Finally! A guy who knows his stuff and is willing to pass it on to others. Thank you sir!

Now I know ! Other than the info, no irritating music, no self promotion, just what it is, why it is and what to do ! A good job makes the best info videos. Thanks !

Just finished my deck rebuild and thanks to your video, it went very well. You can use 1 1/2 by 4 inch nipple with a cap as a perfect fit your bearings. Thanks again for sharing.

Glen, you are absolutely correct! I replaced mine last year on my Scrub Reject last year and they have already failed, and I did pump grease into them. I pulled one of my spindles apart and sure enough the bearings were sealed. The grease I pumped in did absolutely nothing for the bearing. Thank you for your expertise.

I never saw anyone use WD-40 on a Tap before. Makes a LOT of sense. I'll have to remember this. Thanks, Glen! I had a theory that adding a weep hole to know when the spindle was full, but your pre-tapped 8-32 screw for sealing is much better than what I thought of. Thanks again! I guess a 6-32 screw would work just as well, but add a littler more weep resistance to help pack the bearings. 4-40 might be OK, too. I think I'll drill both holes on the same side, and mount the two spindles with Zerk and weep screw facing outward for easy access to both. I have watched a lot of these, and I found you on my second go round today while looking for how to safely remove the bearings to be able to the use new ones on new spindles, but I think this video of yours is the best one I've seen yet. Now I also know how to get replacement bearing numbers. My spindles have two sizes each, with a larger one where the blade attaches. Mine look like your AYP, so there's plenty of height for both holes on the same side. Glen, the shaft and pulley spun faster before adding grease. I wonder if your 6-32 screw is too long and pressing on the internal spacer. Or is it the grease slowing down free spinning? I needed a Love This button for this one! Thank you so much, Glen!!!

You make things easy to understand. And your low-keyed voice is calming. Appreciated.

Great job showing and telling, good old Texas been there did that as a trucker good people out there. I from Tennessee on the East side next to the hills. Well thanks for showing on them spindles,I heard about doing that to the spindles but not see it. So I’ll do that to mine, and see if it works i sure it will work. So thanks again for showing telling y’all have a great day and we’ll see ya next time see ya bye.

Love it; you rock!!!❤❤❤❤❤ Thank God an honest man showing an easy way to make the original design alot better!❤ drill sizes and thread sizes are key!!!! I livevyou man!!!!!! I FIRED MY LAWN REPAIR SHOP YESTERDAY! THEY HAVE NO HEART; YOU HAVE WHAT THEY DON'T❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

I did this to my cub cadet just in time. Mine sounded good before but after was great. Really smooth

Great video Glenn. I believe the 2RS stands for 2 'rubber shields'. Bless Your Bunions!

you could use a (zerkstyle) pressure relief valve instead of the weep hole bolt. they come in different low pressures. that would stop excessive pressure build up and not allow it to blow the seals out. and you don't have to take the bolt out when you grease the spindle.

Thanks, I just bought a ZT1 50 a couple of weeks ago and have been watching videos on this problem. Now I will make sure mine is not going to give me any problems.

my friend that just earned a new subscriber, my spindle just destroyed it's lower bearing, as in blew it apart. the mower has a grand total of 74 hours on it, no zerq from the factory, new ones on order and I will be doing just as you have taught me. I am forever in your debt! thank you very much kind sir!

Excellent Glen this is a prime example of the usefulness of KZfaq and its educational benefits. I’m off to disassemble my mower deck. Thank you

I've done this with my cub cadet zero turn replacement spindles. Took apart three brand new spindles, removed one side dust seal on both bearings, tapped weep hole, added 10-24 screw, filled with grease, very solid, should last a good long time.

Great video, only thing I would do differently is to go ahead and pre- pack the bearings before I re- install them .

If I were to do this, I would first mark the ideal spot so you had grease gun access to the Zerk. Second and most important I would us a quality grease perhaps old fashioned Front Wheel Bearing Grease and firmly pack the new bearings *BEFORE* installation. It takes a lot of grease to fill that cavity if indeed you got all the air out. Vents are normally at the top - again check for installed access and there is no guarantee you have all the air out. It would be interesting to disassemble this Spindle after greasing to see how well it performed. Simply Repacking NEW Bearings and replacing the seal seems like a good idea as well.

THANKS, you're a lot smarter than the people who made the other videos I've watched!

You are a god send my friend! The way they should have been made in the first place!!! You are right that so many things are engineered to fail in order to make money!

I started hearing one of the deck spindle bearings going out on my Husqvarna lawn tractor. The top bearing had the seal on both sides, but the bottom bearing had the inner seal removed. The top bearing was the one that was failing. I took the other spindles apart and fixed them while I had the deck off the tractor. Good job explaining how to do this upgrade.

I appreciate you sharing your expertise in how to overcome the industry's engineered obsolescence of parts, while also saving us money and future headaches. Bravo!!

Awsome information dude! The lawnmower repair shops have gouged me by way overcharging and underperformed!

amazing work my friend, those spindles DO NOT come cheap, I don't care what anyone says... I rather rebuild the OEM spindles than buying 3 or 4 new ones in the future.

First video I have seen that gets the zerk fitting relationship correct. You have to have the pressure vent as well as the zerk! A note of personal preference, I like to put the zerk in as close to the blade-side bearing as possible and the vent as close to the pulley side bearing as possible. Keep in mind it's a personal preference, the grease will still follow the conservation of energy law i.e. the path of least resistance. Because of the greases viscosity it won't "push" out the vent hole until the internal void is full. Great video and good job to the author!

Good advice ! They figure out how to make it. Then they figure out how to make it break ! Those seals will not take very little pressure to push them out . Do like the man just suggested "!" The 1/4" weep hole is a must or the grease will push the upper ones out . BTW, " Great video ..

Planned obsolescence is the name of the game and most company's do this in some way shape or form. Thank you for the tutorial on this as I will def be doing this myself.

I buy the replacement bearings at Greenville Bearing, and to heck with using MTD parts, that way I get Timkin bearings at a much better price, and I know that they're a quality bearing not something from China or Thailand. I must have missed this video somehow, and then come by it randomly.. I was searching for the best way to replace drive belt on cub cadet Zforce 60" deck with the steering wheel version. Buddy of mine smoked the drive belt when it got a small twig caught on between the pully and the belt. He works 6 days a week 10 hours a day, and typically his tormentor has more things planned for him to do than two men could get done with one day off. So I try to give him a hand when I get a chance, but generally try not to let the Evil one know, as we don't exactly see things from the same prospective. As I tend to not tolerate her hateful ways, and she's got a mouth that two bars of Lava soap couldn't clean up if they were both brand new unopened bars. I figured this little secret out long time ago when I had one eat the spindle housing up due to bearing locking up on my dad's old mower way back before he passed in 98. I knew he'd always made a point to grease them at least 3 times a year, and when he called asking me to come by and get the pieces so I could pick up a new one for him. I got to looking at the different pieces, and believe it was a sears parts store over in Garland that had the whole thing. I asked the counter man if he just sold the spindle housing and the bearings. He looked it up on old micro fish system they had a got a funny look on his face. He asked me how I knew that, because up until that moment he'd never realized that they carried everything to build a complete spindle setup. Then he surprised us both, because he added the cost of each component that made the whole thing. He says, you ain't gonna believe this, because I don't. I can sell you everything separately cheaper than assembled by a good percentage at that. That is the day I knew that we were being scammed big time by the manufacturers. That's before everyone realized MTD, was actually building multiple brands from a general stock of pieces with the exception of the big boys like JD, Troy built, craftsman, and cub cadet who had priority parts exclusive to them, but MTD did the assembly. Then you could mix and match parts from the lower end brands to get the same parts, but at a very reduced price compared to a bigger name if you did you're homework. Glenn I still amazed that you do this for people, because it has seriously got to have a effect on your profits by a fairly hefty percentage my friend. I know I've said this a hundred times, but I really need to stop by and tell you thank you in person, because I've definitely picked up a good bit of knowledge from you that I know cost you are someone around Greenville some profits. I still chuckle every time I hear someone fussing about gophers and such. Now if you ever come up with a way to run crayfish off without a chunk of bacon an a string, because I'm pure tired of those concrete castles they live under.

You are awesome. I just bought this cub cadet brand new and I’m going to do this to it , I’m not even going to use it until I know I got lots of grease there at all times !

I appreciate the video fella saved my brother inlaw some money he thought he needed a new mower he always wants to replace it instead of fix it.

A truly talented and gracious instructor,willing to explain this in easy to understand steps. Oh and the pressure relief hole is so you don’t have so much pressure to blow the bearings out the ends of spindle. Great job

Excellent video. Sadly, most folks purchasing a riding mower from a big box store these days don't even know what a grease gun is. Fortunately, for the rest of us, this is an easy and inexpensive solution that will keep your deck spindles in great shape for years to come.

Drilling a couple of 1/8" holes in the center spacer will assist in dispersing the grease. It will also prevent the shaft from being galled or rusted.

Thank you for your video, I been wanting to add grease fittings to my craftsman mower deck spindles

Another excellent video by Glenn! Last week adjusted valve's on my Kohler 7000 series engine thanks to Glenn's other video on proper valve adjustment. Engine runs very smooth and strong. Thanks for sharing your lifetime of acquired knowledge Glenn. My next project may very well be rebuilding my spindles after viewing your video.

Love this video. I can’t get the shaft to come out of the housing though. I think I need a bigger hammer.

Thanks for doing this and posting your video. It helps the guy in the backyard who needs to see how repairs can be made instead of just buying more parts. Thanks again from Joe in Ohio .....PS. Very straight forward in your explanations !!

Thank you SO MUCH! this is awesome. We do not have a good lawnmower shop near me any longer, and I need to replace the spindles on my TB Pony.

Good idea hats off to ya. Got one thing to add they have spring loaded vents have used for long time. They will release the grease so not to put too much. Then they seal up with the spring loaded. To be honest I forgot about these things lol till I watched this. Thanks.

Alright straight forward video . Thank you

great video, explaining step by step on how to replace the sealed bearings mower deck came with. saves about $110 in parts and labor. thanks!

Great video! Wish all rebuild videos were like this!

Thanks man my cub cadet one just went out after 5 years. Grinding and shaft moving up and down.

Great Video I am doing this today to my 15 Year Old Cub Cadet RZT 50 Today Thanks for the Video !!!!!!!!!!!

Many thanks indeed for such an informative and truly helpful video - I've just bought some new spindles, as I'm sure at least one shaft was bent. I will be removing the inner seals and tapping in a weep hole screw on each new housing, as the hole has been left open. Many thanks again, all the best!

Excellent video sir. Just followed your advice on my 3 cub cadet spindles today. Those old ones were rough!

Thank YOU! I was on my 4th set in 6 years! Got new ones sitting in front of me. Just need to get the zerc fittings…

I was about to do something quite similar. I know that these bearings are made from cheap Chineseium and are designed to fail. (We may all thank General Motors for starting the planned obsolescence thing in 1965!) I was going to make a similar modification to the bearings proper by installing a zerk fitting in the housing and drilling a hole into the bearing housing that would match. Then the bearings would be serviced directly. However, that would require doing it twice to each spindle. The risk of popping out the seal would be considerable and annoying. This method does require a significantly larger amount of grease but, once filled, it would not require too much to replace any lost in usage. The alternative would be to just bite the bullet and replace the bearings every few years. This appears to be a very good alternative and money saver. The prerequisite is that one should take the chance to replace the bearings with higher quality units from Timken, SKF, or similar brands while making this modification. Thank you for a very well done and valuable video!

Nice job , doing what you did make the bearings last a lot longer .

Nicely Done!...Replacement Bearings that size are also available with a metal shield on one side which would be even better. I would think you would want to hunt out the right location for the zerk fitting to ensure you can reach it with a grease gun fitting once the spindle is installed in the deck and the deck is back in the mower..

Well done!

Best video on the topic. Thank you!

Nice! Neat! And fast! The whole video is a pure and simple work of craft art!

good idea my dad had shown me that when i was a teenager back in 60s when sealed was just coming out and i have passed it along to my boys also simple ideas last forever

Wow we came from Greenville, Tx after moving there years ago wow. Great video! Just bought a 54" Lesco Commercial Plus and it's time to do this. Looks fairly straight forward too

Thanks. Very well done video. Everything was well explained, and your demeanor is extremely smooth.

That was a very simple video with good information thank you

Been doing that for twenty plus years only I don't have a weep hole, I pump grease till it seeps put around the seal.

Great video Glen ! I have a JDZ425 with same bearings 6204-2RS . Have a good 1 down there in the Lone star . I have kin over in Waco

Thank you

Thanks for the super informative video. I never knew I could just swap out the bearings until now.

Thank you for the tutorial. Must do change out mine are really bad.

this is the video I have seen, 5 start ,excellent.

Excellent tutorial. I don't think my Cub Cadet has grease fittings, so this is great. Can someone provide specific information on the drill bit, tap, and screw for the weep hole. Thanks.

Great video just replace one of the bearings on my machines works just fine now thank you once again👍👍

I really enjoyed this video! Lots of very clear information. Loved it!

Nice clean work there brother! Excellent video!!!

Worked for Deere for 15 years...some of the higher end models had bearings that weren't sealed on both sides.. The more consumer end cheaper models did not!! The bearings that are open to the inside are a small investment compared to a toasted spindle!!

Awesome, just make sure wipe inside if housing good to make sure there are no metal chips inside, that would ruin new barring s quick

Thanx for the info, I’ll be doin this on my ztr.

Outstanding video sir! Thank you.

Liked and subscribed. Great info and I appreciate it.

F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S video. Covered so much info that I needed.

Here's one for MTD.... I have a 55 year old lawn mower that has the original spindles and they're still good... How's that

Excellent video, really good content, liked the way you presented it! God bless and keep you safe!👍

very very good instructions. thank you SIRRRRRRR👍

Great video thanks for sharing

Thanks! PS... new spindles are sent dry without grease... each spindle took about 100 pumps!

Great video

Great Video...Saved me a lot of time...Thanks

Very good and well explained video, but, if the bearings on each end will take care of the spinning, why do we have to grease the middle, which touches nothing, I think.

Outstanding!

Most grease zerks are 1/4-28 thread, use the appropriate tap for your zerk.

# 7 drill bit for 1/4-20 tap !

Very well explained going to do that to mine

Very good info and great video thank ya sir..

Been doing this for years.

Thanks a lot for the wonderful video.

amazing, definitely doing this with the new ones i just ordered off amazon probably cheap chinese junk but i guess all of it is really

Good stuff. ,Thanks

What a great informative video. Thank You!

Helped me alot, my guy. I appreciate it.

Thanks for sharing this!

Thank you buddy that was a good idea

Thanks

very well done and right on point. nice job!

Well explained ,

Very Good!

You can buy pressure relief plugs that are spring loaded. Think reverse zero fitting. Probably a 1/8 pipe thread.

Good morning. I have watched alot of videos-i like the idea of the weep hole and was wondering what grease you do recommend though. I just bought a used deck for my older John Deere- i didn’t think there was a grease fitting but there is- and like the idea of removing 1 side of the bearing cover- makes alot of sense! Thank you and have a good day

Very informative and the best one I've seen on rebuilding spindles. QUESTION: I have the newer model ZT1 54" with the "S" Blades (490 110 C194) which are very expensive. I would like to swap out the 3 "S" spindles (618P09236) for the Star Spindle which offers a better selection of Blades at a much lower price. Like the Oregon 3 gator blade. They don't make any for the "S" blades. Any one know of a switch over spindle that will work? Yours in the video look very similar.