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Hi,
My Mandrel assembly broke and I had to replace a new one. The one I ordered looks exactly like original except the top seems a bit different. Wondering if this is normal? The one on the right is the new one.

I've replaced a couple of mandrels in my Husq, and there are minor differences between the old and new. In your case, all you need to do is fit a grease zerk into the upper threaded shaft, and then Carefully install the "self threading" bolts, which should be included with the new mandrel, when you place the new mandrel into the deck.
The outer mandrels are fairly easy, but the middle one can be a bit frustrating unless you remove the deck. Carefully inspect the drive pulley that mounts on the top, and if it shows any signs of damage, or excess wear, you might want to replace it also.

Hi, is that "grease zerk" necessary for this to run? If so should it have come with one? Thanks.

ecac said:

Hi, is that "grease zerk" necessary for this to run? If so should it have come with one? Thanks.

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Absolutely!! Without filling the mandrel with grease, it probably wouldn't last long. I grease mine 2 or 3 times every year. If your "supplier" didn't include a zerk, you should be able to remove the zerk from the old mandrel and reuse it....or go to a local hardware store and buy a new one....probably not much more than $1. I can't tell, from the picture, if the new mandrel has the grease fitting "hole" already threaded...if so, take the new mandrel to the store and find a zerk that fits. If Not threaded, many new zerks are "self threading"....look for threads that are "narrower" at the base.

is the dimple in the top of the new mandrel actually drilled or is just a slight depression. Spindles were made with and without grease zerks but both used sealed bearings so it doesn't really matter if you grease them or not, and in some cases i have seen the bearings are pressed tight enough that you can damage the bearings just by trying to grease them because it pressurizes the spindle and blows the seals just from the pressure and not from the actual grease.

Most all of the new spindles have bearings that are sealed on both sides so adding a zerk is useless. I have seen bearings in spindles pushed out from pumping grease in with sealed bearings.

There is two versions of this spindle. One of grease-able and the other is not. The new one you have is the non grease-able.

Deminin is wrong that all you have to do is add the Zerk as the spindle shaft is non drilled for greasing. Nor will the bearings have the inner seals removed.

Non Grease-able is PN 587253301 and the Grease-able version is PN 587820301. Both are the same retail price. But most vendors only want to stock the non grease-able style so they have less inventory to keep track of.

My Bad! I didn't know that there are now "sealed" mandrills that are already filled with grease, and no longer require a zerk. If there is just a slight "depression" at the top of the shaft, you should be good to go. I learned something new today.

deminin said:

My Bad! I didn't know that there are now "sealed" mandrills that are already filled with grease, and no longer require a zerk. If there is just a slight "depression" at the top of the shaft, you should be good to go. I learned something new today.

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Only the bearings are greased on the non-grease-able units.

Thank you everyone. Brought this to a local repair shop and they confirmed this as well! Appreciate the quick help!

We get a lot of trash mowers that failed to sell in the USA sent down here as our selling season is your winter
Thus I see the California special mowers, the USA general mowers and the export versions of quite a few.
The most noticable difference between them is the Californian models rarely have any grease nipples fitted

bertsmobile1 said:

We get a lot of trash mowers that failed to sell in the USA sent down here as our selling season is your winter
Thus I see the California special mowers, the USA general mowers and the export versions of quite a few.
The most noticable difference between them is the Californian models rarely have any grease nipples fitted

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well you know that grease just burns them forests up....

Glad I found this thread because I have a new 2023 MZ 48 and it has no zerks on the mowing deck which bothered me. Manual shows to grease zerks on both spindles and the front pulley. You all put my mind at ease, Thanks

It all OEM manual producers are now too lazy to keep the manuals updated. I even found a 2014 Bad Boy CZT Elite with a bad wiring diagram. Email them and they said the wiring diagram is the correct one; although, it only indicated one fuse and the mower had three fuses. They didn't even know the fuse sizes. Oh well took an hour to lookup components and hand trace the wires because of the stupid wiring diagram and not a real schematic that I am use to. Also the diagram image had to blow up 600x just to read it so it would long fit the 20" screen. Same type of diagram that Kubota uses.