D100 (maintenance and repairs)

[biodiesel]

Ideally you would give them 1 stroke every month during the mowing season.

How much should I pre-grease them? The directions say to grease them after install, but it doesn't say how much grease.

 

[bertsmobile1]

I pack the entire cavity with grease and where ever possible use a shielded bearing on the bottom where a 2 RS is specified.
Push the bottom bearing in complete with spindle
Fill the cavity with grease
Remove both seals from the top bearing and fit it
Wipe away the excess grease ( it goes into the trash grease tin for greasing bolts ) then refit the top outer seal and fit the pulley
My prefferred grease is the blue coloured marine grease as it seems to take weather better than the other lithium based greases .

 

[StarTech]

Usually I just fill until I heard air passing the grease as they fill. On empty ones I don't hear anything until they nearly completely filled.

But you must be carefully as many of the spindles I get with grease fittings have sealed bearings which the grease will collapse the inner seals into the bearings. Husqvarna and MTD are bad about doing this.

 

[Telesis]

I've attached the relevant pages here(from the Operator's Manual). Take note in the picture at the top left of page 29 where they point to the grease fittings on the spindles (items labeled 'C'). The one on the spindle closest to the chute should point sideways toward the chute and is accessed via the opening in the cover. The one on the other spindle is different. From your pics, I think you have the one farthest from the chute in the correct orientation. However, it looks like the one closest to the chute needs rotated 180 deg.

FWIW, page 28 recommends lubing every 25hrs. I hit all the grease fittings on mine with a shot or two once a season.

Enjoy!

 

[Telesis]

I need to correct one of my previous comments. Something seemed fishy to me staring at the pic so I double checked the exact position on my D105. What better to do at 2:30 am LOL! The spindle farthest from the chute needs rotated 90 deg clockwise as viewed from the top. Both then are easily accessed through their respective cover openings.

Sorry for any confusion. Time to pull the plug before any more 'old man moments'!

 

[MParr]

Grease fittings point to rear.

 

[Telesis]

MParr, you are wrong in this instance for the spindle closest to the chute. Look at the pic on p 29 I referenced. That right hand cover completely blocks access to the rear. Where you see the "C" coming in from the right is exactly where the fitting needs to be pointed. There are openings provided in both covers, specifically for access to the fittings. The far(from the chute) spindle fitting does point to the rear while the other points directly toward the chute where there is access, not to the rear!

 

[StarTech]

Well it looks the OP has them right to me as for ease of access according to his image posted in post #49. It makes more sense to me to have them that way. Yes the deck may need to be dropped to do it but they usually needs a good cleaning anyways.

 

[Telesis]

Ok, this will be my last post to this thread. I've laid out the specifics and I'm sorry Star but you are wrong also. Making it so you have to drop the deck to grease is well, foolish and mostly a waste of time if all you want to do is hit them with a shot of grease. For God's sake, JD put those openings there for a reason, and in the process made it super fast and easy to do. I agree on the cleaning aspect but an air compressor does a lovely job as well. But I'm not going to argue any more. Just the facts...

Bio, please look at the attached. I have circled the openings in the plastic covers which were specifically put there to facilitate reaching the grease fittings straight on, with no extra work. All you have to do is place your plastic covers on and look through openings I've circled. When your spindles are in the right location, you'll have an extremely simple, straight shot to hit them with the grease gun, as the tractor comes brand new. Please do that simple test. Then I think you'll see why JD put those openings there and why you need to rotate the one on the left 90 deg and the one on the right all the way around to line up with its opening.

Nuff said...

 

[biodiesel]

Well it looks the OP has them right to me as for ease of access according to his image posted in post #49. It makes more sense to me to have them that way. Yes the deck may need to be dropped to do it but they usually needs a good cleaning anyways.

It works for me. I pointed the zerk towards the opening in the spindle shield. I use the pictured lock-n-lube 90* adapter to make it easy to grease them.