I WOULD DO THIS DIFFERENT NOW JUST REPACK THE BEARINGS WITH GOOD GREASE AND PUT SEALS BACK ON. 

I am 77 yo, I started my apprenticeship on April 1 firs1959 in Germany and I am still learning to this day. To install the upper bearing use a pipe that is a hair smaller than the outer race never hit on the inner race because you will ruin the bearing at installation, also grease bearings before installing.

Many years ago I went to the SKF Bearing Maintenance Training. I highly recommend it. Some takeaways: (1) The bearings in this video are 2 type. Double sealed, as seen in the bearing with the black seals . And the bottom bearing is a combo seal and metal shield. The metal shield offers better protection with all that debris being churned up during cutting. (2) Sealed bearings are factory filled to 20% capacity with grease. (3) Shielded bearings create less heat from friction than their sealed cousins. Now, the number one reason for mower spindle bearing failure is that the grease gets used up. We've all pulled out spindle bearings and found them bone dry. Yes, the zerk fitting is to pump grease into the spindle cavity to prevent the shaft from freezing to the shaft spacer. It's a waste to fill the cavity just to grease the shaft/spacer. I use anti-seize. But if you could keep grease in your mower bearings they will probably last until the deck rusts away. Once a year I use a needle greaser to add grease. 360 hours/12 years and still going. The bearings are 6204-2RS. 2RS= double sealed. Cheers.

Thanks! The only thing I would do differently would be to pack bearings by hand and fill the cavity with grease while I could. That way it would not take very many strokes with grease gun to keep the bearings full when doing regular maintenance.

I did this to my '66 cub cadet deck idler pulley. Everyone thought I was nuts. That was 20+ years ago, and it's still mowing.

I said something to my local John Deere dealer about these bearings being sealed and he was not happy. To bad. He said I hate social media. I said I don't, This is how I find out things they don't want me to know. Now I service my own mower.

The zero fitting is there to grease the grease the inside of the spindle house to keep WATER OUT. As a mechanic for over 45 years I replace spindle housings all the time in mower decks from damage and water. Many when you grease them you can see it push the water put past the bearings. Sealed bearings will run for years if you keep the water out. And NEVER WASH A HOT MOWER DECK.

Hey Jim, I have a lot of respect and admiration towards you. I love the fact that your intention is to share knowledge. However, when someone comments that your input might be wrong, you humbly thanks that person and advices all viewers to read all comments. You are a good man! Keep up the good work. God bless you!

Thank you so much for this instructive video! I purchased a JD 345 with a 42" deck 2 seasons ago, and need to pull the deck prior to the first mowing this spring .... I'm def going to service the bearings prior to reinstalling. I've been a JD owner for decades, and never knew till recently that "sealed bearings" couid even be serviced! I've learned thru you and others that they can! I'm wondering how many bearings over the years I could've saved by simply tearing into them!! Thanks again. P.S. it's refreshing to hear a guy put a video together without putting up with the foul language!! You are obviously a man with some moral ethics .... KUDOS, and thnx again!

I’m happy you are showing how to make them last 10 plus years and keep them greased

a grease gun puts out 10 000 psi. them covers will not stop it , thats what they are loose fitting dust covers , not seals , pump grease until you see it come out ends of spindles it will go threw bearing like the covers are not even there , thats how they are designed to work , no need to remove bearings to remove covers , it will take 40-50 pumps to fill when new and like 6-8 when maintaining them to purge contaminated grease out and fill berrings with new grease , remember every time you remove them berrings the soft aluminum spindle. gets egged out a bit and before you know it you will have a spun bearing and your spindles will be junk , you will then have to peen the bearing in and use some loc tight bearing retainer

I don't have that problem. Here in the PA Pocono mountains we grow nothing but many sizes of rocks. Each winter they grow. I brake spindle mounts before the grease wears out.

Pack the bearing before reinstall.

Hello Jim. I have to change the bearings in my Shivvers Country Clipper zero turn about every 4 years. I have tried putting the new ones in with the seals intact, and also with the inner seals removed so that new grease reaches the bearing cage. There doesn't seem to be much difference in overall longevity either way. I will recommend that if you choose to keep the seals intact, you should not "over grease" the spindles, as the grease pressure will push the inner seals into the ball cage and the bearing will soon be toast. This will happen even if the spindle is equipped with pressure relief vents. They don't open until the pressure reaches 5 psi, which is still too much force for the seal to not be damaged. A very good video. You do a great service to the home DIY guys. Thanks for sharing.

Very good video on explaining on how most bearings have seals on both ends.

Great Video Jim! You talked+ walked through step by step - A+! TKS MUCH! DON!

I was waiting for you to pack the bearing with grease before ya installed them back in

Man, I am new to the channel and wanted to thank you for the video on the deck adjustment. I just bought a John Deere LA 105, needed some adjustment. Thanks for showing how to do it the right way.

Thanks for your videos... I just greased we’ll attempted to grease mine yesterday...guess I’ll need to do this change to make it really stick. Thanks again keep the vids rolling God bless as well

My John Deere spindle bearings are: 1. top bearing sealed, 2. bottom bearing open on the side that is facing into the grease area, and the bottom of it is sealed. I can understand why they did it this way. A. If the top bearing is open on the side facing the grease, there's a chance that, when the bearing warms up, the grease will gradually drain out of it and cause it to run dry. A sealed top bearing is far more reliable than an open one, B. Having the bottom bearing open on the side facing the grease area, can be filled with the grease when a grease gun is used to fill the cavity. Leaving the bottom side seal intact prevents the grease from running out and it seals the bearing from moisture and debris. The truth is, most homeowners never bother to grease these spindles, just run them until they fail. Nowadays, a generic replacement spindle is about $25 (2021 price), so it's not such a big expense to just replace the entire spindle assembly when the old one fails and starts making noise. And, it's a good time to clean the spindle mounting area on the deck and spray a little paint on it to help prevent rust.

Thank you so much, I may have to watch this several times to get the total concept, but that's ok. Appreciate

**Please read the comments before you change your bearings if i would do this again i think i would just repack the top bearing and put the seal back on and maybe still take the seal off the bottom bearing. Here are some of the things i used hope this helps some of you out. Thank you very much for watching, please leave a comment and thumbs up it helps You tube promote my videos. grease gun amzn.to/3hCZdBk grease high temp amzn.to/3jQxSxF impact wrench amzn.to/2BxsGx5 impact sockets amzn.to/3hFPkmy Thank you very much for watching and God bless *Full transparency. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

I just redid everything on the mower deck. On the D125. After ten years of beating the crap out of it. I never even greased anything ever. only changed the motor oil. What I found was the two spindle pulleys the 7" dia ones were starting to strip out their centers.The spindles had like 1/16 play on the shaft . I replaced both spindles, and both pulleys neither of those pulleys had much wear in them, and deck belt, I've replaced the deck belt like three times now.I must have put six sets of blades on this D125. Rocks are hell on blades. I just replace the drive belt for the first time. I also had to straighten out the mower deck, ,as I had bent it int so much the blades hit it. Yes I truley beat this thing up. My thought is simple, I won't touch those bearings at all. I think If you grease the spindle the force of a grease gun wii force grease into those bearings. If nothing else the grease in those bearings can't go out either.The spindle cavity if full of grease and pressurized bye the grease gun. Maybe it works past those seals? Bottom line I'm not going to disassemble those spindles. I'll replace the entire unit, if it gets play into them.

Very informative show of displaying full pully pulling , checking pulls bearing n greasing n reinstallation with a good video. Thanks buddy.

What I really want is solid rubber tires for a D125. Ones that can never go flat. Everything in Arizona has thorns, big thorns. I'm tired of flat tires. I air up this D125 every time I use it.

Its not just John deer. My cub cadit didnt have the tube inside and the inside of thd grease chamber was as large as yours Without pumping 4oz or a full tube of grease into both or all three spindels your berring could never get greased. Me i hand packed them full took off all the pullies and hand packed the berrings. See 3 winters ago i took off the deck to fit the snow blower on then wShed the deck and put it away for winter figuring it would dry out. Well it was dry the next spring but so were the berrings they made all kinds of niose loud very loud. Thats when i took it all apart and added a high temp high speed grease after running with the PTO on for a few min it got quite agine Sure the berrings got some dammage but i didnt run it very long just a few min, so it was only some rust wd49 fixed that. No problems after 3 summer seasons. And i did take the dust caps off thd berrings you pump more grease in untill it pushes some out both sides. Thd ideler pullies have to be done by hand each one new is about 35 bucks. And you cant replace the berrings its welded togather john deers are rivited thoses you can dril out the rivits and put short bolts and nuts in. Look on youtube somone shows how. Why would you spend 50 bucks to replace a 2 dollar berring

I have several things that run that style bearing and most aren’t where I can use a zerk fitting to help in any way. I usually pull the bearings out every so often and pop at least one if not both seals out and repack the bearing then replace the seals and reinstall. Sometimes it’s a royal pain to do it but it has drastically reduced the number of bearings I’ve had to replace.

Purchased my simplicity 25 years ago ,been greasing spindles once a season since ,never had problems ,never apart !

I have a 6 ft. mowing deck by Landpride. Last summer I replaced all the spindles, pulleys as one big unit, and I believe I have three or four of those spindle units that wore out. To think the bearings are sealed when you have a grease fitting to shoot grease in is a joke on us. So greasing doesn't do a thing because the seal shields it. But even taking the seal off doesn't do much either because grease follows gravity down and can never reach upwards and stay there to feed the bearings. If I were you, I would have greased the bearings by hand, then reinstalled them, and not expect the grease to revitalize those bearings when you pull the trigger.. It''s the same as doing a automotive brake job. When the bearings are good, clean them up, and repack the bearings with a glob of grease in the palm of your hand, and slap the bearings into that glob to force all the grease it can take. I'm not sure if removing the plastic cover resolves the problem of the bearings finally getting all the grease it needs. So then what is the purpose of designing zerk grease fittings into a lawn mower that does no good. It gives you a peace of mind when you decide to buy the mowing deck, until you get to that ah-hah moment years later when you realize it didn't matter. It's a marketing ploy and a design flaw.

I had to replace my bearings and spindles. I pumped them so full of grease that it was hydraulically pushing against the bearings and housing. So now I take out both seals on the bottom and the inside of the top. Also, if you go to an industrial bearing supply, you can get a stronger bearing for just a few dollars more. A bearing designed to last years in a factory will last you for a decade.

Very good video. I learned a lot. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with guys like me that aren't very mechanically monded. We need a lt of help Brother! God Bless your channel. May it prosper and grow as your spirit grows.

The whole purpose of the sealed bearings is to keep the grease in and the water out, when the grease is gone, or they get water in them and fail, its time for new bearings. They likely just put the grease fitting there to appease those who felt they needed to grease the spindles. The bearings in my spindles are original from 1995 and still going strong. I pulled them out and repacked them about 8 years ago with some synthetic grease when I repainted the deck.

Great video man thx. Many people grease the fitting on the spindle and don't realize the bearing is sealed and gets no grease.

I've been working on centrifugal pumps for many years, nothing kills a ball bearing quicker than over greasing.

I think the grease would have by passed the rubber shield IF the spindle had been injected with enough grease to fill it and pressurize it. Works for me. Fill'r up!

You still need to drill a pressure relief hole in the spindle housing opposite the grease fitting to let out the pressure when greasing the spindles. As soon as the relief hole starts squirting grease the spindle is full and your ready to go. If you do not have a relief hole in the spindle housing you run the risk of blowing out the other seal on your bearing do to excessive pressure on it without a relief hole. Make the relief hole 1/16" in size to 1/8".

You did good job on the video Sir, after a few years of messing with bearing I will give one piece of advise.Always press or tap the bearing in place by the outer race.When you tap on the inner it can damage the balls and cause it to over heat and jam up.Learned the hard way and burt a belt up.

brilliantly explanatory video ! thank you

I appreciate the video, gives me something to think about when I check out the spendal towers on my John Deere mower! God bless and keep you safe!👍

Jeff Webb Perfect answer from another man that spent many years with bearings always wet ,water soaked.

Great video man! Gonna do what you said about taking the top of the bearing off. You do a great step by step procedure-taking nothing for granted.

Just fixed my jd 165x thanks for the help. 3 beers for you..😁😁😁

depends on the particular bearing about the seal....the easily removed plastic seals are not really good seals and some grease/oil will pass through. Then there are the bearings with metal seals, they tend to seal better but also will allow some passage of oils from the grease. I have a John Deere mower bought new in 1997, it has the exact same set up for the mower deck you are showing here. The bearing type is metal seal, I know because today I took one spindle apart so I could get bearing size to order new ones. I have always pumped grease as regular service and just now I am getting some bearing play on one spindle. This mower has seen several thousand hours of mowing, heavy mowing for a lot of it. When I replace the bearings I am going to remove the seal on the inside face of the bearings, that will allow grease into the bearing. I will not drill a weep hole, I want to assure that pressured grease reaches into both bearings, even if the remaining outer seal ruptures. I regularly grease the spindles anyway so the bearings would be flushed often if and when a seal gives way to grease pressure. I have been doing that kind of modification for bearings on all kinds of machinery since the 1960's and it works superbly.

Alternately, you can schmoosh grease into the bearings themselves and the put the cover back on. It's more work compared to leaving them off and using a grease gun in the future, but it helps keep them clean and from getting sand or other particles in them over the years Also, at least for the top bearing that has a removable cover that is outward facing, you don't have to completely remove them like you did - just remove the cover, push in some grease, and put the cover back in. Gotta love applying the knowledge I gained skateboarding to fixing tractors 😉

What genius engineer designed that!

The way the guy at the bearing supply explained to me : metal shield are designed so metal shield does not contact metal race so grease may flow past. Plastic , rubber whatever is designed for a contact seal. . So following that ,if you want to be able to re-grease maybe for bottom bearing put metal down (to "vent" and remove upper seal of that bearing. My limited experience is the top bearing can last a long time (25 year old DR field and brush mower, still good factory top bearing) so, seems like leaving top as sealed is OK. I am going to leave both mine as sealed

Good show!

I am so glad I found your site... Your videos are so well explained... I just finished making the ramps following your video. Without it forget it... Also I’m brand new to John Deere and again I’ve learned so much from your videos... it’s my first ever lawn tractor... my wife bought it for me cause I’ve had two back surgeries and I can’t walk to good... Anyway Jim, thanks so much and god bless my friend... you have a fan for life... Raymond...

I watched a video of another guy who demonstrated how the grease DOES get in the bearings if you pump enough in there because it penetrates the rubber seal I also wonder why not pack your bearings with grease when you had them out then reseal ? but I do enjoy your videos of your know how and maitenace so good job keep going

Here I Sit At 3:00 AM Unable To Sleep Because I Have Things On My Mind And Then I Watch This Video About The Bearings In Mower Deck Needing To Be Greased. Just Something Else For Me To Worry About. Thank You For An Informative Video.

Great job on the video. Instead of fill that void with grease I pop my bearings out, take off the seals, clean and repack the bearings. Then I put the seals back on. At the first sign of wear I replace the bearings. Regular price at Princess Auto is $4.99 and they go on sale for 1/2 price. 6203-2RS & 6204-2RS. Take Hans Nielsen advice for installing the bearing. Thanks for your time on making this video.

Thanks for the info and insight. Your details really help!

So the spindles are set up the same as a motorbike wheel hub. Love understanding how things work :)

If that motor turns 3600 rpm, in an hour long cut the bearings have spun over 200k times. In a season that's many millions. In the first cutting season of my E140 one of the spindle bearings went out and I didn't notice (headphones on) until it allowed the pully to drop and it ate one of the mounting screws down to the deck. The pieces of the bearing were spread across my yard lol and I greased after every cut but apparently the grease wasn't getting to the bearing. It was a busy summer so I replaced the entire spindle but I'm now changing them and packing the new bearings. Thanks for the video.

I'm glad I saw this video ty,I will be doing the same on my John deere

John Deere isn't the only company that made this mistake. I just changed the center spindle on my 7117 Simplicity with the very same issues. An oldie but still going strong!

IDK, but it's rare that I find a manufacturer makes a mistake like that (unless it's a Chinese company) and would think that there is a good reason the bearings were sealed.

Thank you for the video. Blessings to you.

My mower is 11 years old, never had trouble, don't send me fishing for trouble !

Very well done Thanks

I appreciate the video. I would leave the sealed bearings sealed .I'd like to see if the greased unsealed bearings actually last longer

Nice video thanks for the help.

I saw a YT video that showed the grease gets pumped thru the bearing past the seals, and comes out the other side. Bearing were sealed on both sides, and he showed a inside of the bearing before and after pumping, and the new different color grease came thru. Don't recall the link, but the seals flex enough to let grease get pumped past them. And the seals did not pop off and stay out of place. Was surprising.

Thanks! Very helpful & thorough...

I used to think the same, but completely filling the housing with grease will push grease right past the seals, in one side and out the other on both top and bottom bearings. Try it yourself.

Great information, thank you

Thanks for the update

Another excellent video. Another step could be to pack the bearings by hand then reinstall. Sort of belt and suspenders.

Excellent video! I just had one of my spindles ware out after 150 hours. I'll replace both and remove the seals in both and hope I do better than 150 hours. Thanks !

awesome job

I suggest using the same grease as is intended for the bearings in boat trailers. It repels water.

You could use Timken sealed replacement bearings and not worry about greasing them. That's my plan once mine wear out because I know I'm not going to think about greasing the zerks every year. Good video. Thanks.

Very well explained & videoed Thanks.

Bought a John Deere S130 last fall, so starting to get into maintaining it. Recently greased the front wheel hubs, steering spindles and front axle pivot and was undecided on whether or not to grease the blade spindles. I watched a few videos on the subject along with this one and found the videos and the comments to be very interesting. At first, it made sense not to grease the spindles since the bearings are sealed, figuring to add bearing grease as necessary down the road. The argument for no spindle greasing was supported by the fact that some spindles have no grease zerks at all. Then, some suggest (like your video) to remove the inside covers on the bearings to allow periodic packing of the bearings by filling the spindles. Initially, I gave consideration to this idea until I investigated a little further. One reason against this was the possibility of gravity pulling the grease out of the top bearing. Another was the possibility of popping the outside bearing covers off due to the pressure of overfilling the spindles. Right or wrong, I figured this procedure might add to the possibility of moisture and debris contamination of the bearings, especially if drilling weep holes in the spindle to avoid over pressurizing. So back to thinking not to add grease until I read that keeping grease in the spindle keeps moisture out, avoiding any rusting of the shaft and spacer. Also, reading that the intent of adding grease to the spindle is to keep the friction down thus lowering the operating temperature. Decision made right! Not so fast. I was under the impression that my new John Deere S130 no doubtably had zerks on the spindles, right? WRONG, hadn’t noticed before now, but NO, there are no blade spindle zerks on my 2021 S130. (See updated reply)

I wud hv jst packed those bearings and replace the seal. Also, drop a good load of grease in the spindle housing. My tractor is 7 years old and hvn't had a problem with bearings. NEVER use water or pressure washer to clean off deck. Just use compressor to blow off the grass

I've been modifying these bearings and spindle housings for years. Yes the bearings do get grease and the decks rust away before the bearings fail. If you're afraid do do something you won't accomplish anything.

Nice video - many thanks!

Grrr8 Job !!! Thx!

Dummer & Dummer designed a greasable spindle and used sealed bearing ! Brilliant 😮

Thanks for sharing.

The seals are not a problem, it's the lack of grease pumped into the spindle to fill the cavity at manufacturing. With enough grease in the spindle all that is required is a few pumps once a year and the grease will pass through the seals and lubricate the bearings.

Nice job.

Great vid.

The bearings with the plastic seal that covers the bearings can be popped off to repack the bearing, after about 2 to 3 years the grease breaks down, yes even high temp grease. Bearings should be repacked, but NOT left open to the elements. Jeff Webb is 100% correct the grease fitting isn't for the bearings it's for the shaft because it's a friction point. On a side note if the bearings look slightly different it's because they are, on that plastic seal is a Alpha numerical code that says what type of bearing it is. Many times you can purchase new bearings for a fraction of the cost that the Lawn mower company is selling by ordering new bearings with that code. I cringed when he pounded the new bearing in with a hammer, always use a block of wood and a hammer.

Well done in every respect!

I only got 130 hrs on my 1st set of John Deere spindles on my X300. By the time the bearing went it chewed up the spindle casing below making the blade wobble. The 2nd set I greased about 60 pumps until grease was visible on the blade side. A RU-vid channel showed someone testing the theory whether grease gets into a sealed bearing and it does. Proven with a different colour grease. Hopefully my new spindles last longer this time. If this pair goes on me then the next set I will take apart and hand grease them 1st and after that, once a yr at the zerk fitting.

I just filled up the void with grease until it started squeezing out of the bearings. No need to remove the seals, the pressure from the grease gun is more than enough to push past the seal. It's quite a bit of grease... about 150 pumps with my grease gun. I'm not really positive that it's worth it, I don't know how much more life I will get out of the bearings because of that, but I guess it can't hurt.

great video. Thanks

I always regrease them before reinstalling and use marine grease. Water and moisture does not bother it.

My grease fitting is on top of shaft so I dont think my Craftsman has that metal tube inside spindle but I can see how it would help force grease into bearings that way, if there wasn't any seals. Good info thanks for posting!!!

Very helpful, thanks.

Thank you brother

I replaced the open bearings with sealed (metal not plastic) bearings about 500 hours ago. I don't see the need to grease the bearings when a good bearing will last and not need to be greased. I sourced the *Fafnir bearing (about $6 each) and they have been great.

When mower is new, pull the bearings so you can pack the bearing with grease, put the seals back on, and just pick up new bearings in the packs, that you can pre pack, and change the bearing out at the end of the season to new ones that have been pre-packed with more grease from the start. Hence in order for the top bearing to get any new grease, even with the seal removed, would have to fill the entire void area with grease until the grease flowed out the top bearing seal, while as the grease gets hot, will flow downwards out of the bottom seal to just be slug over and over again (and kill some grass), leaving the top bearing dry, and costing way more in grease by the tube, then it would cost to replace the bearing each year instead.

That’s crazy that jd designers did it like that I have one that is over 20 years old. I will definitely do this to it. Thanks

see a vid called "don't trust the experts grease your mower deck sealed spindle bearings common sense maintenance" . you've got to completely fill the housing w/grease though .

That was great thank you

I think the sealed bearings are the best way to go. Without the seal the grease spins out. The grease zerk it to lube the spacer and shaft inside the spindle housing. For residential use My bearings are going on 6 years no problem. Commercial users need to buy HD Mowers.

It was proven in another video that grease in fact gets past the seals if you pump in about 60 or 70 pumps from your grease gun. No need to do any disassembly. Just pump up the grease fitting until grease oozes out each end.

Good video. Thanks