Wow the deck is noisy, Just greased up and still the berings "rumble" is there a better set of berings that are a setp above "Stock"?
Thanks
Thanks
BX1500 Mower Deck. Is there a better, quieter bering set-up?
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Until bearings are failing, noise is rarely from a bearing, even cheap ones.
Far more likely the blades are unbalanced due to wear or impact, or the main spindle shaft is bent from impact, or the belt has a flat spot from slipping, or the belt pulley is bent.
Take the spindle assembly apart that you feel is noisy. Examine the two bearings by hand after thorough cleaning. If they are failing, replaced them with a name brand like SKF or Timken.
Dave
Far more likely the blades are unbalanced due to wear or impact, or the main spindle shaft is bent from impact, or the belt has a flat spot from slipping, or the belt pulley is bent.
Take the spindle assembly apart that you feel is noisy. Examine the two bearings by hand after thorough cleaning. If they are failing, replaced them with a name brand like SKF or Timken.
Dave
^ yes.
Also a damaged, worn, or improperly tensioned deck belt will cause a lot of noise.
My walk behind was rumbling several years ago, and the deck belt was bouncing around. After untold hours of looking at the various components I finally discovered the idler pulley was partially separated because of several failed rivits that hold the two sides of the pulley together. It seemed nice and tight with the belt on, but with the belt off the pulley was almost falling apart.
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Also a damaged, worn, or improperly tensioned deck belt will cause a lot of noise.
My walk behind was rumbling several years ago, and the deck belt was bouncing around. After untold hours of looking at the various components I finally discovered the idler pulley was partially separated because of several failed rivits that hold the two sides of the pulley together. It seemed nice and tight with the belt on, but with the belt off the pulley was almost falling apart.
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If you've never had a spindle apart, you can't imagine why a couple shots of grease do no good. There is enough room in there for half a tube of grease, and I'm talking the big one.
When I grease my spindles (not on a Kubota deck), I pump in grease until I see it coming out the bottom and top. I do it every 20 hours or if I wash the deck off underneath.
One thing. I you ever do replace the spindle bearings, be sure to pull the bearing seal from the bearing on one side and install that pulled side toward the spindle. Countless failures have been from shielded bearings getting no grease because the shield prevents the grease from getting into the bearing.
Idler pulleys are cheap, I bet the noise is an idler (if the spindle bearings aren't shot).
Have no idea how much a spindle assembly is on a Kubota but the spindles complete with bearings on my 60" Cub Tank are 35 bucks each.
One thing. I you ever do replace the spindle bearings, be sure to pull the bearing seal from the bearing on one side and install that pulled side toward the spindle. Countless failures have been from shielded bearings getting no grease because the shield prevents the grease from getting into the bearing.
Idler pulleys are cheap, I bet the noise is an idler (if the spindle bearings aren't shot).
Have no idea how much a spindle assembly is on a Kubota but the spindles complete with bearings on my 60" Cub Tank are 35 bucks each.
I greased my 60” deck last night. I couldn’t believe how much I had to put in. Like 9-10 seconds worth with an electric grease gun until it started combining out the other side. Crazy.
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Just as ipz2222 mentioned, there is the height of the spindle housing with a bearing at the top and bottom. The entire housing has to have grease pumped through it to get grease into the bottom bearing. A fair volume of grease!
If I remember correctly you cannot over grease the spindles.
I think the procedures to put in as much grease in as necessary to see grease come out from the spindle cover on the bottom of the deck. There is a hole in it that lets grease out. I know that’s what I do, or did. Once I had that much grease in, I just gave 10 shots every time I greased the spindles. I try grease them every 10 hours of operation, ten shots each. More is better...
whitetiger
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Take the belt off and spin the outer spindles by hand. If you can hear any noise, replace the bearings. With the belt lose, engage the PTO and listen to the center one. If you can hear a noise it is either the lower bearing or the gearbox. Also, check that the blades are balanced.
Thank You for all the sugesstions! seems I have some work to do this weekend on the deck...
What is the "Shade tree mechanic" way of checking if the blades are balanced?
What is the "Shade tree mechanic" way of checking if the blades are balanced?
Shade tree method would be a nail in the wall. Most agree this is accurate enough, but I prefer the cone shaped balancers that are only a couple of bucks.
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Overgreasing is pumping so much into it that the seals are forced out. It can (and does) happen.
Use of the incorrect grease is also a problem for some.
So is removing the shield from shielded bearings; specifically if there is no way for grease to get to the bearing like on non-greasable spindles, which are getting more common.
Non-greasable spindles can be converted to greasable, drill & tap for a fitting and then use the correct bearings, also add grease seals. Problem is some of the spindles don't have provision for grease seals, and 99% of folks either won't grease them anyway, or they'll over-grease and force the shields off of the opposite side.
There is also a difference between shielded and sealed radial ball bearings. AAANNNDDD...there's also differences in quality of bearings from brand to brand. Some are so cheap that they won't take ANY side loading whatsoever without failure. Well on a lawn mower, there is some side (axial) loading due to the blade and spindle shaft's weight as well as the wings of the blade forcing it downward while in operation. A certain manufacturer of mowers found this out the hard way...they were buying $2 bearings and expecting to get 2 years or 200 hours out of them. Most of them failed within 5-10 hours' use and the warranty costs for the company shot through the roof as the bearing manufacturer wouldn't stand behind them because the engineers failed to calculate the amount of loading correctly. That's all I'm gonna say about it.
There's quite a bit to bearings and their applications....or more specifically more to it than some realize.
Reminds me..I gotta go put some spindle bearings in an RC54-G20. Yay.
Use of the incorrect grease is also a problem for some.
So is removing the shield from shielded bearings; specifically if there is no way for grease to get to the bearing like on non-greasable spindles, which are getting more common.
Non-greasable spindles can be converted to greasable, drill & tap for a fitting and then use the correct bearings, also add grease seals. Problem is some of the spindles don't have provision for grease seals, and 99% of folks either won't grease them anyway, or they'll over-grease and force the shields off of the opposite side.
There is also a difference between shielded and sealed radial ball bearings. AAANNNDDD...there's also differences in quality of bearings from brand to brand. Some are so cheap that they won't take ANY side loading whatsoever without failure. Well on a lawn mower, there is some side (axial) loading due to the blade and spindle shaft's weight as well as the wings of the blade forcing it downward while in operation. A certain manufacturer of mowers found this out the hard way...they were buying $2 bearings and expecting to get 2 years or 200 hours out of them. Most of them failed within 5-10 hours' use and the warranty costs for the company shot through the roof as the bearing manufacturer wouldn't stand behind them because the engineers failed to calculate the amount of loading correctly. That's all I'm gonna say about it.
There's quite a bit to bearings and their applications....or more specifically more to it than some realize.
Reminds me..I gotta go put some spindle bearings in an RC54-G20. Yay.