Question about Grease Fittings on Deck

[ironman]

Originally Posted by Steve149

yes that one in the first picture is just setting in there loose. if you remove it the pulley slides right off. There is a star washer setting on top of the thick flat washer. The double pulley in the center of the deck is the same too, unscrew the grease fitting and off she comes. The deck sounded like a thrashing machine when I mowed and after tearing into it I found the idler was bad, but that one fitting wouldn't take grease. With the belt off the spindles spin freely no slop. I will perform surgery tonight and see what I can come up with on the other.

Steve, if you clean that fitting up in the top picture I think you will find that it is basically a bolt with a hole down through the middle and the zerk is screwed (or pressed) into the head of the bolt. All the ones I ever had have been this way and I never cared for it because that bolt holds it all together. If you tighten it too much it will snap, don't tighten it enough and the spindle comes apart while you are mowing. (ask me how I know).

I've not seen anything like the lower picture but it looks like a better idea. In any event, I think I would disassemble them all to clean, inspect and re-grease. You will probably be able to free up the zerk to take grease.

One note, if you disassemble and remove the seals, when you re-assemble, the seals go in upside down of the way you would normally install a seal. Reason is that so when you are pumping grease in though the fittings and she is full, the grease can ooze past the lip of the seal without bursting the seal or popping it out. The seal is there to keep dirt out, not grease in.

My , hope it helps.