Better bearings than MTD

[bertsmobile1]

Spindle bearing life is like belt life a customer variable.
Very few of my customers spindle bearings would have gone for 5 years, but then around here we mow around 35 weeks a year ( droughts & floods excluded ) and most would be doing 1 to 2 hours a mow.
What kills spindle bearings is wash out ports.
The hot spindle sucks in the cold water.
Remember that a "sealed " bearing is just a dust seal and is not water tight.

As for Gator blade do not even think about cutting them down.
Oregon blades have a longer flute section at the end , because this is where most of the work is done and where most of the wear happens.
The other brands all have smaller flute sections or random length sections ( stens ) .
These will wear off, break off very quickly in service and make a drastic difference to the airflow under the deck.
The only toothed blades I will fit are Genuine Gators which are near impossible to get now Briggs & Stratton Australia are the official Oregon distributors.
No one seems to carry them and Briggs do not seem able to supply them ( or any other part for that matter ) .
Hopefully Oregon will see the light and allow Gripskies to carry Oregon replacement parts again & leave Briggs to flog the whole goods & battery powered do-dads

 

[PTmowerMech]

I might need explain the confusion on my part. There is 6 different decks that could be on this mower and I simply didn't pay attention the length you gave. But you correct that he should use the low lift blades or sand blades as sand is extremely rough on air lifts.

I got it. It's no big deal, really.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Spindle bearing life is like belt life a customer variable.
Very few of my customers spindle bearings would have gone for 5 years, but then around here we mow around 35 weeks a year ( droughts & floods excluded ) and most would be doing 1 to 2 hours a mow.
What kills spindle bearings is wash out ports.
The hot spindle sucks in the cold water.
Remember that a "sealed " bearing is just a dust seal and is not water tight.

As for Gator blade do not even think about cutting them down.
Oregon blades have a longer flute section at the end , because this is where most of the work is done and where most of the wear happens.
The other brands all have smaller flute sections or random length sections ( stens ) .
These will wear off, break off very quickly in service and make a drastic difference to the airflow under the deck.
The only toothed blades I will fit are Genuine Gators which are near impossible to get now Briggs & Stratton Australia are the official Oregon distributors.
No one seems to carry them and Briggs do not seem able to supply them ( or any other part for that matter ) .
Hopefully Oregon will see the light and allow Gripskies to carry Oregon replacement parts again & leave Briggs to flog the whole goods & battery powered do-dads

I've never seen or heard anything bad about Gator blades. When the blades I ordered come in, I'm gonna make a note of the distance between the blades to see if those 17 7/8th will fit. If they do, then the next time the customer comes back, I'll have them ready for him.


As far as the bearings go, I went with the local auto parts store who carries a lot of parts master products. He and I had a discussion about the quality of the ones he sold me. And he wants me to tell him how long they last. Says no one has ever returned them within the warranty period. Of course that doesn't mean a lot. Simply because if the bearings didn't last a long time, the customer just went some where else. But he say he sells a lot of them.
Parts Master carries a highly upgraded bearing, that run about $19 each. If I get any complaints about these, I'll go with the others.

I like buying local. This little parts store, they're friendly, and give me a pretty good discount already. And I can get things within a day.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Neither have I but the generic ones , Preditor , Copperhead & Silver Streak can all be a problem with that final section of the flute being too short.

T looks like the other brands only have ! set of dies for forming the cutting end.
SO depending upn the length of the entire blade the last flute could e anythng drom 1/3" long to a full inch.