All you need is a bearing number or size. You should be able to get it from any bearing dealer. I find most of my bearing on E-Bay.
Glad to see that you did not discriminate and slammed all repair shops. We have 80% of the spindle bearings in stock, but with that attitude I probably would have said don't have any. To all others reading this thread, 90% of the small family owned dealership and repair shops will always work with their customers and should not be put in the same category as the few bad ones.
Went to 5 repair shops 3 was dealers and none of them can even get me a spindle bearing.
Said you can not get just the bearing.
Ok so then why can I get it from mtd parts.com
Went to NAPA and got all 4.
Makes me so mad when I go to a mower shop and all they know is what a book tells them
When I walk in and hand them a bearing they should turn around and go get it simple as that.
One shop was where cub cadet told me to take the mower.
Only one had a deck belt
All 5 had to order blades
(( racing is the only sport that you need two balls ))
Can be frustrating - I also needed 4 bearings but for a Kubota. My nearest dealer happens to be a John Deere guy so he crossed the part number for me but did not have any. He then took the time to computer search other JD dealers inventory and found the bearings in stock 30 miles away.
Called the second JD guy before driving and he said there is no way to look up that number and he wouldn't sell me JD parts for a Kubota. I politely pointed out that it is a standard part used by many brands but he did not wish to discuss it. Guess where I won't be doing any business.......
Like you, I got them at NAPA.
I just don't get it
Before I moved I only went to a small shop they always took good care of me and everyone else that walked in. If I went in for bearings and they did not have them he would take them out of a complete spindle
And a free cup of coffee and some good story's
(( cowboy up and get over it ))
Apparently the shops and dealers where you had the bad experiences don't follow the two most important business rules to obtain/keep a good customer base:
1)The customer is always right.
2)When the customer is wrong.......refer to rule#1
Glad I read this thread, though, as NAPA would not have been a place I would thought of for lawn mower parts(just automotive applications). I'll keep that in mind should my dealer ever jerk me around about something!!!
Just to add another story about a recent experience I had(unrelated to lawn mowers, but shows that doing business locally has it's rewards):
The fan motor in an 11-yr-old Whirlpool Window Heat & A/C unit I mounted through the wall when I converted my attached garage to a rec room died. I went on Whirlpool.com and they wanted $150 for a replacement fan motor. Sears Parts Direct.com wanted $88 for the same part and a buddy of mine from church who has dabbled with HVAC recommended a local Electrical/HVAC business. Got the exact same fan motor for $65 plus tax no shipping(less than half what Whirlpool wanted). Now here's the kicker...after replacing the fan motor, it still wasn't acting right(better, but not like it had as far as speeds) and my buddy asked me if I replaced the start capacitor. I said no and he replied "when you change a unit's fan motor ALWAYS replace the start capacitor". So again, I went online to Whirlpool and they showed $112 for that part, Sears Direct.com same price. So I went back down to the local Electrical/HVAC business..........would you believe $4.92 including tax?????? It wasn't a "Whirlpool/FSP" part like the fan motor was.....but the guy said a generic capacitor with the same ratings was just as good as an OEM part. That blew me away and I swore that from now on I'd always try to do business locally before going to an Mfg's or Distributor's website to order something online.