powermax mower bearings

[gregnorth]

my mower deck on my 4041 started chattering today. my center pulley was wobbling pretty bad at low rpms. anyway, where's a good place to get new bearings and how hard is it to take these things apart? thanks, greg

[D-17_Dave]

Any Simplicity dealer should stock these bearings. I have crossed and sourced them through reputable auto parts dealers also, just don't remember what the numbers are off the top of my head. They aren't hard to disassemble, the hard part is getting the normally missing thrust bearings and dust guards back into place. These items from years of neglect often erode and disappear. You'll need to have a copy of the parts breakdown to see what all needs to be there and in what order.

[wilm169]

I still get mine at a dealer, but there is a lot more part than the bearings you need to repair it.:(

[Brettw]

Once you know what the bearing part numbers are, you should be able to look on e-bay, or a local bearing outfit. For instance, we have a place called Bearings, Inc. near here and they have everything you would need. The real difference? e-bay $3.50-5 bux. Bearings, Inc. $5.50ish. Dealer $ 13.86. Now this is for bearings for a Sovereign deck, but I think you see the point. A big deal for 8 bux? Not so much I guess. Multiply that times 6 and now we're talking some serious beer money!

[GLPointon]

Always STOP at the 1st sign of bearing wear or you my be looking for another shaft or arbor housing...been there-done that many yrs ago

[dhardin]

The design on the Mower max deck is like no other. And I guess their is a reason. When I rebuilt my 2 badly worn spindles and ordered a ton of parts, only one top thrust bearing came in. So my Simplicity dealer proceeds to tell me I do not need all these parts. He advise from his years of working with these unique decks is to not put the top cup and thrust beating in but to get hard machinist washers and shim it up till you get a small amount of end play (up and down movement). He inform me of the simply reason why the bearings go bad and if not caught quickly you will need a shaft as well. The top cup is to thin and when it gets just a little dust or dirt in it well over heat and crack, This in turn will tack out the top thrust washer. Then the metal thrust washer peaces will fall into the needle bearings and shortly take out the shaft. Buy using this shim method you eliminate this dilemma. I asked if the thrust washers would over heat and eat the top of the housing out, He said no it wont if you grease the deck often. Just a small amount of grease after each heavy use. Also to get plastic caps to close off the grease holes on top of the deck. This will help keep dirt out of the bearings. It has worked for me but I don't use this mower for my primary mowing. Its been one full season and have not had any problems.

[gregnorth]

all fixed. i took the three spindle assemblies to a simplicity dealer near me and they totally disassembled them and put all new parts in, bearing, cups, washers etc. bill came to $297.00 so i wouldn't recommend doing it too often but at least i know they're done right. i mowed with them today after i got the deck back together and felt the hubs when i was done mowing for an hour wide open and the hubs were barely warmer then my hand so I'm thinking they're done right. a lot quieter too. thanks for the responses, later, greg