ZD18 Mower spindle bearing greasing - excessive

[eglaude]

Howdy guys ( and gals),

Just finished replacing all spindle bearings and seals on my ZD18 - RCK54 mower deck after a bearings failure. The upper bearing cage on the edge spindle broke apart and it sounded and felt like a rock crusher.

Changed them all out, with the seals, and all is smooth again. Really well designed, however I think that over the years of spraying the deck with a hose to clean it, the seals let some water in and the rest was just a matter of time. Regular greasing was always done, and looking at how the upper seal works, I can see how water could make it's way in. In any case, it has been 10 years of mowing and cleaning so no complaints.

My question is whether to load up the spindle housing with grease to fill the space between the upper and lower bearings. This requires A LOT of grease and too much of this, in this case, is not a good thing I think. Since I packed the bearings well, is it necessary now to pump in about three tubes of grease to fill them up?

Thanks for your help.

 

[ipz2222]

Shame you didn't think about that while you had it apart. I made sleeves of pvc pipe to take up that volume of space. I have a pull behind deck that is 18 years old and still has those sleeves in there.

 

[koja]

The cavity does need to be full . The bearings should only have seals on the sides that face out. Keeping it full of grease in theory keeps the bad stuff out.

 

[rentthis]

Grease is always good. When I clean my ZD, I use a handheld blower. It works really well in most instances.

 

[Stubbyie]

I learned not to wash the deck with water----poured, sloshed, brushed, sprayed, or especially with a hoze nozzle.

Another brand of an early ZTR I kept having to replace spindle (aka quill) bearings and couldn't figure out why. Finally realized the problem: water intrusion into the bearings.

Have converted to using air and now for many years multiple machines no problems at all.

Get yourself a Milton rubber-tip air blow gun and at NAPA find a crossover used on a grease gun (as I write this I can't remember the exact thread nomenclature: something like "7/16-28 male by 1/8-NPT pipe female").

Remove the rubber tip from the blow gun,

screw the odd-threaded NAPA crossover into the brass tube,

then get a couple of 1/8-in pipe nipples of the length you desire (I use two each 12-in nipples coupled together--you may find one 24-in 1/8-in pipe nipple available), and

screw the rubber tip (my rubber tip has dual male threads, one smaller size the odd 7/16-in or whatever and the other concentric larger thread 1/8-in NPT pipe)

into the end of the 1/8-in pipe with another pipe coupling

and now you have a handy durable long-lasting extended air blow gun to reach into the area around your sheaves and bearings and blow the debris away.

I've seen air blow guns with extensions but they're all expensive or flimsy. If you look around you may find something similar that is of quality, affordable, and fits your needs. If you do I'd like to know.

Later I made another extended air blow gun in the same way as above but used a short piece of CPVC in 'copper tube' size made back to fit the 1/8-in pipe crossover. This way I wouldn't worry about poking the nonconductive 'plastic' snout down alongside the battery and solenoid connections to blow out debris.

I tried both 1/4-in and 5/16-in flexible copper tubing off a roll but can't recommend it. Using soft copper the first time you squirt air the highly flexible copper tubing will snap around like a snake and go everywhere.

Try instead smaller actual hard copper ridgid 'tube' (or pipe). I think 1/2-in copper pipe would be too large for the air flow to have adequate force and smaller is not readily available in 'stick' lengths in my area.

Like any blow gun, this uses a lot of air, even with the small-orifice rubber tip. A great excuse to upgrade your shop air compressor and save working on mower decks. My 80-gal 150-psig will kick on after about 30-secs and then run continuously while using the squirt gun with the regulator set at 90-psig. But sure leaves a clean deck.

Please post back your experiences using air instead of water and advise your thoughts and ideas so we may all learn.

 

[Tooljunkie]

I use a blow gun also. Typical blow guns have 1/8"npt to hold tip on. Get a male pipe to female inverted 1/4" flare for brake line tubing. Can buy a ready made brake line 30" long. Thread together and go to town.

 

[Humblebub]

I have been using compressor to blow mover decks clean for years and totally agree with above. My decks never rust out nor have I replaced spindles. (and I live close to the sea and have salt spray). I also have 5 German Shepherds and the yard is not always cleaned up before I mow. Thus my mower sometimes attracts, er, unpleasant objects. I learned quickly that it is wise to warn herself not to stand on opposite side of mower. She is a good one but has her limits of tolerance.

 

[ShaunRH]

Tooljunkie has the fix I've used... rigid brake line, I just get the right size and run the die on it to thread it. You can use just aluminum tube if you aren't going to put an end on it.

Usually if you can get an 'over' cover on it to keep water away you can still wash it down. I've seen any flexible silicone cover cut and sanded to size to slide onto shafts to protect them from splash work. You can usually RTV underneath the silicone cover just to be certain. It depends on how much exposed shaft you have to work with.

If the shaft is set into a 'well' or detent in the metal, it's a different story. For that I'd make up a cover plate or bell and put an appropriate sized modern labyrinth seal on it. While not a beginner task, any decent machine shop could do it for a few bucks, or if you know someone with the skills, a six-pack and a steak.