Pulley bearing nightmares

[motoman]

You are right we have been bouncing back to spindle bearings & spindle housing design while talking about a pulley bearings.
And I also have not seen many grease-able pulleys in the last 50 years. They are all mostly sealed bearings.
Spindles on the other hand are sealed on the cheaper (throw away housings)... the better spindles are easily rebuildable and have grease zerks with bearings that are typically open in the inside and sealed on the outside... but there are a lot of spindle designs, some better than others. :smile:KennyV

Kenny , again sorry for jacking the topic and having it keep bouncing. Since I have never disassembled my deck see if I finally understand its construction (craftsman dyt 4000)ulley is above spindle. Pulley has zerks sticking up 3 places , accessible from top. Spindles are in line with pulley centers and have sealed bearings. Greasing the pulleys works,? but grease does not travel downward, and even if it did it could not penetrate the sealed spindle bearings. Any of this accurate? Thanks motoman

 

[KennyV]

.... grease does not travel downward, and even if it did it could not penetrate the sealed spindle bearings. ...

You can buy any type bearing. You can get bearings with shields on one or both sides... you can get them with seals on one or both sides & you can get them Open on one or both sides.... And any combination of the above.
I use sealed on the outside open on the inside. Know how to measure a bearing and you can get what you Need rather than what someone wants to stock...
OR you can buy bearings that are sealed on both sides remove the seal on one side and have an open sealed combination.

IF your spindle shaft is center & cross drilled and has a zerk at the top it will deliver grease between the bearings...
If the spindle housing has a zerk in the side, that can also put grease in between the bearings.
if that grease space is Unvented and you are not careful, you can push the seal out on the top Or bottom bearing... :smile:KennyV

 

[motoman]

kenny thanks, great explanation