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As part of the spring cleaning, I always lube the mower deck and sharpen the blades. This year, I noticed the dual pulley which takes the main drive and transfers it to the deck was loose. Closer examination showed the top ball bearing OD was .100" loose in the pulley housing. I've never seen a ball bearing get loose and wear the OD that much. I made a shim to take up the loose fit, but WIGO there?

jack vines

With that much wear I would be removing the housing & either replacing it or building it up and remachining it.
The bearing is obviously cactus & has been spinning in the housing for a long time.
Bearing are not bearings, they come in about 5 levels of fit to compensate for compressive loads when they are pressed into a housing or to allow a bit of extra running clearances.
The mower companies never list the class of bearing .
In your cae I would be considering fitting +1 ( slightly sloppier ) bearing

bertsmobile1 said:

With that much wear I would be removing the housing & either replacing it or building it up and remachining it.
The bearing is obviously cactus & has been spinning in the housing for a long time.
Bearing are not bearings, they come in about 5 levels of fit to compensate for compressive loads when they are pressed into a housing or to allow a bit of extra running clearances.
The mower companies never list the class of bearing .
In your cae I would be considering fitting +1 ( slightly sloppier ) bearing

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But why, when the ball bearing in question still spins smoothly would the outer race find it easier to spin in the pulley? Usually, for a pressed-in bearing to spin in the housing, the inner race and balls have to seize up. This bearing doesn't even feel gritty.

BTW - the two pulley bearings are dirt-common 6203-2RS, available for cheap at any bearing supply house or on line.

FWIW, I found a length of thinwall tubing slightly larger than the bearing OD. Cut a length the size of the height of the bearing, cut a slit in the wall and removed a small section to allow the spacer to press in the pulley ID. Using a Dremel as a tool post grinder, I'm sizing the sleeve ID for a press fit on the new bearing. A bit of red Loctite will be insurance.

Bit of trivia, I didn't have the 6203s in my misc bearing drawer, so I ordered a couple on line. An hour later, I was changing a headlight bulb in one of our Saabs. In one of the Saab parts box were two new SKF bearings. Now, if I could just remember for which part of which of the many Saabs those 6203-2RS bearings were purchased as spares.

jack vines

While the bearing will spin freely out of the housing, in the housing, under load it becomes a different ball game.
The pulley gets very hot. particularly if you run the mower through 2 or 3 full tanks of fuel in a single mowing, so the fit gets loose.
Pop one of the RS off & I bet you will find the bearing dry inside.
When was the last time you replaced them ?

When was the last time you replaced them ?

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No clear recollection, but there are two different manufacturers, so at least one has been replaced in the past ten years.

jack vines

Just done a deck refurb on a 46" deck.
The spindle housings are now NLA so if you are intending to keep running them grab a couple soon.
They are all over evilbay so I gather MTD must have remaindered the exising wrehouse stock.
The Tensioner bearings were not standard bearings ( bigger ID ) and the DPO had fitted std bearings which floped around.
This explained why the deck drive belt was prone to popping off.
He also had butchered the spacer which goes between them.
So you might like to have a closer look at yours because as you tighten the pulley axdel it puts an axial load on the barings which stops them from turning,
The DPO had also fitted a metric circlip which is the retainer for the bearing.
This circlip is thinner than the original inch one so the bearings ended up being at the wrong spacings so you might like to have a quick check of yours before you get too far into the season.
I had to make a custom spacer in order to get the bearings to run free.
The owner is a farmer and knows how to use a grease gun so I popped the inside seals and put in a grease nipple.
Other than that and wear on the bottom of the spindle housings the deck was in good nick.

Thanks for all the head's up. I do plan to keep these as long as possible, so I'd better lay in a pair of deck spindles. Are they all the same for 36", 42", 48", etc.?

jack vines

Yep,
All 2000 series run the same spindle housing.
The small decks mount it above the deck & the large ones mount it below.
The spindle goes in either way.
Found that out the hard way.
Some dealers are clearing them for around $ 100.
list is $ 165.