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I have a 2004 Troy Biilt Pony riding mower which was recently completely submerged in a flood(Hurricane Irene). Does anyone know if the bearings in the deck spindles can be replaced? I hesitate to buy new spindles at $80.00 apiece if the bearings can be replaced. Everything else seems to be working alrigh

I believe you can press them out and press in new bearings. Have done it on other MTD products over the years. If the aluminum housing is corroded very much around the bearings the housing may crack when you try to remove the bearings.

Are the bearings bad? With good bearing seals and grease maybe the water didn't get in the bearing. Sorry to hear but just hoping for you, getting flooded had to be bad enough. Bearings should be replaceable and if you can find a bearing number I find the cheapest place to buy them is off E-Bay.

Good luck

Like was mentioned .. They are sealed. If the bearings are bad, you will eventually have to replace it...
Those aluminum housings were not really designed to be serviceable, you can press the bearings out, but they are a pain.
If there is no indication that they have rusted, just run them a while and recheck them... :smile:KennyV

I do those all the time. Even for a brother in-law that took his to a shop where the mechanic failed to replace the spacer and it all shot craps in less than hour. But my non mechanical BIL, not identifying the noise it was making, ran it several hours until one bearing only had 3 balls remaining and the inner race welded to the shaft. A new shaft, 2 new bearings and an omitted spacer and you're good to go.

Most often these bearings fail prematurely because of excessive side thrust during assembly. The above case was exceptional. To prevent any side thrust pm me for the secret.:biggrin:

SandburRanch said:

I do those all the time. Even for a brother in-law that took his to a shop where the mechanic failed to replace the spacer and it all shot craps in less than hour. But my non mechanical BIL, not identifying the noise it was making, ran it several hours until one bearing only had 3 balls remaining and the inner race welded to the shaft. A new shaft, 2 new bearings and an omitted spacer and you're good to go.

Most often these bearings fail prematurely because of excessive side thrust during assembly. The above case was exceptional. To prevent any side thrust pm me for the secret.:biggrin:

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never press or hammer on a new bearing rollers always the races. another way is to heat the bearings and cool the shaft. I think this is what you are saying no excessive side thrust during assembly?

reynoldston said:

never press or hammer on a new bearing rollers always the races. another way is to heat the bearings and cool the shaft. I think this is what you are saying no excessive side thrust during assembly?

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On the sealed bearing type, the shaft is a slip fit through both bearings so it has no effect on side thrust. The spacer within ( between the bearings ) has to be contacted correctly when installing the bearings otherwise when the blade nut is tightened tremendous force is applied to the bearing axially. Ball bearings don't do well with thrust in that direction but excel in radial thrust.

This is where knowing how to avoid side thrust is important and some manufacturers either don't know or don't care.

The reason I say some manufacturers is I have actually rebuilt some that need no extra attention to attain "0" axial thrust. I commend them.

I bought all the pieces for my troybilt on Ebay and assembled them with a chunk of two by four and a big hammer cost me $60 for all three

hotshot said:

I bought all the pieces for my troybilt on Ebay and assembled them with a chunk of two by four and a big hammer cost me $60 for all three

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A two by four and a big hammer sure dosen't sound good. That was the side thrust what was talked about. A lot of bearing are installed that way. Hope you the best of luck on a long bearing life.

I know that's one of the worst ways to do something but it has held up for three years now with no problems.

hotshot said:

I know that's one of the worst ways to do something but it has held up for three years now with no problems.

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Nothing wrong with that, that's all that counts is that it holds up.

KennyV said:

Like was mentioned .. They are sealed. If the bearings are bad, you will eventually have to replace it...
Those aluminum housings were not really designed to be serviceable, you can press the bearings out, but they are a pain.
If there is no indication that they have rusted, just run them a while and recheck them... :smile:KennyV

Click to expand...

How to Repair a Mower Deck Spindle - 16 Easy Steps

Two ball bearings on a shaft is never a good idea engineering wise unless meticukious care is taken to keep them in alignment.
Having both of them a light slip fit on the shaft is also bad.
Running them vertically is also bad
OTOH it is very cheap and will usually outlive expected service life