90's MTD mower front wheel bearings

[MTD sprayer]

Have you confirmed that the inner races spin freely on the outer with no grit or roughness? That wheel is awfully clean for a 34 year wheel. I haven't gone back thru the whole thread - have you replaced or painted those wheels before?

Wheels were painted a few days ago. New tyres for the rear.

One inner race is a bit sticky which I wiill free up before reassembly of the mower which was fully stripped down to clean off old oil and grease plus removal of the redundant deck hangers and levers.

The front pressed metal, cross-member pivot was refurbished with concentric steel tubes as the thin gauge metal pivots had cracked away.
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[sgkent]

based on what you said, best guess is that the damage occured due to the bearings not being greased enough. I would clean them up with solvent to get the old grease, dirt and paint out, then grease and see how they do. Re-engineering an old mower may say you have too much time on your hands. Just saying. if you said that you were cleaning the bearings every six months and could not keep them from binding, that would be different. Think about it, when was the last time you pulled them off, cleaned them, and re-greased them before now.

 

[MTD sprayer]

based on what you said, best guess is that the damage occured due to the bearings not being greased enough. I would clean them up with solvent to get the old grease, dirt and paint out, then grease and see how they do. Re-engineering an old mower may say you have too much time on your hands. Just saying. if you said that you were cleaning the bearings every six months and could not keep them from binding, that would be different. Think about it, when was the last time you pulled them off, cleaned them, and re-greased them before now.

Has been sitting in a shed for 15 years, grease was bound to be dried out and sticky. Has sat since the deck became unfixable, and cost prohibitive, to replace.The mower was replaced with a commercial grade Kubota Zero turn.

Not re-engineering a mower ... creating a cheap mobile, medium volume (5 gall) sprayer for my 17 acre property fence lines. My current truck-mounted 25 gall sprayer with 50ft hose is a bit time consuming with stopping and starting every 100ft or so.
It was a case of having to finally do a project a long time in the planning to save time.

Yesterdays project was closing off part of a shed carport to create a vermin proof store room on the son's farm. Hoping to finish it tomorrow.

Todays project is cutting and welding supports for an 8ftx4ft solar panel array to power a pump for my old windmill bore.

Sprayer will be on temporary hold as my son is on 2 months leave and has heaps of other work to get through on the farm. Tractors, headers, shed repairs ... list goes on.
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[StarTech]

Had you asked for the information with the reason just posted then I would have willingly supplied it.
The mower is a Canadian build, sold in Australia as a "WHITE".
Model (I believe) is:
132-457E672
With additional numbering:
1 J20212-0149

Rear drive:
Model ... 616-0077
S/I ... A 060136
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I could not find that exact model's IPL on the net.

Okay after some research it appeared that MTD did use a 5/8 x 1-3/8 with a flange of 1-1/2 on some the 1990's series but most had the plastic bearings. Those 941-0569 no longer look like those you have. They come in several different grades now from very lousy to fairly good. Just depends on how much a person is willing to part with.

 

[MTD sprayer]

I could not find that exact model's IPL on the net.

Okay after some research it appeared that MTD did use a 5/8 x 1-3/8 with a flange of 1-1/2 on some the 1990's series but most had the plastic bearings. Those 941-0569 no longer look like those you have. They come in several different grades now from very lousy to fairly good. Just depends on how much a person is willing to part with.

Thanks for that. They certainly looks similar enough to be a replacement.
I will check the measurements and save those part numbers for future reference.
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PS: These "heavy duty" ones appear close to the ones I have.

Heavy Duty Sealed Front Wheel Bearings for Greenfield MTD Ride On Mower | eBay Australia

Heavy Duty Sealed Front Wheel Bearing For Greenfield MTD Mowers 2x Heavy Duty Sealed Bearings Dimensions: 5/8 Inch Inner Diameter 1 3/8 Inch Outer Diameter OEM: Greenfield - GT0536 MTD - 741-0569.

www.ebay.com.au

 

[CosmicArkie]

As the master, StarTech, said, your mower probably originally came with the plastic bearings and the wear occurred at that time. Previous owner may have done what I've done to my mowers and replaced with the roller bearings.

 

[mcspeed]

……it’s absolutely criminal for a manufacturer to sell a drive mower with plastic bearings!!!!

 

[bentrim]

Take a center punch and punch where the bearings run. This will raise enough metal to tighten the bearing and keep them from turning

 

[Johner]

I am converting an old MTD/WHITE ride-on mower into a small (mobile) sprayer unit.

The front wheel bearings on this mower are ball bearing type where the inner race (reasonably thinking) should not be turning on the axle, but held firmly.
This is not possible due to the wheels held on only by washers and split pin.

These inners have been spinning on the axles causing wear.

Does anyone have a fix for this that does not involve glueing the inner to the axles which would compromise pulling the wheels for tyre changes?

Thinking that contact cement might hold enough to prevent slipping or, an old idea, of roughing the axles by multple centre punching of the axle surfaces?
.......View attachment 73074

You can try loctite depending how much clearance there is, wrap tape if there is a lot of clearance, or take a hammer and put a dimple on the shaft. Add an extra washer behind the clip.

 

[jht]

Maybe you are overthinking this. It looks like the metal brace on the (picture) left hand side needs to be bent back out a little to the right. That should keep the inner part of the race from turning when the pin is replaced. How much slop do you need to take up? Maybe a plastic shim or spring washers on the inside or outside to take up the slop?
Joe