Is there a solution for this?

[KM Richards]

So what high end zero turn radius mower has front wheels rolling on sealed bearings?

 

[StarTech]

use two Stens 215-211 bearing per wheel to replace the two Toro 114-1640 bushings per wheel. Still have to greased every so often just not as much.

 

[KM Richards]

Thanks. Those may be a little better quality... but they aren't sealed bearings.

I found them in the Sterns website at

https://www.stens.com/products/mower/mower-bearings-bushings.

I guess I should get the measurements from the OEM berating and then see if I can find a sealed bearing with the same outside and inside diameter

We can send a man to the moon... so surely we can fit these wheels with sealed bearings... we have the technology!

And yes, why screw around with greasing the bushings when you can have sealed bearings that would last longer than the mower itself! It's not a matter of being lazt, it's a matter of we have beet stuff available that should be used.

I do this sort of thing on my cars and trucks in order to get better performance and less down time, but I understand good enough is fine for some folks.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Costs COSTS COSTS
Wallet glue prevents most from paying a reasonable price for the type of quality you are seeking from the LOW budget residential mowers
Interesting that I have a dozen or more Time Cutters being used commercially that I service once or twice a year but have yet to have one come in with a squeaking front wheel.
So something does not gell
are you pressure washing your mower ?
And as for sealed bearings, unless you buy very expensive bearings they will be lucky if they last a season.
The front casters are very small so they revolve quite quickly
I actually remove sealed wheel bearings to fit the Toro single bearing because it lasts a lot longer .
In reality they should be a pair of tappered roller bearings with grease seals .
However no one will pay the extra price for that set up
I have a lot of 2000 series Cub Cadets with tapered rollers in the spindles
Thousands of hours and not a problem with them all running perfectly
OTOH the sealed deep grove bearings fitted to most spindles will be lucky to last a full commercial season
In fact most service manuals recommend replacement every season, more frequently in dusty environments

 

[Tiger Small Engine]

Costs COSTS COSTS
Wallet glue prevents most from paying a reasonable price for the type of quality you are seeking from the LOW budget residential mowers
Interesting that I have a dozen or more Time Cutters being used commercially that I service once or twice a year but have yet to have one come in with a squeaking front wheel.
So something does not gell
are you pressure washing your mower ?
And as for sealed bearings, unless you buy very expensive bearings they will be lucky if they last a season.
The front casters are very small so they revolve quite quickly
I actually remove sealed wheel bearings to fit the Toro single bearing because it lasts a lot longer .
In reality they should be a pair of tappered roller bearings with grease seals .
However no one will pay the extra price for that set up
I have a lot of 2000 series Cub Cadets with tapered rollers in the spindles
Thousands of hours and not a problem with them all running perfectly
OTOH the sealed deep grove bearings fitted to most spindles will be lucky to last a full commercial season
In fact most service manuals recommend replacement every season, more frequently in dusty environments

My experience with people greasing the zero fittings on mowers is about how often they sharpen their blades. Not nearly often enough, maybe once a year. Customers have demanded lower cost of many products for several years now, and that is what we are getting. Along with lower cost comes lower quality and less longevity often times.

 

[StarTech]

If costs are not a problem then use JD AM127304 bearings which are sealed on both sides. And there is the Rotary 6573 with removable back seals. Can't quote my dealer cost on the Rotary but here they are the route to go but the JD are better quality in general as I have seen those personally here and not seen the Rotary ones yet but they are on my next order for inspection.

 

[KM Richards]

The JD AM127304 bearings are $19.99 on Amazon for a 4 pack... is this considered big money??? No sure bout everyone else, but $19.99 is reasonable for me.

QUOTE - are you pressure washing your mower ?
And as for sealed bearings, unless you buy very expensive bearings they will be lucky if they last a season. /QUOTE

No, I hose it off with a water hose and this has nothing to do with the crappy design of my wheels riding on bushings. When greasing it, you have to keep pumping it in until you can see it start to ooze out and then it's full.

Since there's no seal really to keep the grease in, it only takes 4 or 5 mowings for the grease to come out and the bearing squeak... after pumping in more grease, the squeaking stops.

I mow for about 2 hours at a time and I'm using Amsoil synthetic wheel bearing grease like what is used in automobiles so the grease is not the problem

I may have to try the JD AM127304 bearings or the Stens 215-211 bearings which someone commented on Amazon are sealed (the Strens website mentions one side allows for grease to enter the bearing which didn't sound very sealed)

 

[bertsmobile1]

The JD AM127304 bearings are $19.99 on Amazon for a 4 pack... is this considered big money??? No sure bout everyone else, but $19.99 is reasonable for me.

QUOTE - are you pressure washing your mower ?
And as for sealed bearings, unless you buy very expensive bearings they will be lucky if they last a season. /QUOTE

No, I hose it off with a water hose and this has nothing to do with the crappy design of my wheels riding on bushings. When greasing it, you have to keep pumping it in until you can see it start to ooze out and then it's full.

Since there's no seal really to keep the grease in, it only takes 4 or 5 mowings for the grease to come out and the bearing squeak... after pumping in more grease, the squeaking stops.

I mow for about 2 hours at a time and I'm using Amsoil synthetic wheel bearing grease like what is used in automobiles so the grease is not the problem

I may have to try the JD AM127304 bearings or the Stens 215-211 bearings which someone commented on Amazon are sealed (the Strens website mentions one side allows for grease to enter the bearing which didn't sound very sealed)

Unless they are in a plastic sealed packaging with a JD part number on it, they are fakes
OFten vendors will take a photo of a genuine then send you a faked item
Classic was again supposedly genuine JD bearings because they had the JD part number etched into the side of the bearing, some thing that JD does not do .
I can get bearings from China for under $1 a piece
If I order 2000 or more they will etch what ever I ask for in the side of the bearing,
You have to take a step back and think when you order bearings
At $ 5 a piece the vendor has to be making $1 profit ( at least )
Amazon take $ 2 to $ 10 off the total sale price depending upon weather they are warehousing them or just hosting the selling softwear , so we will call that $ 2
This brings down the price of the bearing to $ 3.50 a piece at the vendors warehouse
The cost of High Speed Steel that good bearings should be made from by weight in a 6203 bearing is around $ 1 and that is as a slab directly out of the furnace before rolling precision grinding assembly & testing and if you think all that can be done for under $ 2.50 a piece and we are excluding boxing , freight, tax & profit for the bearing factory then you have had one too many visits to Disney Land
The last thing I would buy off Scammazon would be the most counterfitted product onthe planet ,,,,bearings
Particularly as there are hundreds of genuine bearing shops to choose from

 

[KM Richards]

OK, so know any good lawyers willing to take on Amazon for selling fake stuff?
Might be some profit in that venture.

So this particular JD bearing, how much should it cost?

And, where can I find a vendor selling the real McCoy?

 

[bertsmobile1]

They are called John Deer agents & I am told there are around 75,000 of them in the USA
Most real bearing shops, you know the ones you can walk into & lean on the counter .
They will have genuine bearings
IN $ A I cab get spindle bearings for 4 different prices from the junk Chinese ones intubes from JAk--Max through to the boxed Nachi's from RGS.
Stens , Rotary, prime Line & oregon all do the same bearings and all of them have "Find a dealer" feature on their web page.
After that there are dozens of places like ProParts Direct, Jacks Small Engines, Small Engine warehouse, Small Engine Supplies, K & C Mowers , Messecks E-replacement parts & parts Tree who do on line sales .