Suppose there could be something else causing the issue? Have an '05 48" Turf Tracer. All spindles are original equipment.

Have gone through spindles on other mowers mostly due to hitting immovable objects.

 

My spindles are all original, it's the bearings that failed.

My spindles are all original, it's the bearings that failed.

 

I have an '06 metro with the original bearings, like sjessen said something is not right, belts not aligned, out of balanced blades, hitting something...

 

Loved the sealed spindles in my Viking I had. Had the mower 12 yrs or so, and never had to replace any.
I have had to replace spindles on all my greasable spindle mowers, except the current ferris, but it's only 3 yrs old.

 

Wow, you've been having some real good luck.

 

I see. That was unclear. I never saw any commercial mower whose spindle bearings lasted longer than 2-3 years. I got two years out of OEM Exmarks and about a year with Oregon bearings. Maybe my spindles are tweaked ever so slightly.

 

You might consider talking to your dealer to see if they have any suggestions.

 

I've never seen a commercial mower whose spindle bearings lasted longer than 2-3 years. I got about two years out of OEM Exmarks, and about one year out of Oregon bearing. Other local commercial mowers are replacing bearings every 2-3 years.

 

I probably have owned around 25 Exmark mowers and I've never had a Exmark spindle or bearing fail but I thought they had something like a 3 year warranty on that stuff if there was a problem. I usually keep a mower for 5 years and they'll have about 2500-3000hrs when I get rid of them. We must be maintaining completely turf to have that much difference in bearing life.

 

Sandy soils?

 

No, I'm 100 miles north of Detroit. Failing spindle bearings is a common problem because replacements are being sold left and right. Manufacturers know pretty well how long their bearings will last. If they lasted several years, they wouldn't be able to sell us replacements.

 

Read somewhere that a guy had his dealer install grease fittings on his sealed spindles. Don't know if that would help in your situation but might be worth looking at.

Otherwise, I am fresh out of ideas. Sorry I couldn't help more.

 

Look and see if you can find heavy duty sealed bearings. Mine on the metro were sealed. Went through lots of blades through the years, but bearings good. Are you cutting too low? Too much off?

 

Sealed subject spindles are subject to contamination more so than greasable. Early morning dew, rain water, plant chemicals mixed in wet grass conditions. They will hold up if you can limit their exposure however.

Scag has the toughest spindle I know of. Those greasable tapered roller bearings will last a long time if you grease them every now and then.

 

Why don't you replace the bearings with something good like an SKF bearing? Take the old bearings out and take them to a bearings and drive shop and measure them up. Drill a hole in your spindle housing and convert them to a greaseable unit.

 

Yup. They are probably 6305 or 6205 bearings.

 

Something else has to be going on as mentioned above, no? I have a mix of 9 scags currently ranging from 3000 hours on down. Not one spindle or bearing replaced.

 

Maybe a grease needle? The factory fill of grease is not much. Filling them up with grease when putting new ones in might help a lot.

 

They are sealed

 

Hate to say it, but I have had only 1 issue with a lazer spindle on a 13 year old model. Never had any issue with any other mowers and I have run exmarks for 25 years. Knock on Wood!!!! :hammerhead:

 

Is belt tension set automatically or manually on this model?