. Has not been a long time, so I will go back and throughly grease them.
You made a believer out of me.
It looks like the manufacturers would explain this if they go to the trouble to install grease points.
Thanks again for the great video.
Hay thanks for the comment. Yea it’s amazing that out of all the manufacturers you would think there would be more on this topic. That’s the main reason I posted this video because I couldn’t find the right information anywhere as far as UA-cam videos so I felt it was needed.
Great video! Thanks for taking the time to show this.
Great video. I learned something new!
In the peoples defense, we are always being told (greasing 101) not to over grease when greasing with the grease gun. "more is not better"
I come from the farm and I prefer being able to grease things, but these sealed deck bearings are going for many years with heavy use. Good video.
I agree, it's the grade quality of the Bearing that counts. Sealed bearings are in alot of applications that don't have access for greasing for sure. On mower decks for bearing inspection is easily done. Take all the tension off the spindles and apply pressure on the blades up and down will show if they are movement in them there is a good chance bearings are worn. You can do what this fellow just done for more greasing. I have a john deere stx 38 that the sealed bearings lasted 20 yrs. Bearing quality means alot also. It is the grade of material they are made of. I worked in the Bearing industry for nearly 40 yrs in the grinding department. We done roller type tapered type ball bearings as well. Bearings went up in size of 7 foot od weight was in the tons.
You just gained another subscriber. Recently I acquired a "thrown out riding mower " . I weld/patched the deck, took off the spindles. One spindle bearing had a slight growl so I soaked them in used motor oil overnight. No difference. Since no zerks were found. Now I will drill pilot holes, tap and add grease fittings and see if it quiets the noise slightly. Thanks for your efforts.
Thanks for subscribing and for the comment. As for the noise and adding grease to fix it. Once the bearings are noisy it’s most likely too late for grease to do any good. But good news is the bearings are not expensive and it’s not terribly difficult to swap out the beatings. In most cases some bearings will be okay and maybe just add grease to those. But usually when you hear noise there is at least one bad one in there. I have some videos that show how to swap bearings and many others do too. As for adding a grease zerk I absolutely think that is a good idea.
Great video! I learned a lot by watching this. I wondered about those other videos... Also, like most people I don't think I have ever greased my spindles properly - I didn't realize that they needed that much grease. Thank you!
Thanks for the comment, It’s hard to find any information about this topic where anyone will provide proof of theory. Most folks with a video on this topic just like to talk about how the
Bearings won’t take grease and have no hands on proof why folks should not grease these. Been working
like a champ for me.
Good job, I never thought about how much pressure a grease gun makes in this situation of course it by passes the seals! In outboard school we drilled out sparkplugs and installed grease fittings and forced out sized pistons with grease. It would break rings and things, but would never come out otherwise.
you can use a grease gun to push out seized brake caliper pistons too
Grease is pumped into big D9 dozes and most others track assembles to tighten tracks weighing tons,watch some videos how they do it on here.
Very informative testing and concluding results Russ, most people wouldn't have the time and patience to follow this experiment through. Before the start of this mowing season I did replace both spindles on my Craftsman YT-3000 (Husqvarna made) and removed the inner bearing seals but later pondered on the idea of just leaving them in and drilling some small holes say 1/16" around the diameter of the covers to allow grease to get into the bearings a little easier, might or might not be a good future idea? I too had to pump about 65 shots of Lucas red-n-tacky grease into the spindles before I knew they were full when a little started seeping out one end, I re-grease them now with about 8 pumps every 30 hours. I like the locking grease gun tip idea but accidentally discovered something this year when the tip on my grease gun hose got stuck on the zerk fitting and I couldn't free it and discovered that the metal tip end could be loosened from the whole part of hose end to free it from the zerk, so I now just loosen the tip slightly before I install it on a zerk, tighten it slightly with plyers, pump the grease, and loosen it back up to remove it from the zerk when done, it locks the tip on so the hose doesn't pop off and all the grease goes in without any seeping out, it works great!
Thanks for the comment. As for the locking tip it’s worth every penny. I like the quickness of having the latch. Probably last forever as long as it never gets lost. Lol. This one was a gift but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another one.
The idea of through flow bearings is the one way flow system, the grease only flows one way from the zerk/grease nipple through the bearings to the out side world. The side with the rubber on is not a seal , it is a type of one way valve and should not be removed or drilled through. the old grease that came out last greasing should be wiped away and the new grease that comes out should be spread around the shaft and bearing to act as an outer dust seal.
@@sidneyeaston6927 Grease has only flowed one way in any zerk Iv ever seen unless it was broken. So one way flow system is just kinda a given when a zerk is installed. Wipe off the old grease? and spread the new grease on on shaft and seal to act as a dust shield. Iv never heard anything like this nor does it make any sense to me why someone would do that. I mean most people would naturally wipe off the excess grease that comes out. Or who cares if it slings off in the grass when cutting. Probably advice with good intentions I’m just not understand.
Carmine, thanks for your comment. I often wondered how to remove and possibly save the integrity of a locking grease head after it locks onto a zerk. Some locking grease couplers lock so firmly around a zerk that they'll actually pull a zerk out. Your idea to loosen-then-retighten the locking grease coupler sounds better than jerking it loose from the zerk. That would save the integrity of the coupler lip-tangs (I made up that term) as well as save from ripping out the zerk. Your comment was quite suggestive. Thanks 👍🏽🤠 10/1/22
@@houndsmanone4563 have you tried the quick release type that has a lever to lock onto the zerk and easily unhooks? This was new for me but great tool.
this was one of the best videos I have seen on you Tube. I am currently doing the same job on my J.D. 125 auto and you were right on about the grease not getting to the critical parts. thank you for the time and effort you put into this video. bill b
Thanks for commenting to let me know your thoughts. It’s always pleasant to see someone who agrees and appreciates the information. It’s ashamed the big corps won’t post videos to help folks. They put the zerks on but in hops that people are too lazy I guess. No extra help that I can find. The biggest issue is the huge void. No way the average person would know
To fill that void with grease before it’s going to reach the bearings. That’s the basic stuff the manufacturer should be sharing.
I just found your channel through this video. You have a new sub! 🦅🇺🇸
I've been telling people this for years! It also keeps the moisture out of the hubs and prevents rust and corrosion.
Thanks for sharing; I'll be checking out some of your other videos. 😁👍
Thanks - I agree about the rust and moisture. Iv seen many times that the ones that have never been greased are damp and have a lot of rust inside. Not always but sometimes they are pretty bad. Thanks for the comment. Appreciate the support.
Great video! You just made a lot of “experts” eat their words 😂
No, they still think they are right and think I made edits to fake it. But they won’t make the effort to prove me wrong. All the naysayers just talk and tell us they know but won’t show the process won’t work. Seems funny to me they can be so certain without any evidence.
@@GTObearclaw1 Well, I trust you! And thank you!
I totally agree with your findings! Lets just look at the pressures a grease gun can generate. The seal is not a hydro seal or pressure seal, there purpose is largely just to keep larger particles out. So clearly the grease will penetrate the seal! Thanks for posting!
Thanks. I appreciate the comment. Some folks want to argue about this rather than just simply try it and gain the benefits of adding grease. So simple it’s almost hard to believe there is anything to even dispute after it’s been explained. I did my best to keep is simple. Hope it helps some folks.
Hi Russ , this is the perfect video I’m going to show my local JD dealer.. I recently dropped off my D105 ride on to have the rear pulley assembly replaced and I asked them to grease everything that needs greasing. The reply to that was we will grease the front but not the deck because the bearings are sealed … Well Ha Ha , they will be in for a rude shock after watching your video
Cheers Rod from Australia 🇦🇺
Don’t get your hopes up. Half the people who watch this video still
Don’t think it’s possible. If folks who fix mowers don’t already understand this concept they probably won’t be able to absorb this information but doesn’t hurt to try. Lol.
I pulled mine apart after 20yrs of service just to check and the bearing were still good, Craftman LT1000 great little machine
In my experience it's hard to find a new mower (even commercial mowers) that has spindle assemblies from the factory with grease fittings. My zero turn uses greaseless bearings and the dealer promotes them as "no maintenance needed" but what they don't tell you is it's maintenance free because the bearings will need to be completely replaced in 6 months.
Makes you wonder.
I learned something. I personally still greased them as well though I thought the seals would prevent grease penetration, but honestly the main reason I do was because in my mind so many synthetic greases now can stand up to excessive abuse and usually when the bearing gets debris and water and such into it is when the balls and such degrade. In my mind that spindle full of grease acts as a superior water shield for the bearings.
Maybe so. If
It’s full of grease not much room to
Take on water.
Agreed, I do the same, also if u pump dirty grease or water out more often, it cant hurt more than leaving it in, right
@@evil17 exactly!
Yes! Just a thought -- Ideally, the spindle assembly would have 2 zerks, one topside and one below the bearing on the blade side. Use a water resistant, self sealing grease (in the presence of water) such as a kaolin-based grease in the bottom zerk but do not use so much as to push into the bearing, and for the top zerk maybe a lithium-based MoS2 or aluminum-based grease. The MoS2 grease is good from a tribology consideration because the MoS2 can sort of fill in and bond in the micro pits caused by wear. Someone may comment about mixing greases but the point is not to push the bottom zerk grease into the bearing, but pushing just enough to see some flowing at the bottom. (This presumes the grease pressure is not enough the damage the shaft seals.)
Thank you so much for disproving the old seal misinformation! Replaced pair of spindle bearings last week, and just for fun/save grease- cut, then installed piece of heater hose over bearings internal spacer. Of course I didn't count (for less) pumps of grease to fill back up, but hose spacer seemed to decrease internal cavity about 50%. I was just goofing around with that experiment.
Interesting idea.
Thanks for the video - I'm updating my 15 yr old Craftsman YS4500 and replacing the spindles AGAIN (I'm hard on the mower) - looks like I need a grease gun; I was gonna remove those inner seals per some other videos, but this is clear proof that they're fine just as-is. Too bad the spindles are made from Chinesium / pot metal these days, but - sure beats dropping a few thousand on a sexxy green ZTR or something? :)
Thanks, glad you are willing to try it. You won’t be disappointed.
The proof is in the pudding. Great video.
Plenty of folks are glad to say that greasing these is a waste of time but they didn’t bother to show what happens when you actually grease one. They are misleading people. It’s always good to grease these even with inner seals in place.
I agree with the "Great Video" comments. I am replacing a broken spindle as we speak and have been toren between the myth and trusting the company. Now I see that while the design maybe good, don't trust someone else to pump your grease without checking it.
Thank You very much.
This was valuable information and a valuable demo. Thanks for taking the time to share all this.
Happy to do it and greatly appreciate when someone finds the information useful. Thats was my motivation.
why not do the simple thing and take both of the iner seals off. No crud gets in there anyway and the bearings would be full of grease ive done this on all my mowers
I believe his point was, when original, you can simply greese the cylinder, and the bearings will be greased.
All of this is wrong. Even if you do manage to fill the cavity, sooner or later you will push those seals completely out just from the pressure of the pump. It is then open to contamination on both sides. If you keep pumping, the grease has to go someplace. You're much better off not greasing as they are greased for the life of the bearing. Not to mention they cost less than all of that grease you're wasting.
Used to clean out the grease and fill with my own grease, generally a synthetic, but I also would use Wurth HHS and let it evaporate and build up multiple times. HHS also makes excellent assembling lubricant
Thank you man. You answered some questions for me about these things.
I'm late coming to this video, but it really hit home and I wanted to comment. My Murray rider mower is now 23 yrs old. When I got it home from Home Depot, on a whim I thought I'd pump some grease into all the fittings. Those deck bearings must have been bone dry because they just kept taking more and more grease. I had to go buy more grease (it's one of the little guns) - finally it started coming out. I'd like to say I re-grease it before each cutting season, but I know it's less often than that. Still, 23 yrs later and those original bearings are still in there. Just some periodic greasing has truly gone a long long way. It's one of the few times I didn't have to learn a lesson the hard way!
I realize this video is more about greasing "sealed" bearings, but I'd go so far as to say, if you buy something that can be greased - grease it, fill it - don't wait. I know there are some grease applications where you don't want to see the grease come out - but this isn't one of those applications.
Thanks
Thanks for the comment. You have great instinct. Nice testimonial. Iv worked on a lot of the older Murray’s of that generation and if it’s what I think it is, your zerk is under the tractor / deck. but regardless even if it is the newer ones all
The Murray’s Iv ever worked on all
Had inner seals just like how the assembly in this video is set up. But the process works and you agree so that’s excellent to hear of such great success. I have found exactly the same success but just haven’t ran one machine that long on original bearings but that’s great to hear.
@@GTObearclaw1 You are correct, the fittings are underneath. It's not a commercial mower, so it only gets used weekly. I'll tempt fate and say this: the belts are also original. knock on wood
Great explanation Russ, would you recommend removing the inner seal when replacing the bearings so it would take grease easier? Thanks and take care
When i replace bearings I usually do remove the inner seal to make it easier for the grease to get inside the bearing. Also if the spindle doesn't have a grease zerk I remove the seal on the bearings and pack them full of high temp bearing grease because the manufactures of the bearings I buy don't pack them full and its a light grease. So i just repack them to be on the safe side
Hi Rusty! Well sir I’m glad you asked. I say absolutely positively No No No for removing the inner seals, I recommend leaving the seals alone
and just greasing the mandrels until grease exits somewhere and the mandrel is full. It’s a waste of time removing the seals and I have absolutely no reason to believe it will benefit the bearing in any way. Almost every manufacturer that has a zerk on the mandrel builds the assembly with inner seals in place. Pressurized grease pushes past the seals like they are not even there. These are simply dust seals and do not stop pressure. They are not even 100 % going to prevent water from getting in. Yes in most cases they will prevent water from entering but I find water in these bearings all the time when fixing decks. That’s why I believe it is best to use a blower to clean the decks off after a mowing rather than washing deck after each use. And don’t park your mower in a low spot in the yard where deck may sit submerged when it’s rainy. Water will find its way into deck bearings. But that’s another topic. As for the inner seals the good news is once the grease enters the bearings the seals will
Retain it. So the inner seal on the upper bearing will help hold grease up in the bearing rather than let it move down with gravity as the grease and bearings heat up. It drives me bonkers seeing the videos from so called experts saying it’s pointless to grease these because they have an inner seal. That’s why I made this video, to show the truth. I mean why would so many of the manufacturers be doing it this way if it was an issue. I’m not saying engineers are perfect but this is the basics. I feel bad for folks who trust someone telling them not to even bother greasing a deck mandrel because it won’t do any good when in fact it will help to grease the decks and the seals won’t stop grease
From reaching the bearings as long as enough grease is applied to fill the cavity of the assembly.
@@corysgardentractors7084 I made this video to prove that removing the inner seal is a waste of time. If anything leave the inner seal for the upper bearing in place because if properly greased that seal will hold grease in the upper bearing rather than allow grease to drop out of bearing with the force of gravity when bearings heat up.
@@GTObearclaw1 without question the inner seals should not be removed, they retain grease for better lubrication resulting in longer bearing life and reduced spindle wear. Don't remove them people, Russ knows what he speaks of and I've been a full line tech for 45 years.
I have seen electric motors and equipment with sealed bearings run for decades. 24/7
Ever here of a bearing failure called brinelling. It has to do with dents in the races from hammering bearings. Never install bearings with a hammer.
I have a mower I bought 30 years ago. I have never replaced or greased the bearings. It has three spindles. There are many things that can cause a bearing to fail. One of them is vibration. Balance your blades .
In case you didn’t notice I’m not working on electric motors. One big difference is the load being placed on the bearings. Another diffrence is the quality of a bearing. There are many other things to consider. there is a huge difference between high quality bearings and cheep 2
To 4$ Chinese bearings in some lawn mowers. The bearings I’m working on are not for the space shuttle or air craft parts. You must have a high quality mower and most of the machines made 30 years ago are much better quality than some made now days. I’d love to know what machine you’re running. If I’m hitting the outer race it does not apply any pressure to the bearings. The outer race is what’s mounted to the assembly. Iv repaired some of the newer model box store machines with less than 100 hours on the meter with major bearing failure. Not every bearing and not every piece of equipment is made to the same standards and definitely not the same quality. Most of what I work on is super low end box store brand mowers and deck bearing failures are one of the most comon issues I see and almost always have dried up grease and or never been greased and had no preventative maintenance done prior to failure. I’m hoping by proving that adding grease will prevent failure and help folks avoid the need to tear an assembly down to fix or replace it. If the folks who see this will grease as I have showed they may be able to get a full life of the bearings and never need to spend money on deck bearing repairs. Im not covering the proper way to remove or install bearings in this video.
We ran a craftsman gt1000 for over 20 years without greasing or having bearings go bad. I have replaced two spindles after breaking the aluminum housing because of rough use. I also never sharpen the blades because our sandy soil wears them down quickly, I just replace them a few times a year- no balancing problems
@@stephensarkany3577 as for not greasing a tractor form 30 years ago. Well I’d say you were very lucky. Probably some factors involved that will remain unknown but what will be more common on todays box store mowers will be bearing failure at below 200 hours and sometimes under 100 hours if no grease is added. Those old three leg spindle housings were crap and broke very easy. The newer 4 leg post design is a lot stronger and won’t break so easy. if you replaced the whole assembly then the bearings didn’t last 30 years unless you pulled them out of the old housing and used the old ones. Even then you would have been very lucky to have had very high quality parts and for them to last 30 years is impressive if never greased. Iv heard that happening and bearings lasting. But I don’t see a lot of those. I tend to see the ones that didn’t last. As that’s what needs to be fixed and that’s who I’m trying to help. Plenty of bearings go bad before they should and most could have lasted longer with basic minor maintenance. A little grease can go a long way. Thanks for your input. Glad I could help
@@GTObearclaw1 I'm self employed, I repair a lot of industrial gear boxes, electric motors, etc. Lack of lubrication is a huge factor for short life span. I am surprised that lawnmower spindles last as long as they do with all the dust & debris swirling around.
@@stephensarkany3577 well if In good condition and working as designed all that stuff swirling around should stay out. But I know what you mean. One thing I relate to how long a bearing lasts is the actual use on the bearing. A home owner machine may only receive 40 hours of use each year. Sometimes less. That is of course if the tractor is the right size for the property. Some folks buy tractors way smaller than they need and overwork a machine. But at 40 hrs a year on well lubed bearings they can go forever if they are well serviced. The bearings I replace are dang Near always due to not being greased. It’s obvious when I tear one down and no grease is inside the mandrel that they have never been serviced. It makes me laugh when I see folks comment that greasing the mandrel will cause latter repairs to the deck to be messy as the assembly will have grease inside it. Lol, welcome to bearings. I have yet to replace trailer wheel bearings older style automotive wheel bearings without getting some grease on my hands. I guess it’s better to wait and hope the bearings last forever than to take the chance of adding grease and having to deal with a little mess when it’s time to take it apart. Some folks have different ways.
Great presentation. Like the way you detail each step close up. Many thanks.
Thanks for the positive comment.
Been racking my brain on this for awhile. Thanks
Excellent vid. Very informative.
On the down side, I would go nuts trying to work in such a cluttered shop.
Thanks for the comment. As far as the shop goes, it’s organized I can find what I need and very small. I do wish it was bigger but the clutter is mostly tools and parts that are important or valuable to me. I’m very thankful to have a nice place to work and play.
Thank you for taking time to share ...
Great job showing and telling about that bearing,did not know now I do thanks to you man. Thanks again have a great weekend and day see ya next time see ya bye.
I have tried to explain over the years about exactly what you’re talking about to some of my customers. You can’t just put five or six pumps of the grease gun in there and you’re good to go. You have to pump it and pump it pump it and I’ve had people tell me I was out of my mind wasting all that grease! Lol what do you mean waste it? Where is it going to go? And that’s a good point that you made about bearing seals. when you have a bearing with a metal shield on one side and a rubber seal on the other the rubber seal always goes towards the grease Fitting. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen bearings put in upside down because people weren’t aware of that. But it’s an important fact. glad you shared it. Great video!
Thanks. Rare to find someone already in tune with my way of thinking.
I get a kick out of all
The experts who never had a deck apart but they are experts in bearings from another completely diffrent application and think I’m doing wrong. Anybody who won’t provide proof of process or proof of how this causes failure is just full of hot air. Another “expert” lol.
Thanks for leaving a comment. Always good to have supporters!
Great job Russ, I’m going to give my bearings a good dose of grease first thing in the morning. This video was a credit to you mate, well done 👍🏼. Cheers from Down Under 🍻
Awesome and thanks for the commmet. Glad to see this information is reaching good folks who can utilize it. Only a few thick skulled blokes out there that can’t comprehend this even after detailed explanation. I am
Always glad to hear someone is finding the information useful and willing to try it.
@@GTObearclaw1 …. Hi Russ, all done mate, worked a treat! Thanks again…
@@wayneberry8703 awesomeness thanks for checking back in to verify. Always helps to have tubers give their opinion on the process after they tried it.
Thank you for spending the time
Happy to
Do
It!!’
Thanks for this great video. I'm an Amsoil Dealer and my clients need to see this one. I have a mower similar to this I just learned I have not been giving mine enough pumps when I grease it but now I do and know what to look for!
Awesome appreciate the positive response thanks for the comment
I have a farm type large tractor, Kioti CS3520 with loader, backhoe, grapple etc. Constantly grease every couple of hours and wondered the best way to care for the spindles on my zero turn.
Super helpful and useful and have a powered grease gun and tons of red truck and tractor grease. Will fill the cavities on the spindles each season thanks to your good work.
Thank you for the awesome experiment and helping us understand the best way to care and lube our equipment.
Thanks for taking time to leave a positive comment. I’m very glad it helped.
Thanks for the video, I had always wondered about the bearing seals, so the video was very interesting, so thanks for the tips and information . I will see you later on another video so take care and stay safe .
🤗👍💖💫
Very instructive video. It IS that time of the year, so THANK YOU!!
You proved your theory beyond doubt!👍
Very informative. I have the same deck and grease it regularly, but I didn't realize what they really looked like. Looks like I need to keep pumping the grease to them.
Wow! good to know, Too bad you had to go to this length to prove a point, it won't go unnoticed and we all very appreciative. Thanks Russ, I just subscribed!
Thanks for subscribing. I am glad you find the information useful. Very glad to hear.
Well made video to the point and direct. Everyone should know that no matter what you are greasing you do not stop pumping until grease oozes out somewhere. I always grease until it gives way. But still yet if you have to change one of these spindle assembles as I did recently I took the time to remove the seal on the inside. It makes them that much better. I understand why they use the sealed bearings when building them on the assembly line as it is cleaner and they do not have to worry about debris getting in the bearing.. I had bought a used Zero turn that was like new and someone hit object and bent the blade cracking the spindle housing. So if you are taking one apart or putting a new one I think removing just the inner seals make sense so it can get grease in it easier. But either way if you don't fill the housing the bearing will remain dry.
Thanks for the comment. I don’t think it makes any difference at all if the seals are removed. Iv never found any evidence it provides any benefit at all to remove one. But if it makes the owner of the machine happy and gives that warm and fussy feeling, that’s great. I think there are some benefits to leaving the inner seals. Especially on the upper bearing. Iv gone into that in other replies but really Don’t matter one way item matter. As you said, as long as they are greased that’s what matters. And greased till it comes out from somewhere and assembly is filled.
l don't do anything with grease. However, I fix and make lots of things and became fascinated with what you were about to demonstrate--just because. Thanks!
I’ll allow that
Proof is what people are asking for. You delivered!
Thank You for the positive comment. I hope it does help
Some folks.
Great advice, and great way to prove what your saying. I have to put more grease in mine.
Thanks. I appreciate the comment. Best of luck. It will most certainly help your bearings last.
I was the small engine mechanic for a large concrete comlany here in Arizona. My equal over on the electric motor side taught me to pop the seal and fill them about half full of the grease used for😮 maintenance, replace the seal, and install. When I started doing this with new bearings I never had a bearing fail. Lets face it, daily maintenance in the field didn't exist. The equipment was run till it shut off. Even low oil for some of the crews. I don't know how many times I would go check equipment on the trucks and find them not greased, low on oil, and plugged air filters, bypassed safety's, and more. So, yes, you can pop a seal on a bearing if you are careful and clean and grease them. No more than half full though or it may pop a seal when it gets hot. Then grease as normal and they will last the life of the machine. Just be very careful not to damage the seal at all.
"I'll be darn" best video out there, thanks for sharing and proving. Will try that on my next service,
Thanks for the comment, I’m glad to see it makes sense to some folks. I was surprised I couldn’t find a video showing the truth about this topic.
Wow great video. Thank you very much. I just dropped the deck yesterday and put on new blades on a three yr old cub cadet X2 42". Didn't even know there were grease fittings on the yoke. Off with the deck this coming Sat. Thank you and I'll also let my friends know.
Great to hear, thanks for the comment.
Great fact based evidence.... Will save me a lot of work and lube the bearings. TY MH
Thanks. Your video Explained a lot to me. I learn a lot in blab school. No loud noise ,no cigar smoke. Coughing or a dog getting attention. I liked this video. Very much. Thanks a great tip. I will pass on your knowledge. Later.
Awesome man, I figured the video was long enough with out all that other useless stuff. thanks for taking time to comment.
thank you for a VERY valuable and informative video. My most sincere compliments!
Wow! Lesson learned - - so glad you posted this video - - thank you!
So forty to seventy pumps of grease - great advice thanks
Every unit is slightly different depending on size of assembly and how much grease may already be in
The bearings. After the first time the following services will only require a few pumps. It gets better!
Wow thanks
I had to look so much to find this!
Too many videos asking us to take off seals or to not grease!!
Right. That’s all I could find too so I made this to show how it really works.
Thanks