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I have a 3033R tractor with a 72D mower deck, and it seems to eat the 4 deck wheels really fast. I replaced two this spring when they melted off, and replaced all four about a month ago and now all 4 are melted off again. These last 4 were JD factory parts, with new bushings. They don't have a grease fitting, so I greased the bolts and bushings as well as I could when I installed them. Seems they should last longer than a month though. I have tried looking for an aftermarket wheel with proper bearings, or at least a grease zerk, but haven't found what I think I need. Surely I'm not the only one having this problem, the factory wheels are pretty cheap and useless. Thanks,

Patrick

Sounds more like anti scalp wheels that shouldn’t be used for setting mower cut height

Wow! Just spent some time looking on Deere parts and their sales site!, piss poor design!,
In the past they never ever had a height wheel with out some type of bearing and lube.
There is just way too much weight on the ground for a dry bushing in a plastic wheel.
I believe that I’d get a yoke width measurement, and an approximate wheel height and then start looking at older big mowers until I found one that would fit and could be lubricated

Deck wheels are ONLY designed to prevent scalping. Some manufacturers do run their deck wheels on the ground, but Deere does not. The cutting height and deck level should all be adjusted on the tractor. If you're going through deck wheels that often, you're running the deck on the ground too much. The deck wheels should be 1/2 to 1 inch off the ground after you lower the deck to your desired cutting height.

I'll try that method, although following the manual to set deck height seems to have the wheels setting the height. Maybe I misread that though. Will go back through. Curious that in the parts manual the wheels aren't called anti-scalp, but gauge wheels.

Just not much of a wheel, but as stated above, it’s not for setting height, re-read your mower deck manual, very detailed instructions for setting height

Your deck must be riding on the anti-scalp wheels. Consult your operators manual and adjust them accordingly.