In this video, I go over the different quills/madrils/spindles and how they work. I also go over the best way to grease the inside of the closed bearings. I also go over other useful tips on the spindles.
All I do is take off one seal of the bearing, pack the bearing full of grease, put the seal back on, coat the spindle shaft with grease and put it all back together. Filling that whole spindle housing with grease is doing nothing but wasting (now expensive) grease. It's worked for me for 20+ years and I've never had a bearing failure. A special note: Any new sealed bearing you get, take off one seal, pack it and put the seal back on. The bearing will last 4-5 times longer. They put very little grease in them from the factory. On autos or bikes, the wheel bearings are the same way. Very little grease.
You have to fill the spindles until the grease starts coming out... That pressure pushes grease into the sealed bearings, so no need for all of this work... Removing seals in order to manually grease will invite dirt & dust (grease is sticky) which may shorten the life of your bearings.
@@cmcg1190 The first time I had to replace a spindle due to bearing failure I discovered the exact issue he is demonstrating. I removed all the inner seals on the other spindles and the new one. That was 7 years ago and I haven't replaced a spindle on that mower since. I mow 3.5 acres with that mower and it's still mowing strong. It isn't like I have to pump grease until it pushes out the other seals. After the initial fill your pretty much done ever having to grease it again. Think about it. The factory bearing might, and I emphasize might have 1.5 cc of grease in them when new. So, once they're filled using this method you won't have to bother with it again. Edit to add: wrong. You will literally push the bearings out before grease penetrates the inner seals. And word of caution to those that decide to do this, in the same token, you can push the outer seals out by pumping in too grease. Read my comment above again.
Why not just pop off the seal, fill the bearings housing directly with grease and then put the cap back on? Seems like theyd get the grease they need and itd be sealed from water and dirt
There shouldn't be any water or dirt in there, shouldn't... Lol. Taking them off and filling the cavity with grease keeps water and dirt out though, and the mass of the grease helps dissipate heat from the bearings as well. Only downside is the cost of filing it with that much grease. I got here tonight seeing if anyone's ever put something in there with the spacer to take up some space, but haven't found anything like that.
I’ve replaced hundreds of spindles over the years, and few(if any) were due to lack of lubrication. If you’re concerned just pack before installing, but leave the metal shields alone. The problem with removing inner seals and filling the cavity with grease is now you have to maintain it. You’re more likely to damage the blade mounting area or crack the housing before the bearing goes bad.
Another day I got two water pumps from an elderly lady they had grease cups on them for the bearings. Old cars how did grease zerk on the water pump an oiler on the distributor. Some had grease lyrics of oilers on the generators. Nothing is made to last anymore cheap and disposable like life
A lot of sealed bearings come with polyurea grease from the factory, which can be incompatible with common grease thickeners like lithium, so the washing step is important these days.
Some great advice here! I've always poped the inner seals out just so grease can easily get in them, but i learned tonight that even with them on, the grease gets in. I have a mower in my shop right now with a blade put on wrong, surprisingly that's not the spindle that's bad. When i mowed lawns i had a customer call and tell me i left a mower blade in her yard. I told her that's impossible, but sure enough. The star had enough grip that when the bolt fell out it stayed on and worked fine. It was laying right where i shut the deck on on the way to the trailer. Figured I'd find the bolt next time i mowed, but never did
Here is what I find when you remove the inner seal and you force the spindle full of grease the outside seal will be forced off. Even if you drill a weep hole this will happen. Now you can end up with grease on the v belt. A better way is to each season take the spindle apart, pry the grease seal off, clean and lube the bearing and reinstall the seal. More work yes.
Grease it before putting the top bearing on and locking the pulley(bearings) in place. This allows the air that will be trapped in the spindle barrel to escape. Once it's fullish put the top bearing in the spindle and give it a couple of pumps and assemble it all. You won't have to ever grease it again. I have added small hose clamps and bent the end to serve as a slinger but honestly I haven't seen it make a difference. I guess I wasted those clamps. Lol
I left my seals on and shot red grease in through the zerk until i saw grease come out the ends. I pulled the shafts out and pulled the seals off the bearings and sure enough..red grease inside the bearings. I don't think you need to do this to the bearings..the hydraulic action of the grease being forced in makes it into the raceway and bearings really well.
This is absolutely correct! Grease will in fact penetrate into that bearing when you fill the spindle. The pressure will force grease inside those bearings. All these other things are a waste of time!
That's the way I did them for years on the old wheel horse and I read somewhere on here that you're not to do it that way. glad you think it's the way to go. I agree.
I like to melt my grease down and actually pour it into opened nearly housing. Then let it semi solidify before placing the seal/cover back in place. This assures my theirs no air pockets left without grease.😊
Thanks! I have an 11 year old MTD Gold lawn tractor and I cannot count the spindles I have replaced. Usually one or both each year. The last ones I bought have grease fittings, and I have been greasing them. I hope they are not sealed bearings as you discussed. I guess I should take them apart and see for myself.
Not so much the amount of the grease but the poor quality of greases use in manufacture. I always clean out the old grease and add a good quality product to replace it.
grease does penetrate into the bearings. BUT!! You have to pump 70 times into the grease fitting. I just pack the bearings by hand, just like the front wheel bearings on my ole truck.
2:38 hardly any grease in there. The owner of our local bearing supply told me that excess grease is like wading in the ocean. Its harder to move against the resistance of the water and against a bearing packed full and can make the bearing overheat
My daughters mower, a Husky, came new, with a blade torqued down on the star and mushroomed it out. I took my die grinder with a cone shaped carbide bur to it so the blade would actually go on correctly.
I drill a hole in the spindle housing and install a grease zerk i can hit from a good angle and reinstall the bearings without the seal on the inside of the casting. Never dries out!
The outer seals on those bearings are non purgable seals, so when the cavity fills completely with grease. The seal will pop out from the grease pressure instead of just purging the excess grease.
I like your content. I'm subbing. Use a 5/16-18 instead of a fine thread. It's much stronger. Use Turpentine for tapping fluid for aluminum and Crisco vegetable shortening (not the oil. Vegetable lard) for tapping steel. ( I was raised a machinist.) THANK YOU for your post. Very good info.
Excellent video, thank you sir! But, I wish you had taken it a little bit further and showed us how you disassemble the shaft from the mandrel housing, and get the bearing off/out, and then show us how you reassemble the shaft back into the housing, once you have it ready. Thanks again!
Those are not sealed bearings. That's just a dust cover. A standard grease gun easily pumps grease right thru it, no problem. No need to take off the cover.
Thanks for sharing great tips! Not sure if my JD E - 140 has sealed bearings? I grease all 3 spindles frequently and always put a lot of grease in each one. When the spindles heat up the bearings should get the grease? So far so good I’ve never had a bearing problem. Could you do a video on transmissions? My transmission looks like cast iron outer shell underneath but I don’t see a drain plug to change hydraulic oil? Do I need to change oil as long as there are no oil leaks ? Thanks.
I just replaced the spindles on a Husqvarna, I was wondering why the zerks were there on the new ones, I wanted to take the shafts apart to see if the other side of the bearings were off so that grease could get in there, thank you for answering the question I had
As a long time maintenance mechanic I would advise just buying new bearings. When a sealed bearing runs dry the lubricant has left the vehicle which leaves behind clay,scoring the bearing. Too much grease will wear out bearing as fast as too little. There's a reason that there isn't much grease in sealed bearings. Also taking out the seal will allow dirt to get in. I preferred NICE bearings with stainless steel shields. 35 years of changing bearings. Believe me.or don't.
I've been doing this for years in my former working life,..I use the needle type grease adapter that you can get for applying grease to very small places. I make sure that the 'opened' sealed bearing is greased completely. Great idea Mark,... well done!
My mower blade is very stiff to turn. I've been spraying wd40 up into the shaft area from the underside of the lawnmower. It definitely helps but I'd like to get some grease up in there somehow?
Not only do the knock off companies use poorer quality metal, and sometimes not grease the bearings enough, they also may not be using the correct grease for your application...and likely a cheap grease as well. I repacked some North American bearings that sat in a drawer for many decades. When I get to it, they are to replace the arbor and motor bearings in my Dad's old table saw that I cleaned and aligned and repaired....all but the bearings. I used a superior grease, so this will be the only time this job needs doing.
You know when they put a greaser on a spindle that's not usable.. that really shows you how much they care about their customer.. if they would do that I wouldn't put anything past them.. I think they try to make sure they sell you a good paint job.. people just love looking at those new shiny lawn mowers... But they don't understand that it's total garbage...😅
Not really.... if you pump enough grease into the spindle to pack it full and pressurize a bit, the grease WILL push past the seals and enter the bearing. These bearings work best with less grease vs more.
Have you ever just one time pumped grease into the assembly and see where the grease goes once the unit is completely filled? Sadly this is another video misleading people on this topic. Those caps will not stop grease from passing unless the unit has a weep hole. Pump those puppies full and stop wasting time taking the assembly apart to remove the shields. Here is a video I did to show the facts on the matter. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PwObkilFXN0.htmlsi=Wnw6dvzX3jTTV4Hm If your not going to prove that those won’t take grease your just wasting peoples time and feeding them garbage information. This is a disservice to the DIY community. I’m not saying that removing the shields is a bad idea, but I am saying its pointless to take an assembly apart when you could just grease the assembly the way they are and move on with life. Dont believe me? Just try it. It would be crazy to think someone in the business would not experiment a little and find out the facts. Where does the grease go? If that unit is filled with grease it will then pass into the bearings regardless if it has Rubber or metal shields. Those thin rubber lips won’t stop pressurized grease from passing. Plain and simple. Cold hard facts. Prove your point.
@@lmsmallenginerepair4471 I understand that’s one way to do it, my point is that the shields don’t stop grease and there is no need to take the u it’s apart to achieve the same goal. You can simply test it yourself but hay, whatever you like. Just wanted to mention that it’s most certainly not the only way to get grease in the bearings. Your viewers may be lead to think it’s the only way so for those viewers it’s a disservice.
Sir, what you failed to mention is that water, dirt will be able to get to the bearings. Also you are using a large amount of grease just to get to the bearings. Best wishes sir, Ken
If you keep an assembly such as he presented packed with grease water and dirt will not get to the bearing. The alternative is that the factory bearings with seals in place do not receive any grease and wear out quite quickly.
Sealed bearings are greased for life. It only takes a small amount of grease at the ball contact point. As the bearing heats up more grease melts and fills this contact area. You are most likely doing damage removing the bearings and greasing them. Most people remove bearings with a hammer. Which is a bad system.
The bearing with the metal sheild is for electric motors. And believe it or not but one of the main problem with bearings is over greasing them. Lots of classes with SKF bearings.
