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Hey guys,

I have a Huskee push mower (from tractor supply store). It has a Kohler XT-7 on it, which is much heavier than what I've had in the past.

I had a Husqvarna (however you spell it) with an XT-6 for a little while, and it pushed quite nice due both to the lighter engine, but in my opinion the wheel bearings made a HUGE difference.

So here's the question, can you add wheel bearings to mowers that don't already have them? I've done a lot of google searching and can't seem to come up with anything. Even 'replacement wheels' from lowes and whatnot are all non-bearing.

Thoughts/ideas? Also apologize if this is an obvious question.. first time 'modding' any mower.. I've always just bought them, and use them as-is.

Thanks

Hello and Welcome to LMF....
I think your largest gain, or in your case loss, is Weight... The lighter the load, the easier to move.
While wheel bearings will roll with less effort, the bushings that are in the wheels you have do not take a lot more effort to move the same load...

You can find wheels with roller or ball bearings.... in any size and load rating. But I don't think you will notice a lot of difference pushing... If you converted the front wheels to swiveled assemblies, it would be handier... BUT the push load will remain about the same...

Going to bearing wheels is a good move, IF you come across some wheels for little or nothing... or if you have to replace the old wheels. :smile:KennyV

Who carries them? Again, I've done quite a bit of searching with no luck.

I've found wheels w/bearings, but they weren't lawn mower wheels.. (dolly wheels, wagon wheels, etc). Much too heavy/overbuilt for a push mower (I don't need solid steel rims for my mower wheels lol)

yoster said:

Who carries them? Again, I've done quite a bit of searching with no luck.

I've found wheels w/bearings, but they weren't lawn mower wheels.. (dolly wheels, wagon wheels, etc). Much too heavy/overbuilt for a push mower (I don't need solid steel rims for my mower wheels lol)

Click to expand...

You can find 'some' light weight wheels and assemblies, at most material handeling suppliers...

The problem you will have is finding a wheel with a very light load limit, (like a push mower wheel) and still have bearings for a heavy load spec for the light wheel...

Your easiest path would be to use your existing wheel, determine the largest OD standard bearing size that you can bore in your wheel... then select the thickness, (height), that will allow you space for mounting 2, one on the inside and one on the outside...
You can drill for a grease zerk, or use sealed bearings.... look for Flanged Mini Ball Bearing with an ID of your axle size...
You will end up with a light weight wheel with bearings able to withstand MANY times the load the wheel will take.
This will be the most economical approach, may not be worth the effort in the long run... But could be a fun project... :smile:KennyV

I've been thinking the same thing -- that the wheels on my push mowers would be much better with sealed ball bearings. The advantages would be less frequent maintenance as well as lower rolling resistance.

It might be necessary (and easier, overall) to replace the axle to fit the available bearings.

yoster said:

Who carries them? Again, I've done quite a bit of searching with no luck.

I've found wheels w/bearings, but they weren't lawn mower wheels.. (dolly wheels, wagon wheels, etc). Much too heavy/overbuilt for a push mower (I don't need solid steel rims for my mower wheels lol)

Click to expand...

WW GRAINGER SHOULD have them

i have pressed bearing wheels on my john deere 22' walk behind mower and the difference compared to my other non-bearing wheeled mowers is a big difference in ease of handling pushing etc. maybe you can adapt another brand mower wheels with bearings on your current axle. i'm not convinced on caster front wheels though especially traversing sideways on hilly ground,its difficult to keep a straight cutting line unless the casters are lockable.

LandN said:

i have pressed bearing wheels on my john deere 22' walk behind mower

i'm not convinced on caster front wheels though especially traversing sideways on hilly ground,its difficult to keep a straight cutting line unless the casters are lockable.

Click to expand...

Those little wheel bearings are probably mini flange bearings, hat bearings, they are economical and will last forever with the light load they typically encounter on a push mower....

Your likely right about casters on hills... didn't think about that, ... mostly flat here in Kansas... :smile:KennyV

Well it sounds like the first step is for me to pull one of the wheels off to see what can be done. I was hoping it was just a matter of removing a bushing and replacing it with a bearing (I was initially thinking a hat bearing).

If I end up doing it I'll let you all know how it goes!

yoster said:

Hey guys,

I have a Huskee push mower (from tractor supply store). It has a Kohler XT-7 on it, which is much heavier than what I've had in the past.

I had a Husqvarna (however you spell it) with an XT-6 for a little while, and it pushed quite nice due both to the lighter engine, but in my opinion the wheel bearings made a HUGE difference.

So here's the question, can you add wheel bearings to mowers that don't already have them? I've done a lot of google searching and can't seem to come up with anything. Even 'replacement wheels' from lowes and whatnot are all non-bearing.

Thoughts/ideas? Also apologize if this is an obvious question.. first time 'modding' any mower.. I've always just bought them, and use them as-is.

Thanks

Click to expand...

The vast majority of today's push mowers sold new have plastic wheels that fit on a steel wheel adjuster spindle. Every time I buy a new mower, and once a year during the mowing season, and when I store each push mower for the winter, I remove the wheels and lube the steel spindle and the inside of the plastic wheel hub with heavy grease. It does not make the pushing much easier, but it DOES appear to help keep the friction between spindle and wheel to a minimum. The first new push mower I purchased was back about 1983, and it had no bearings on the wheels. Don't think I have ever seen any.

And, if your push mower is front wheel self propelled, good luck finding ball bearing wheels that have the drive gears molded in.

All of the push mowers I remember working on have plastic wheels with sleeve bearings -- the metal sleeve is fits into the plastic wheel body and the bearing surface is between the sleeve and the axle.

On a Lawn-Boy, it's very easy to remove the wheel and axle to grease the bearings so I've started doing it more often -- maybe every ten to twenty hours.

How about this as a maintenance rule-of-thumb: if the bearing surfaces are completely dry - - when you take the wheel off, then you should have done it sooner.

JDgreen said:

The vast majority of today's push mowers sold new have plastic wheels that fit on a steel wheel adjuster spindle. Every time I buy a new mower, and once a year during the mowing season, and when I store each push mower for the winter, I remove the wheels and lube the steel spindle and the inside of the plastic wheel hub with heavy grease. It does not make the pushing much easier, but it DOES appear to help keep the friction between spindle and wheel to a minimum. The first new push mower I purchased was back about 1983, and it had no bearings on the wheels. Don't think I have ever seen any.

And, if your push mower is front wheel self propelled, good luck finding ball bearing wheels that have the drive gears molded in.

Click to expand...

Well like I said, the Husqvarana I had before (also with a Kohler engine), came stock with wheel bearings. Only reason I don't have that mower is because a part on the deck broke after 2 uses.. returned it and they were on back order. I needed a mower right then so I bought the Huskee (which I love, minus the extra weight of that big engine). So I figure if they can do it, I can do it right? It baffles me there there's not just a simple wheel-swap replacement for this.. stupid.. what year are we in again?

Even searching for stock husqvarna wheels yielded little result

It's non self propelled btw... I wouldn't be complaining if the thing went on its own

Two-Stroke said:

All of the push mowers I remember working on have plastic wheels with sleeve bearings -- the metal sleeve is fits into the plastic wheel body and the bearing surface is between the sleeve and the axle.

On a Lawn-Boy, it's very easy to remove the wheel and axle to grease the bearings so I've started doing it more often -- maybe every ten to twenty hours.

How about this as a maintenance rule-of-thumb: if the bearing surfaces are completely dry - - when you take the wheel off, then you should have done it sooner.

Click to expand...

Last five push mowers I have purchased since 2002---one Craftsman, one Yardpro, one Brute, two Yardmans...no metal sleeves in the wheels, just plastic wheel hub to spindle fit. Would be easy and cheap to add sleeve bearings at the factory, heaven forbid, another dollar to add to the price. CHEAP B-------S.

JD I agree with you but you know that if they put bearings on the wheels they will ask 50 bucks more for such an advanced design. :biggrin:

I just wanted to comment that I made a bizarre discovery on the ball bearing wheel front. I have ben searching a while for a budget push mower to replace my old walmart special Murray. I think I'm finally settled on the Husqvarna 6021p. This one does have the ball bearing wheels but the wheels are very cheap plastic and with those big rear wheels, I am a little concerned about breakage and those big wheels aren't cheap to replace considering the price of the mower. That is loke the one thing making me hesitant on this model.

Anyway, my discovery is that there is a lone MTD model push mower that has ball bearing wheels. Its called the MTD black and is only sold at Menards and at the moment is on sale for $150. I found it really bizarre that out of all the MTD push mower models, this cheaper model has them. Its actually dumbfounding how nice the wheels are. They are wider than the standard 1.75" you see on push mowers and they are thick, heavy plastic, with the metal sleave bearing. They are literally the most solid, nicest quality wheels I have ever seen on a residential push mower. The mower has the same crappy, half plastic deck that they use on most of their push mowers and it unfortunately uses the 139cc ohv powermore engine. It is absolutley puzzling to me that MTD has these wheels and they only use them on this cheap mower and not on their slightly more expensive offerings with the B&S 625& 675 and the Honda GCV engines. If the MTD black had the B&S 625 or 675 rather than the powermore I would probably buy it.

Has anyone else looked at these, yet?

I don't know about the MTD Black but the Powermore engine is made in China. Maybe the whole mower is made there and these are the wheels they use. They have already beat the B&S engine price and the wheels are a good selling point.

Perhaps that is a good source for a good wheel replacement... Some one has to stock parts...

As far as made in China... there is a MUCH higher percent of good quality Chinese made products than inferior goods... It just depends on what the spec calls for... & in this case someone called for a better wheel. :smile:KennyV

I figured it out. They borrowed the wheels off the cub cadet line (MTD's supposed premium brand). They are 8x2.125 for the rear and 7x2.125 for the fronts and are not cheap at $24 a piece, about $10 more than their standard wheels. The part number is 634-04347 for the rears.

Good to know. In the meantime, I just clean and regrease with synthetic grease once a season. It's embarrasing that the outdoor power equipment industry is so driven by price point, and so few people (except us, of course!) seem to care about longevity.:biggrin: