Mower Deck Bearings

[Racinbob 11,045]

Usually my wife and I each grab a tractor and she takes the back yard and me the front. We get it done in about 3 hours that way. Earlier this month my wife had eye surgery and goes in for another one next week so her mowing duties are done for the season. I attacked the job yesterday and about 4 hours in I started hearing an odd noise coming from the deck. Oh crap, a bearing going bad. I probably won't need to mow again this season so there was no rush but I wanted to get her back to 100% before I put it in hibernation for the winter. I removed the top covers and the spindle belt looked glazed. The sliding idler bar was stuck and I suspect that the belt was slipping a little. I removed the pulleys and just as I suspected, the left upper bearing was the culprit. Searching online for 6203 bearings I found that most all of them are sealed on both sides. Do you guys go ahead and run them like that or do you remove one seal allowing grease to get to them? 

 

[peter lena 8,588]

@Racinbob  want to stop those 6203 , bearing failures?  I carefully pop off the rubber side shields , wipe out the original "  grease " and repack with lucas  xtra heavy duty chassis grease , polyurea rated , anti sling ,and a 560 drop point . I also repacked the same pto mule bearings , same way , no whining noise and no failures , done this to all my decks . on your spindle bearings , remove the inside bearing shield, so grease gun will get to them . imagine no bearing failure and no whining noise , what a concept .  have a lot of hours on my decks without failures . also cable lube my decks underside for no rot , send you a link , pete    

[pacer 3,168]

I've been running sealed for several yrs now, obviously doing OK since I havent had a failure yet. Some yrs back I had one of the 'big box' lawn tractors and it had sealed bearings which over some 18-20 yrs I think I changed one. So after a few of those horrible packing umpty gobs of grease in and - hoping - that some would get to the bearings, I said heck with that and started using sealed on decks and front axles.

[peter lena 8,588]

@Racinbob  rustproof your deck , I  do this and it works ,  pete

 

[Racinbob 11,045]

14 minutes ago, peter lena said:

@Racinbob  want to stop those 6203 , bearing failures?  I carefully pop off the rubber side shields , wipe out the original "  grease " and repack with lucas  xtra heavy duty chassis grease , polyurea rated , anti sling ,and a 560 drop point . I also repacked the same pto mule bearings , same way , no whining noise and no failures , done this to all my decks . on your spindle bearings , remove the inside bearing shield, so grease gun will get to them . imagine no bearing failure and no whining noise , what a concept .  have a lot of hours on my decks without failures . also cable lube my decks underside for no rot , send you a link , pete    

 

I can't say I have spindle bearing issues. It's well over 40 years old and still completely rust free. It would scare me if I knew the hour count on it. I bought it new and ran it on my 76 'B'-160. I run it on the 2005 Classic now and I put a 42" on the 76. I'll do like you do and remove the inner seal. I started running sealed bearings on the front axle spindles and it's working well. I'm not too keen and using sealed on deck spindles. Thanks. 

[roadapples 6,983]

A little but some things have gotten better over the years. Back in 96 I bought a 93 GMC truck with 70,000 mi. The first time I lubed it I noticed the U joints didn't have grease fittings. I said at the time the next set would have grease fittings. It now has 320,000 mi and I ain't changed them yet...

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,033]

The 6203 bearing may have an inch ID.

[JoeM 7,871]

The last few years I have used both, no fail either way. 

 

I use C3 rated sealed, electric motor quality bearings and they say the bearings are lubricated with blue Mobile polyrex grease.

 

You obviously take good care of your decks. Good track record.

 

I often wondered about the pro and cons too. I do know one thing i have observed on other persons stuff. Twine or heavy grass can wrap around the spindle and ruin the bottom rubber seal on the bearing. External greasing may prolong a failure. 

 

All and all I avoid those things and for myself it is sealed.

 

 

[Racinbob 11,045]

57 minutes ago, gwest_ca said:

The 6203 bearing may have an inch ID.

 

17mm x 40mm. Correct for this application.

 

21 minutes ago, JoeM said:

The last few years I have used both, no fail either way. 

 

I use C3 rated sealed, electric motor quality bearings and they say the bearings are lubricated with blue Mobile polyrex grease.

 

You obviously take good care of your decks. Good track record.

 

I often wondered about the pro and cons too. I do know one thing i have observed on other persons stuff. Twine or heavy grass can wrap around the spindle and ruin the bottom rubber seal on the bearing. External greasing may prolong a failure. 

 

All and all I avoid those things and for myself it is sealed.

 

 

 

I know what you're saying. I'm very old school and it was tough for me to go sealed on the front axles but now I'm glad I did. With the rpm I just can't pull the trigger yet. But keep in mind that the bearings I have coming are sealed and I haven't removed the inner seal yet.  

[oliver2-44 9,710]

3 hours ago, JoeM said:

 

I use C3 rated sealed, electric motor quality bearings and they say the bearings are lubricated with blue Mobile polyrex greas

working with Industrial Lubrication Engineers at the power plants I learned the large majority of greased electric motor bearings are specified by the manufacturer to use a polyurea based grease. The lube engineers concur with this but warn about mixing other non polyurea based greases  with other based greases such as a soap based grease. 

[JoeM 7,871]

Oh yeah, polyuria and lithium based greases are a no mix. It turns to paste and the lubrication is lost. Seen this first hand.

 

A lot folks don’t know this. 
 
The 6203 bearings are so small and if externally greased would not take much to wash out the existing grease. 

The C3 electric motor rating is for the quality tolerances. A touch more room in the race to ball fit,  They are used in high speed environments where heat can be generated and some expansion is in present. This matches up well for use on mowers. 

Better quality bearings already contain a high quality grease and sealed and no need to repack. 

Some cheaper offshore stuff, I’m with Pete and don’t think they use the better grease in these. 
 

On my greased stuff I’ve been using high temp lithium based wheel bearing greases. 
 

Just about every failure was I seen was not a wear out , I think in Rich’s case that just maybe the case, 40 years , three hour mows! Wow tough to change anything with those kind of results 

[peter lena 8,588]

@gwest_ca, those 6203 bearings have a ( 3/4 " )  id , pete

[peter lena 8,588]

@JoeM agree with you on the grease mixing issue , when i repack  a new bearing , thoroughly remove original fill , carb cleaner finishes the clean out , then the hi temp lucas . with all the Chinese junk we have to use now , there is no standard . everything is just off a little bit , just to sell . when i have a problem or issue , i regularly plan to change it out , including related anything that might have helped the failure . bearings and electrical were my major issues , not any more , stayed after it with detailing , and the reliability is very solid . when i bring up a subject or issue , i am just telling you what i do , because i want the problem gone . as a production millwright , i have seen my share of maintenance failures , that makes me look at a problem with a function change for reliability . just the way i look at it , pete   

[Racinbob 11,045]

1 hour ago, peter lena said:

@gwest_ca, those 6203 bearings have a ( 3/4 " )  id , pete

 

Not quite Pete. They are 11/16". Ya made me go measure one again. 

[lynnmor 7,302]

1 hour ago, Racinbob said:

 

Not quite Pete. They are 11/16". Ya made me go measure one again. 

 

Specifications are: ID 17mm x OD 40mm x W 12mm

[peter lena 8,588]

@Racinbob  never specked them out , my bearing box reads, 6203  (  3/4  )  2RSC 3 . matching the bearing that was removed , pete

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

Maybe I can clear up a little corn fusion about the 6203 bearings.  There were TWO different ones used over the years.  One with an INCH bore, and one with a METRIC bore.

 

The OD was 40mm on both early and late.

 

EARLY decks (don't know the exact date, but my 1980 48" SD used them) had the 6203 bearing with a 3/4" bore.  

 

LATER decks use a 6203 bearing with a 17 mm bore, in inches that is 0.669 .  (which is CLOSE to 11/16" (0.6875) but NOT close enough).

 

The bearings with the 3/4" bore will be labeled with a suffix " 6203-12 or 6203-3/4 "  The -12 means 12/16" or 3/4".  

 

Bearings with 2 rubber seals will have suffix -2RS.

 

So you need to know what you have!  Either early spindles with a 3/4" or later spindles with a 17mm.

 

Edited September 30, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[Racinbob 11,045]

 

4 hours ago, Jeff-C175 said:

Maybe I can clear up a little corn fusion about the 6203 bearings.  There were TWO different ones used over the years.  One with an INCH bore, and one with a METRIC bore.

 

The OD was 40mm on both early and late.

 

EARLY decks (don't know the exact date, but my 1980 48" SD used them) had the 6203 bearing with a 3/4" bore.  

 

LATER decks use a 6203 bearing with a 17 mm bore, in inches that is 0.669 .  (which is CLOSE to 11/16" (0.6875) but NOT close enough).

 

The bearings with the 3/4" bore will be labeled with a suffix " 6203-12 or 6203-3/4 "  The -12 means 12/16" or 3/4".  

 

Bearings with 2 rubbers seals will have suffix -2RS.

 

So you need to know what you have!  Either early spindles with a 3/4" or later spindles with a 17mm.

 

Interesting stuff Jeff. I bought the 48" deck around 1980 after I made my B-80 a 160. My measurements were just eyeball with a tape measure. I guess I'll just have to wait until they get here to see if they work. I'm surprised Wheel Horse used metric back then. 

Thanks for the info. 

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

2 hours ago, Racinbob said:

surprised Wheel Horse used metric back then

Me too, especially a 'hybrid' with metric OD and inch ID.

 

[peter lena 8,588]

@Jeff-C175 thanks for the bearing detail . btw , whenever I buy bearings , or pulleys  I always look for the wider rubber seals , that makes my re greasing , very easy . pocket screwdriver , thorough wipe out , carb cleaner , lucas grease , pop the seals back on , and back in business . pete

[gwest_ca-(File Mod) 11,033]

Last

1984 model 05-48MS03 - Uses 6203 bearings with 3/4" ID - Originally had a nylon-insert nut holding spindle pulley on.

 

First
1985 model 05-48MS04 - Uses 6203 bearings with 17mm ID - Originally had a standard nut and lockwasher holding spindle pulley on.

[Racinbob 11,045]

You guys got me to thinking maybe I bought this deck later than I thought. I had to dig pretty deep and found that I purchased it in June 1979 at Chandlers. He said he'd give it to me for the 1976 price of $295 because I bought the tractor new from him. Yet I have the metric bearings. It just hit me what happened. Some of you  know the history of this tractor. In short, bought it ne, sold at auction for the move to Florida in 2000, found out the neighbor to our kids had it, moved back up here in 2017, the gentleman (Larry)who loved it those 17 years passed, his wife said that he'd only have wanted the tractor to come home with me, yadda, yadda..... I'll bet you a million dollars (in Monopoly money) that Larry replaced the entire spindles. He had 5 acres and he mowed the entire thing so he racked up the hours too. 

 

Now I only have to decide if I remove the inner seal or run them sealed. 

[Jeff-C175 7,199]

7 hours ago, Racinbob said:

1976 price of $295

 

Holy Carp!  I'd buy a DOZEN at that price today! (not that I need that many...)

 

[Racinbob 11,045]

40 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Holy Carp!  I'd buy a DOZEN at that price today! (not that I need that many...)

 

Yea, I have the price list for the entire 1976 line up. There's not much on there that we wouldn't pay list price for even in so so condition today.

[Paul Dietrich 19]

It amazes me why wheel horse put sealed bearings plus grease fittings on the mower spindles......