Lubing the Lawn Mower

junquecol

Bruce
Senior User
We all know to change the oil, air filter, and spark plug on our lawn mowers. But how many lube the wheels on the mower, especially a push mower? I know some of you have Zoom Fire V-8, 900 HP, 96" cut riding mower, AM/FM radio, air conditioned, noise canceling cab, but for those who still have to push a mower, this applies. Last Saturday while cutting grass, I noticed mower seemed harder to push. I thought, maybe it was another casualty of hearing the Happy Birthday Song. (Every time the Happy birthday song is sung to me, something new hurts, things takes longer to do, or no longer work.) AFTER, not before, cutting the grass, I decided to lube the wheels on push mower. Took the wheels off one by one, and lubed the axles with White Lithium Grease. Now it's like the mower is sliding on ice compared to before. A tip for getting oil in the mower. When I do an oil change, I put the recommended amount of oil in a quart oil bottle. Bottle has a spout that I robbed from a grease bottle for lower end of boat motor. This way, there is no checking, or over filling of oil, and no spills
 

Michael Mathews

Michael
Corporate Member
I've worked my lawn into a riding mower job and then touch up with the weed wacker. So yes on my JD 48" deck, 21HP rider, every season I change the oil, filter, AND pump some grease into the front wheel bearings and spindles where there are grease fittings! I will admit that everything seems to wear, even with grease, but at least so far (about 15 years of age now) the tractor has been great! BTW, I didn't buy it new! I bought it from my neighbor when I lived in Michigan. He had it 3 years and decided to upgrade to an all hydraulic with a snow blower (sorry for the nasty word). I got if for a steal :cool::cool::cool::cool::D:D:D
 

LeftyTom

Tom
Corporate Member
I use the motorcycle metaphor: I change oil in the fall. No use in the motor sitting in old oil all winter long. Spring is when I change air filters.
 

KenOfCary

Ken
Staff member
Corporate Member
I've worked my lawn into a riding mower job and then touch up with the weed wacker. So yes on my JD 48" deck, 21HP rider, every season I change the oil, filter, AND pump some grease into the front wheel bearings and spindles where there are grease fittings! I will admit that everything seems to wear, even with grease, but at least so far (about 15 years of age now) the tractor has been great! BTW, I didn't buy it new! I bought it from my neighbor when I lived in Michigan. He had it 3 years and decided to upgrade to an all hydraulic with a snow blower (sorry for the nasty word). I got if for a steal :cool::cool::cool::cool::D:D:D
I have the same mower or at least very similar. The problem I'm having now is the steering mechanism is very stiff and even squeaks when turning. I've lubed everything that I can get to but it seems there is some linkage somewhere that I can't get to. Guess I'm going to have to take it into a service depot around here. At least the local small engine repair places around here charge about $100 less than those in the Cary area.
 

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
I've worked my lawn into a riding mower job and then touch up with the weed wacker. So yes on my JD 48" deck, 21HP rider, every season I change the oil, filter, AND pump some grease into the front wheel bearings and spindles where there are grease fittings! I will admit that everything seems to wear, even with grease, but at least so far (about 15 years of age now) the tractor has been great! BTW, I didn't buy it new! I bought it from my neighbor when I lived in Michigan. He had it 3 years and decided to upgrade to an all hydraulic with a snow blower (sorry for the nasty word). I got if for a steal :cool::cool::cool::cool::D:D:D
Everyone has mentioned greasing the tractor chassis, but do you lube your deck bearings as well? My mower is a 52" cut with 3 blades and they need a copious application of the appropriate grease as well. Being a zero turn, it has no fittings on the chassis at all. The front wheels are sealed bearings and HDPE bushings on the swivels.
 

afn59999

New User
Dan
My son got us an Automower from Husqvarna. Just have to trim around the edges every few weeks.
It's pretty cool watching it go back and forth.
 

sawman101

Bruce Swanson
Corporate Member
Toro 50" 24 HP zero turn does have grease fittings on the front axles. The problem is the rollers on the deck, they do need to have a good dose of lube oil or the squeaking will drive me nuttier than I already am. Great mower though as mowing time is now down to 2.5 hours. The price on Toro machines is set by the manufacturer, so dealers to big box stores, the price is the same. Big difference is, dealer puts some gas in the tank and actually starts it up and lets you try it first, then when you need servicing, your unit won't be put to the bottom of the list that comes after the bottom of the regular list. Took mine in for some adjusting after a year of use, and got it back in 3 days. My friend, whose tractor was bought used, took his in just after mine--he waited over a month for his to be repaired. A lot to be said about supporting your local dealer as they go the extra mile for you.
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
My JDX350 riding mower is serviced by a JD dealer in late winter/early spring. Sharpen the blades, lubricate, change the spark plugs, oil and filter, etc. I don't mind paying them for this service and they'll pick it up and deliver for a bit more.

If they have it late winter (slow season) the turnaround time is about 2-3 weeks depending on where I am in the que.
 

Pop Golden

New User
Pop
Years ago I bought a Gravely 7.5 hp. tractor. Everything on this thing is bathed in oil or grease. It's all gear drive, even the mower no belts here. It's a walk or ride behind machine with a 36 in. mower out front. I had attachments: plow, cultivator, sickle mower etc. It was a great little machine. I gave it to my son years ago. Plowing a garden gave me a workout, now at 80 it would kick my butt.

Pop
 

medic

New User
john
Where did you find a 900 hp mine is only 700 does a 1/4 in about 22.5 minutes (with blades turning) maybe faster if i did not have to stop and pick up grandkids toys. Wife don't like it when I run over them . I take mine to the local speed shop .
 

Michael Mathews

Michael
Corporate Member
Everyone has mentioned greasing the tractor chassis, but do you lube your deck bearings as well? My mower is a 52" cut with 3 blades and they need a copious application of the appropriate grease as well. Being a zero turn, it has no fittings on the chassis at all. The front wheels are sealed bearings and HDPE bushings on the swivels.
Yes, forgot to mention that every season I do grease the spindle bearings. If you have a JD mower, DO NOT use their special power wash system where you connect a hose to the mower deck and run the mower blades. In theory, it's a great idea, but the problem is the grass that's stuck around the spindles gets soaked with water and then wicks the water up into the bearings. Poor design in my opinion.
 

Jeff

New User
Jeff
My JD has the special power wash system on the mower deck but I've never used it because I don't think that it will remove the built up grass clippings that are stuck to the mower deck. I haven't asked the JD service folks how they remove the old grass clippings.

You never see a JD official video about this "handy dandy" feature for cleaning the mower deck.
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
On my JD L130, I have lubed the wheel bearings, but ended up replacing the front spindles. The bushings are harder than the spindles, and wear the spindles instead of the replacement bushings.

As for the deck, I replaced the blade spindles after 13 years. The new ones come with a grease fitting, but the bearings are sealed, so it does no good to pump in lube. (purposely designed to fail)

To keep the grass from clogging up under teh deck, I just spray it with PAM (yeah, the cooking non-stick stuff) whenever I change/sharpen the blades (usually every spring). Don't have any problem with the grass building up too badly under the deck. I get a little around the blade spindles, but not enough to cause any probems, and it comes off easily using a putty knife during the annul maint.
 

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