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!

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!

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

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

Thanks for showing support and leaving a comment. Appreciate you good sir.

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.

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

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 !

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 KZfaq 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 KZfaq 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

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

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

Thanks for taking time to leave a positive comment. I’m very glad it helped.

Once you know that is fully greased it will just take a few pump the next tine.

you won't regret it, thanks for the comment.

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.

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.

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.

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, 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.

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.

God luck and glad you can ride and mow!!! Thanks for the comment.

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 KZfaq 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! 😉

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!

Thanks for the positive comment.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Happy to do it and greatly appreciate when someone finds the information useful. Thats was my motivation.

Thanks for the positive vibes. I love to see when someone appreciates the information. Funny to me some folks argue and say this won’t work. It just boggles my mind when it’s something that anybody can test for themselves.

@@GTObearclaw1 Hey, Brother' because of you...... Our mower' a Cub Cadet a few year's old now, is back to working fine. Like you showed, it was mostly a simple fix. Please keep up the great work. There will always be the 2% that disagree. But that's life, I guess. We thank you, VERY MUCH!!!

Thanks, I’m no longer holding current certification but I was ASE master tech certified for many years. Appreciate the comment.

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.

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.

Makes you wonder.

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.

As usual an expert with advice we can simply throw into the trash. Those seals won’t hold 500psi that’s an absurd number. You are way off track and probably comparing what you know about some other bearings. Have you ever had one of these type of mandrel bearings in you hand to visually inspect? Just because someone is an engineer does not know they know everything. Especially if they find it necessary to make it known. My experience with engineers leads me the opposite direction. I question everything they do. As a mechanic I see too much absolutely stupid stuff. Yet I don’t see engineers coming out to ask a mechanic if something makes sense. Why not ask the guys who actually fix this stuff? These seals would not be capable of holding 5psi let alone 500. That’s one of the most ridiculous things iv ever heard. This is how these are designed to be greased. If you have t done it and don’t have any experience your not one to give advice. If you have hands on experience with a failure occurring due to greasing the way Iv shown please do share. But not a master yet has any hands on proof. And they most certainly won’t take time to make a video to prove so. Your comment is bogus. The guns can actually reach upwards of 15000psi. That’s not gonna be what goes into these bearings. When you can prove that a seal can be damaged in this application please come back with that evidence. This application will be just fine doing as Iv shown. Caps are installed in a way they can’t push off the bearing. Only the seal of lip lets grease pass.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks, glad you are willing to try it. You won’t be disappointed.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. I appreciate the comments from folks who are willing to try this and keep the bearings healthy. It cost almost nothing. Just a few minutes of time and maybe a few dollars worth of grease could save lots of money on future repairs. And it’s not going to hurt anything. Win win. Thanks again for the comment.

Interesting way to explain it. Iv never really thought about it like that but sure seems simple enough. Hopefully this helps folks.

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.

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.

Scary someone could own a shop and not understand this basic stuff. But Iv found a lot of people want to argue that the Grease can’t reach the bearing. I knew I’d have to prove it so that’s why the video is so long and boring. Lol. Had to prove each step.

Happy to Do It!!’

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.

Thanks for taking time to comment. It’s amazing how many people leave a comment saying it’s impossible to grease the bearings with a shield installed. Lol, I mean after I proved it in a step by step video. It blows my mind.

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.

Glad to do it! Appreciate the comment.

Right. That’s all I could find too so I made this to show how it really works. Thanks

Thanks. I appreciate the comment. Best of luck. It will most certainly help your bearings last.

Maybe so, never really thought about that haha. I’m just disappointed that no lawn mower manufacturer provides this basic and simple information to help the customers get long life from a deck. In reality I know they don’t want them to last.

@@GTObearclaw1 My point exactly!😂😂 It's more about getting as much money from the customers as they can squeeze out ... rather than extending the life of the product! Don't be surprised if they now decide to seal BOTH sides of the bearings with a steel cap ... to make sure we won't be able to get the grease inside!

@@conradb7200 even the bearings with a steel shields have a small rubber flap or better known as the lip. Grease does not need much room so they will Take grease as long as they have a zerk. But I hear what your saying. They already sell Junk. Even the quality brands have downsides. The x series Deere uses crappy plastic hoods that break extremely easy and use really thin vinal on the seat. And other quality brands have similar bad designs.

Sacrifice quality for more profits but in the end I expect it cost more to both the manufacture in loyal customers because it costs the customer more to repair cheep built equipment

Thanks, there are so few of us that can see eye to eye on this topic.

What I was doing here did not require eye protection but I do use safety glasses often.

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!

Thanks!! Appreciate the positive response.

Nice. Appreciate the support. Comments like yours help the folks who are on the fence.

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.

Nice, thanks for sharing. A shame some folks will never believe this. But I have 100% confidence that greasing these assemblies will make the bearings last and not greasing them will result in premature failure. I don’t give one bit of credibility to the folks saying greasing will cause issues and even go a step further and say that mixing grease has never once accused an issue for my equipment. Mixing grease in this application makes no difference. But some folks will argue tooth and nail and never even try this. Sadly they will pay for repairs that could have easily been avoided.

I’m happy to be able to help. Hopfully it saves you some money. And Prevents break downs.