Replacing bearings in spindles

[Doubletrouble 10]

I'm sure I read a thread on here regarding replacing the bearings in the spindles on the mower deck. I've searched and cant find it. I need to know the size ( I.D and O.D) of the bearing so I cant buy before I disassemble it. I dont want the mower down long. Thanks for any help.

[Butch 194]

Me and a couple others have replaced theirs. Do you know the size of the shafts or have some pics that might help out? Are the shafts keyed or unkeyed?

I bought mine on Ebay for around $1.50 each which has gotta be the cheapest WH part I've ever bought!!

Butch

S. Jersey

[Doubletrouble 10]

I dont have any pics as of yet. I think the shaft is 3/4" and is un-keyed. I may just have to press them apart and run to the nearest bearing supplier. I know it will be alot cheaper than buying a whole new spindle.

[Butch 194]

Even on Ebay spindles are EXPENSIVE!

My spindles are unkeyed and are 3/4" at one end and around 5/8" at the other end.

The measurements are .619 at one end and of course .750 at the other. The bearings go one the shaft where the shaft size is .666.

The bearings are 17mm x 40mm x 12mm. The bearing number would be 6203RS. RS for rubber seals. Many come with rubber seals on both sides. You'll need to pop one out of each bearing for the lube to reach.

I bought mine off Ebay and here is the link. He shipped right away. The price was right. And they appear to be of quality but I have no way of telling.

Working on the spindles was easy. If you have to whack on the spindle to free it just make sure you put a nut on the end so you don't flatten the threads. I also used different size sockets to drive the old bearings out.

Here is the Ebay link for the bearings I bought.

http://cgi.ebay.com/10-pcs-6203-2RS-Sealed...=item45f0fb11f6

Butch

S. Jersey

[squonk 43,744]

6203 bearings are real common. Can be found at any Napa store. You can get cheap off shore ones or brands like SKF and CR. You can get them open, rubber sealed on one side or both or steel shielded. Used to sell the cheap one in 10 packs to mower stores. :D

[mwagner 0]

Not sure what deck you're running, but I have a 36" RD (05-36MR01) that I put all new bearings on earlier this year. My shafts were all 3/4" along the whole length like you said.

To my surprise when i got the spindles apart, the bearings had metric dimensions on the OD and the thickness, but the ID was 3/4 exactly"! I was hoping like some others did here to be able to get some through McMaster-Carr or some other industrial supply, but i had a heck of a time finding them. I'm pretty sure the part number was 6203-3/4 (don't quote me on that), it was a special 6203 bearing with the ID changed to fit a 3/4" shaft. I have a wheel horse dealer right down the road from me, and ended up getting the bearings there since I was in a pinch ($$$$!!!).

I wish like Butch my shafts had the .666 metric dimension on them so I could have used standard 6203 bearings, they would have been much easier to get. Just a word of caution, I was very surprised when I got things apart to see the mixed metric / standard mesaurements.

[Butch 194]

A few months back one of the members here took us through his step by step deck resto. His spindles were keyed. They also were larger in diameter. I wanna say 1" but I'm not sure. Anyway his shafts were larger which resulted in a larger bearing. He posted the bearing number and I think he may have bought them on Ebay.

After finally figuring out what bearing size I needed, I was surprised the bearing size was metric. I hate it when working on something and it involves S&E and Metric.

Butch

S. Jersey