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Many years ago, I owned a Gilson 16 hp garden tractor with 48" deck. Almost every year, I would have to replace mower deck spindle bearings and once I had to replace two shafts.
I am a mechanic and bearing adjustment was correct.
I had the mower deck spindles tore apart and was discussing my situation with a "lubrication specialist" ---(oiler)--- at work.
He asked me what type grease I was using and I stated "just grease like I use on my car". He informed me that there was a lot of different grease and that I should be using a EP2 grade.
I did as he suggested and mowed with that mower for many years with no further problems.
I have a WH C175 that I have owned nearly 30 years and it has the original deck bearings. I have greased them with Chevron EP2 Grease more times then I can remember. It would take me app. 6 hours to cut my large lawn and I would grease the entire tractor before every lawn cutting. At least 10 pumps from my hand pump gun to each spindle.
I think loyal maintenance and the proper lubrication is vital to any piece of equipment.
I just thought this information my be of interest to some

Thanks for sharing your experience. Know what I wonder...my 60 inch 7-Iron deck has three spindles, every spring I pump them full of JD premium grease, what I will never understand is WHERE the grease in them goes...I have pumped in a tube and a half EVERY spring for 7 years.

WHERE does the grease disappear to when the bearings are sealed...:confused2:

Seems like I should only have to grease them once.

JDgreen said:

Thanks for sharing your experience. Know what I wonder...my 60 inch 7-Iron deck has three spindles, every spring I pump them full of JD premium grease, what I will never understand is WHERE the grease in them goes...I have pumped in a tube and a half EVERY spring for 7 years.

WHERE does the grease disappear to when the bearings are sealed...:confused2:

Seems like I should only have to grease them once.

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Thats why I will not recommend a mower that does not have greasable deck spindles. The grease escapes below the deck and is unnoticed.

My grandfather rehabs lawn equipment, and one thing he has always done is to drill and install zerks on the mower deck spindles when they weren't installed...I have an old Jacobsen GT14, and it has drilled spindles.

The other thing to consider, when talking lubrication, is the QUALITY of the grease. I run one of three greases, and only one as of lately...Mobile 1, Pennzoil 707L, and Schaeffers. I have seen almost no failures running these three greases. Point being: don't buy junk grease.

Giles said:

Thats why I will not recommend a mower that does not have greasable deck spindles. The grease escapes below the deck and is unnoticed.

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I have looked at the bottom of my deck after filling it with new grease and I will be darned if I can see ANY of it coming out from there, and it is clean when I do that...I would think any excess would be seen then.

steved said:

My grandfather rehabs lawn equipment, and one thing he has always done is to drill and install zerks on the mower deck spindles when they weren't installed...I have an old Jacobsen GT14, and it has drilled spindles.

The other thing to consider, when talking lubrication, is the QUALITY of the grease. I run one of three greases, and only one as of lately...Mobile 1, Pennzoil 707L, and Schaeffers. I have seen almost no failures running these three greases. Point being: don't buy junk grease.

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Since my tractor was new, I have been using the JD branded Polyura (sp?) premium grease, also use it on my GMC truck and the grease has performed flawlessly.

thanks for the info Giles,I'll buy some tomorrow, russ

steved said:

The other thing to consider, when talking lubrication, is the QUALITY of the grease. I run one of three greases, and only one as of lately...Mobile 1, Pennzoil 707L, and Schaeffers. I have seen almost no failures running these three greases. Point being: don't buy junk grease.

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I have always liked the Pennzoil 707 grease.

When you consider what you're asking grease to do, i.e. provide a high level of lubrication, put up with shock loads, not wash out, and provide good off season protection, it doesn't make sense to me to put in anything but a premium product. A tube of the synthetic grease I use retails for about $7.50, I consider it a bargain.:biggrin:

benski said:

When you consider what you're asking grease to do, i.e. provide a high level of lubrication, put up with shock loads, not wash out, and provide good off season protection, it doesn't make sense to me to put in anything but a premium product. A tube of the synthetic grease I use retails for about $7.50, I consider it a bargain.:biggrin:

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Synthetic OIL is double the cost of dino oil, and now you tell us synthetic GREASE is triple the cost of regular premium grease....

NO WAY am I ever going to buy the stuff, it cannot be THAT good.

JDgreen said:

Synthetic OIL is double the cost of dino oil, and now you tell us synthetic GREASE is triple the cost of regular premium grease....

NO WAY am I ever going to buy the stuff, it cannot be THAT good.

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Whatever you say..

Hey everybody, I agree with JDgreen thats a lot of money to pay for grease, Benski you may be right about it being a bargain I just dont know. Maybe if I get my dream mower this spring {J D} I might give it a try, but right now on my old faithful MTD I think paying that much might be a waste.

JD, a tube of syn grease will set you back about $7.00 and will provide protection far above what regular grease will; to me it is worth the extra cost but to some it is not. Those spindle bearing are subject to not only high temps but lateral loading, some shock stress and moisture from washing the deck, humidity and temp changes.

I understand: hopefully some smart person will chime in- the correct way to grease the spindles is not to pump alot into the bearings but only to give each fitting a few (4 or so) shots-if you have not gone to an air grease gun do yourself a favor and do so, if you have air that is-those cordless jobs are the cats bottom also.

As to where the grease goes, probably the same place the socks do in the washer.....:laughing:

robert said:

JD, a tube of syn grease will set you back about $7.00 and will provide protection far above what regular grease will; to me it is worth the extra cost but to some it is not. Those spindle bearing are subject to not only high temps but lateral loading, some shock stress and moisture from washing the deck, humidity and temp changes.

As to where the grease goes, probably the same place the socks do in the washer.....:laughing:

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:laughing::laughing::thumbsup:

From my Original Post----"I have a WH C175 that I have owned nearly 30 years and it has the original deck bearings. I have greased them with Chevron EP2 Grease more times then I can remember. It would take me app. 6 hours to cut my large lawn and I would grease the entire tractor before every lawn cutting. At least 10 pumps from my hand pump gun to each spindle."To each his own:smile:--I will continue with my 5 gallon bucket of Chevron EP2:thumbsup: They might last another 30 years if I had used Synthetic:laughing:

robert said:

JD, a tube of syn grease will set you back about $7.00 and will provide protection far above what regular grease will; to me it is worth the extra cost but to some it is not. Those spindle bearing are subject to not only high temps but lateral loading, some shock stress and moisture from washing the deck, humidity and temp changes.

I understand: hopefully some smart person will chime in- the correct way to grease the spindles is not to pump alot into the bearings but only to give each fitting a few (4 or so) shots-if you have not gone to an air grease gun do yourself a favor and do so, if you have air that is-those cordless jobs are the cats bottom also.

As to where the grease goes, probably the same place the socks do in the washer.....:laughing:

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Crikey! I just found my grease gun in the washing machine.In all seriousness, if I can extend the life of any of the pieces of junk I run around for another $3 or $4,(less than the cost of 10 minutes at my local pub) I consider it money well spent. I probably use a tube and a half annually. Most of the major manufacturers of grease haven't changed their formulations in a long time; there isn't much glamour or profit to be made in the world of grease. There IS some maintenance and money to be saved out there.:wink:

I will not comment on what grease because it is pointless people will believe what they believe but I would say think about a hand gun vs air gun.

With a hand gun you can feel a slight pressure when the bearing is full, With air gun you feel nothing and just force the grease through the seal.

However forcing it out with a hand pump is what most do anyway so maybe it don't matter what gun you use.

With the Gilson lawn tractor, I referred to in OP, the seals were installed the correct way. It has been many years ago but this is what I remember---The top seal was installed with the "lip" down, as with virtually all seals. The bottom seal was installed with "lip" down also and there was a thin metal cup shaped "shield" below the rubber lip seal to serve as a "dust shield". I could pump as much grease as I desired, with no damage to seals. Grease would escape from the lower seal--below deck.
To me, this was the correct seal setup and, in my opinion, would be desired in all machines.
I suspect the WH has this seal setup but I have never had one apart. Grease escapes from bottom as it did with the Gilson.
It is my thoughts that if both seals are installed to prevent grease escape, in any application--seals will be damaged or blown out with just a small amount of added grease.
Just think about the Gravely setup---bottom seal is installed to prevent contamination from below deck debris and allow passage of grease when serviced. Top seal holds grease inside and away from belt.:thumbsup:

Personally, i use Lucas oil brand grease - when i use it in mandrel assemblies, i just give it a few shots and call it done- some is better then none at all.

A couple tractors i drilled and tapped the mandrels for zerk fittings - i dont over fill them, just a few shots every other mowing.

To cure a noisey MTD transaxle, i drilled and tapped one for zerks ( i cracked it open first) - helps alot in quieting it down - again a few shots every couple mowings .....

Im not a believer in using synthetic in every day mowers - the high dollar ones i suppose- but not run of the mill mowers. Cost just doesnt justify it. Regular oil changes should be done and itll last just as long or longer - i have a splash briggs motor old as i am still running , most are 20 plus years - all with regular plain oil- even the one brand new tractor i bot , still runs and still uses plain oil for 19 years.

I did however buy a couple quarts of royal purple for a mod tractor's motor- an 18.5HP opposed twin briggs - wanted to see about any power advantage on the stock 1996 governed motor - i didnt really notice any , but plan to use more when the tractor is rebuilt, just to add more protection under the extreme use , might add some royal purple gear oil to the trans as well.

Hey guys at least we all maintain our mowers unlike my neighbors down the road who are usually have to buy new ones every other year due to lack of maint. or most likely abuse!:frown: They have teenage sons who mow and evidently they never bothered teaching them the value of hard earned money judging by the way they treat everything they use or drive.

jamesslcx said:

Hey guys at least we all maintain our mowers unlike my neighbors down the road who are usually have to buy new ones every other year due to lack of maint. or most likely abuse!:frown: They have teenage sons who mow and evidently they never bothered teaching them the value of hard earned money judging by the way they treat everything they use or drive.

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Ah, the tradition continues! Until it (the money) starts coming out of one's own pocket, it doesn't seem to count as much.:wink:


"Hey ya little whippersnapper, don't drive that wagon and those horses so hard.. Hand scraped axle bearings don't grow on trees, ya know..!":biggrin:

I just replaced a spindle on my Grasshopper [see thread in GH forum].I grease my machine before each mowing ,all 16 zerks.I posted a question over on TBN on how much grease you should put in the spindles and got anywhere from 3 pumps to until it ozzes out the bottom.So I'm sticking with my method of when I see it coming out the bottom.I did buy an air powered grease gun and it does make greasing easier..russ

Iv drilled a hole before in the non greasable spindles and filled them full of heavy gear oil and closed them up, And that was in 98 when I bought my jd new. Never have replaced them sense. It's basically the same thing as grease, because when grease gets hot its almost like water.

dwelder said:

Iv drilled a hole before in the non greasable spindles and filled them full of heavy gear oil and closed them up, And that was in 98 when I bought my jd new. Never have replaced them sense. It's basically the same thing as grease, because when grease gets hot its almost like water.

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I respect your opinion but I disagree:smile: It is my understanding that the grease I recommended---EP2--has a melting point of 500 degrees Celsius or 932 degrees Fahrenheit. I believe when it melted at this temperature, it would be like water. I believe regular grease would get thinner in normal service --but like water??
In my OP, I was recommending EP2 grease because of it's high pressure, high temperature.:thumbsup:

I'm shore there are good greases and bad but I can remember pulling apart old transaxles and the grease in them being like a liquid. But I guess companies buy the cheapest they can find to make more money.