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deck pulleys
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Posted by ironman1_2009 (My Page) on Fri, Oct 30, 09 at 22:13
| I have a Ranch King 15hp tractor with a 42'' mowing deck...I have already gone thru another deck pulley, this one just came apart. My question, is there a pulley that I can put on that has grease fittings on them? The tractor is a 1995 model and has been very well taken care of, these pulley assemblies are getting a little expensive to have them last only a year or two...any help appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: deck pulleys
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| Are you reffering to the 917-0906a spindle? That was the common one from that era. If not, post some part or model #s. They are normally tough little spindles. Are you saying the bolts came out that sandwich the 2 halves together? I can't think of how they could be made greasable nor have seen them made that way. I swear on occasion I've seen them for 1/2 the MTD list at Lowes- in an MTD box if that helps. |
RE: deck pulleys
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| Is it just the pullies that are failing (spline drive MTD type)? The only reason I ask is that I have had some come through with poor welds on them. |
RE: deck pulleys
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***"I have already gone thru another deck pulley, this one just came apart"***
That line got me too, at first, but finally I figured ironman might be referring to the entire spindle/mandrel assembly as "pulley" after reading the part about wanting a grease fitting on it. |
RE: deck pulleys
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| I'm sorry I didn't clarify any better, it is the spindle assembly...it had been making some noise and I had been trying to lubricate it but nothing worked. When it failed of course I lost the belt when I stopped to check it out, the bearings were laying on top of the deck and also the pulley was leaning to one side. I just spent 50 dollars for another one and its starting to become a little annoying that's why I wanted to know about the fittings or can I drill a small hole on the seal and use a grease gun with a needle to keep it lubricated myself...again thanks for your help. |
RE: deck pulleys
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| You could never reseal the bearing. I'm guessing that you had gotten a bad one. Hopefully it didn't damage the belt as vibration doesn't help either... |
RE: deck pulleys
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NO! You can't drill the seal as the dirt you would allow into the bearing after that would be worse than just leaving it alone. This subject gets quite animated on the forum between one camp that believes sealed bearings (non-greasable) are the best, and the neighboring camp that believes grease-able bearings are best. My opinion is: if you are a reliable DIY person and will promise to do regular maintenance, grease-able bearings are best. If you are a person who will not perform regular maintenance yourself, sealed bearings are probably the best deal.
The big drawback is, even if you do want to grease the spindle assemblies, lots of them are not featuring zerks now days. For the person can do fairly complex maintenance and repairs for themselves, the best way to tackle the issue of no zerks is to replace the sealed bearings (when a defective bearing is first detected BEFORE it destroys the mandrel and casting body) with bearings that are sealed on one side only. After the mandrel and bearings are removed from the casting body, a hole for a zerk should be drilled and tapped in the middle of the casting at a point where it can be accessed from the topside of deck. With a modification like this, timing is everything, you have to catch the bearing before it locks up because once that happens, you may not be able to reuse the mandrel or casting body. The bearings themselves can be purchased from a well equipped bearing house as they are Standard Specification precision bearings. Much cheaper than sourcing them from the tractor OEM. |
RE: deck pulleys
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Quick item I wanted to add to this discussion --
Make sure your blades are BALANCED. Grinding them sharp yourself on your bench vise may make great cutting edges, but a tiny imbalance on the blade will greatly shorten spindle bearing life.
Blade balance is just as or even more critical than wheel balance on your car. Your car wheels don't spin 3000 rpm. Don't trust the nail-in-the-wall balance trick -- that will only detect large imbalances. If you do a lot of blade sharpening, invest in a Magna Matic balancer. Or find a local shop that has one. Your spindles will thank you. |
RE: deck pulleys
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| Ironman: Take heed from the wisdom of these Dudes ! I agree with their consensus , actually utilize their resources routinely. I would just add if you go the re-greasable route use a High Grade Moly or equal with Moisture Dispersant or Resistant Qualities . Don't over grease (damage the seal) a little goes a long way. P.S. Mownie : Great Footnote , how many times to Novices attempt to Resharpen / True Chainsaw or Mower Blades only to make matters worse . Either a Bearing goes South or a Bar is Damaged lol . |
RE: deck pulleys
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OP - if you get a replacement spindle assy, shoot a cuppla shots of grease (not too much !!) in before installing - will tell if zerk will accept grease - and greased assy should turn smoothly. If not, find out why before installing on deck.
If you can only get a non-greasable spindle assy and decide to add a zerk by drilling/tapping, disasm the spindle assy first before drilling. this will give you the chance to flush out chips/debris from the hsg bore from the drilling op...OTW, you may again lose a brg in short order. |
RE: deck pulleys
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| Over the years,I have been replacing the spindles on my MTD mower and the replacements ones came with a grease fitting and although I always greased them,they never lasted any longer than the original ones with no fittings. So I took apart one of the new ones that had the fitting and found that the bearings were sealed on both sides,so greasing the fitting was a waist of time and grease,as how can you grease a bearing with out first taking off the seal. I then started taking them apart each winter and removing the rubber seal and hand greasing each bearing and its been over 2 years since I have had to replace a spindle. It takes about 4 hours each year to do this,but has saved me lots of money,as the spindles are up around $70. Also,after each cutting.I jack the mower up and hold each blade at the end and lift up and down to see if I feel any play and if I feel any play at all,I know a bearing needs replacing quick to save a spindle. I have a small balancer thats shaped like a cone and rides on a pointed shaft(like they use to balance car tires) I bought it at a lawnmower shop for a couple of dollars. I guess this is better than using a nail. O,after hand greasing bearing naturally replace the rubber seal,as it snaps right back in place. Hope this will help. A good board like this can save us back yard mechanics a lot of money and time. |
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