Pulley bearing nightmares

[broderp]

Anyone else fighting with bad bearing in thier deck pulleys? As I stated before, my YT4500 is only about 54 hours old. I have had to replace an Idler pulley that seized up on my under warranty.

Checking the deck today (due to throwing the belt issues) I find that ALL my pulley's are in need of replacement. They turn freely, but are either very rough or noisy. Only the bearing in the mandels appear OK at this time.

Looking at the pulleys, Sears made the bearing NON-Replaceable. Has anyone tried to cut or break the rivits that holt the pulley's together and replace then bearngs with some nice high quality ones? Is it possible? Is it worth it? Is there any aftermarket pulleys that do the job well enough to be a direct replacement?

 

[KennyV]

If you have an industrial bearing supplier local to you... You can Remove the bearings and have them recommend a replacement.
If you know how to measure and spec a bearing... You can get anything at the various online bearing suppliers.
For me Yes, it is Always worth the effort to repair pieces, and to get a superior replacement part when available.... :smile:KennyV

 

[broderp]

If you have an industrial bearing supplier local to you... You can Remove the bearings and have them recommend a replacement.
If you know how to measure and spec a bearing... You can get anything at the various online bearing suppliers.
For me Yes, it is Always worth the effort to repair pieces, and to get a superior replacement part when available.... :smile:KennyV

Well, the biggest issue for me is that Craftsman uses some sort of metal rivet to hold the pulley halfs together. I have access to a machine shop to press out the shafts and bearings. (I can use some of the tools but not the bigger ones for cutting, metal work etc. as I am not certified to use them, nor do I know how.) I can see the bearing numbers on most of the bearings, and I can spec them out closely with calipers.

My other option is to spend the $100 and get the pulleys from Sears, to have them go out again in less than a year, or I found them on amazon.com for about $80 total, same garbage, but a better price. :frown:

 

[KennyV]

... Craftsman uses some sort of metal rivet to hold the pulley halfs together. ...

A common drill bit in a drill motor will remove a rivet, I am sure there is no exotic metals used by the pulley manufacturer, Craftsman didn't make the part... Not too much certification plus minimal machinist skills will remove rivets.

If you are finding $80 common parts, I'm a little curious, when you are looking for an idler pulley, what exactly do you 'search' for? :smile:KennyV

 

[reynoldston]

I do it all the time. Get most of my bearings off E-Bay. You will need a bearing number which some times is on the old bearing or take a measurement and then use a bearing chart to get the bearing number

 

[motoman]

Center punch the rivet heads before drill out. Chances are the deck or shaft assembler pressed the bearings home on the "wrong" bearing races. . Good advice above on finding replacements.

 

[exotion]

Center punch the rivet heads before drill out. Chances are the deck or shaft assembler pressed the bearings home on the "wrong" bearing races. . Good advice above on finding replacements.

Try to find serviceable pulleys the kind you can grease

 

[reynoldston]

Try to find serviceable pulleys the kind you can grease

Now that sound good, but it just seems I just never see such a thing. I find that the pulleys are made with sealed bearings. I also find that grease fitting are only good when used. I find that a lot of mower owners don't own a grease gun much less use one. I sure find a lot of grease fitting that have never seen grease till they have come into my shop. For this reason I can see why most manufactures use sealed bearings over grease able ones.

 

[motoman]

We have heard some varied stories about the spindle bearings in this forum. Here are the ones I remember (1) Sealed bearings are put in all spindles. The zerk fittings are to make picky owners feel they are maintaining, but no grease reaches the rollers thru the seals (2) Even with sealed bearings the upside seals allow pressurized grease to reach the rollers (3) Always grease zerk fittings per owners manuals . (4) No maintenance effort will prolong bearing life. They will all fail and require replacement.

I pump 3 strokes into three zerks on my Craftsman about once per month, and have been doing it since 2004. I have never seen any expelled , dirty grease. Where is it going, or is number (1) above correct and the volume of the spindle housing is gradually filling up with fresh grease? The bearings behave perfectly- no roughness, no looseness.:confused3:

 

[motoman]

Well, I see no one cared much for my blather on theories of spindle bearing lubrication. So here's another no one has yet answered.

If the replacement bearings are not the cartridge stlye as seen in front wheel drive cars they are probably tapered roller bearings which should be tensioned via a nut, right?
So has anyone seen or have instructions? On the old rear wheel drive cars you replace the FRONT inner and outer tapered roller bearings . Then you seated the bearings with a little excess torque. This was done while turning the wheel until you could feel drag. Then you loosened the nut and again sneaked up until you could fit a cotter key through the castellated nut. Finally you grabbed the wheel at 12 and 6 o' clock and rocked it back and forth very hard. The magic adjustment was when you could barely feel a slight looseness. this was taken to be the .001" specified. Too tight and burn out the bearings in short order. Too loose and wobble , imbalance etc.

So applied to the spindle and blades (and pulleys?) it would seem a similar approach. Experienced members please respond. This subject has come up several times this week. :anyone: