Idler Pulley Bearing Change , For Most Mowers , Cheaper than buying the Pulley

Idler Pulley Bearing Change , Mower deck pulley repair, For Most Mowers , Cheaper than buying the idler Pulley .When repairing your riding mower , Most of the time you can just change the bearing for a few dollars instead of paying $15 -$20 or more for a new idler pulley. 6203 2rs is a popular bearing , Some mower deck spindles use the same 6203 2rs bearing , If your idler pulley is riveted together or spot welded you can usually change the bearing . A bad idler pulley bearing can also cause V belt to wear quickly. Riding mower repair can be a lot cheaper replacing the bearing instead of the idler pulley. To repair the mower you may need to remove the bushing in the bearing to use in the new idler pulley bearing. Mower deck pulley repair. Fix mower deck pulley.

[@thomasc5000]

Did this for my Bad Boy mower , 3 pulleys , took about 20 minutes each ,fully reassembled . One New pulley is 38$ . Vs. $6 for a bearing and 3$ for screws and lock nuts ,saved $87 on 3 pulleys

[@wtbm123]

Next time it is real easy . Thanks for stopping in and commenting.

[@thomasc5000]

@@wtbm123 agree once the rivets are gone...it takes 5 minutes..

[@Drundel]

You were the only one to show removing that post. Thanks, about $11 from Ace and I rigged up a puller for it to easily remove it and install it in new bearings.

[@wtbm123]

Thanks for stopping by and sharing . Glad you got it sorted out

[@111000100101001]

Very handy way to rebuild and make them easy to rebuild in the future. Today’s, I’m too busy being busy, peeps just don’t get it but that’s what keeps business going by selling them complete assemblies so it all levels out :) Thanks for sharing!

[@wtbm123]

Thank you for commenting

[@Sorak311]

even with one mower it is worth it.. I cant seem to find any quality pulleys with quality bearing in them anywhere.... all of them have really crappy bearings in them... The bearings last sometimes only a few hours to a couple of weeks.. and then you gotta get a new one.. and like you said now i will be able to put quality bearing in them.. definitely gonna start doing this.. Thanks

[@wtbm123]

Thanks for stopping in and commenting . As long as one takes time drilling them out so they separate easy it works well , and easier if needing to change again .

[@philliphall5198]

I lawn bussiness customers I use only timkin brging, in idealers and deck I promise you it’s worth the difference in price

[@snocrushr]

Good to see you're still hard at it. 👍👍

[@wtbm123]

trying to still do something . Thanks for stopping by

[@sgerepairs5978]

Always better to fix cheap than buy I say. A tip I learned is to take the shield off of the bearing and add more grease. They don’t put much in so the bearing fails sooner! Planned obsolescence! Thanks for the vid

[@wtbm123]

I have had good luck with these bearings , but some of the cheap ones , i do grease with a needle , as some do come pretty dry . Thanks for watching and commenting

[@stuzman52]

Great video Terry and as you mentioned if you have a fleet of mowers, replacing the bearings will save you money. And you get to pick the quality of the bearings.

[@wtbm123]

Yes a lot cheaper if keeping many mowers going . Thank you for stopping by

[@originalscottfree]

Good stuff, thank you for sharing.

[@wtbm123]

Thank you for watching and commenting

[@georgenettlesjr1466]

Nice. Great job.

[@wtbm123]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@ivantester8204]

Good job, thanks.

[@wtbm123]

Thank you too!

[@TheShadeTreeFixitMan]

Good tips

[@wtbm123]

Thank you

[@carlthornton3076]

Very Good!..

[@wtbm123]

Thank you

[@finpainter1]

Good fix.

[@wtbm123]

Thank you

[@martinfehr841]

Thankyou thankyou!!

[@wtbm123]

You’re welcome 😊

[@patrickmertz2426]

Great and helpful video, thanks for making and uploading it.

[@wtbm123]

Glad it was helpful!

[@beckettroland4285]

i guess I am quite randomly asking but do anyone know a good place to stream new series online?

[@allanzayden2200]

@Beckett Roland lately I have been using Flixzone. You can find it on google :)

[@josephcrowshaw950]

Very helpful, thank you for showing the bearing numbers.

[@wtbm123]

Glad to help

[@462ANIMAL]

Cool. I did mine years ago on my mower.. but I used the air cutoff wheel and put it back using the mig welder. Lol

[@wtbm123]

Yea there are many ways to do it , Much cheaper than buying pulleys

[@462ANIMAL]

wtbm123 My mowers drive belt just broke. I put a used one on to try and get the lawn cut, but no luck. It won’t move at all. Did the transmission actually crap out ? It’s an automatic

[@philliphall5198]

I drill one hole to 1/8 just for timing pulley back in same place it was

[@426superbee4]

Over time with grass and sticks, grinding on them. In most cases its best to go ahead and just get the new pulley with bearings. Cause there made from mild metal and wear out fast, or warp ~ Plus you got a new pulley with a new bearing for about 11 bucks ~ If its a good hard steel pulley? YES break it down and add a new bearing ~ These pullies and bearings on these riding lawn mowers, the metal is Junk! Made in China

[@wtbm123]

They do wear , but most are still good . If you only have one mower then change the pulley if you want , but if maintaining a fleet of mowers the bearing is a much cheaper option . And you can control the quality of the bearing ,

[@zx8401ztv]

My god, you have two fake commenters. Drilling out the rivits is much nicer with a piller drill, when i was at school (Yes i did learn something ha ha :-D), the pillar drills in the metalwork class were big heavy cast iron beasts, they never moved. Yes i can see the sense of replacing just the bearings, the pulley halfs look spot on :-D. I always try to repair things, i came from a family with very little money. The chuck away society is madness to me.

[@wtbm123]

yea you get those , lol

[@bombardier3qtrlbpsi]

Idea... When I need to do that I use a 1/4" die grinder bit.Its flat on the bottom and it shows the seperate line of the rivet once you take the head off. Take a punch and knock it out. Nice work 👍

[@wtbm123]

Cool thanks for stopping in

[@greatlakescopwatchglcw127]

How much is your time worth. Those flat pulleys are $25 for any size.. 1.5 hrs + bearing + hardware $5 Saving $20 for 1.5 hrs . That's an hourly wage of $13, McDonald's pays almost $20.

[@wtbm123]

but if you have a bunch of mowers and say you do 10 or 20 bearings it makes a difference and the next bearing replacement is quick and easy. and pulleys for some are $50 or so. So may not be worth it if you are only doing one pulley. . Thanks for stopping in and commenting

[@tonywinslow2111]

Same bearing fits in most tension and idler pulley on cars and trucks.

[@wtbm123]

Yea , good bearings to have on hand. Thanks for watching and Commenting

[@leonardrice2830]

Impressive 🤔

[@wtbm123]

Thank you for watching and commenting

[@notavailable9919]

Doesn't the weight change and imbalance of those screws/nuts affect stability and performance?

[@eltonjohnfan100]

Probably, but people nowadays don’t ask questions like that, that’s why I was scrolling to find someone who asked. Awesome. And yes I’m sure it affects the performance. OEM parts are tested for performance. Cheaper is not always better.

[@wtbm123]

The spot welds are evenly spaced and if using all the same size bolts it should be close enough . Never had any issues unless you bend the pulley taking it apart

[@Jonasguidry22]

Nice job, just my opinion I spend the $23 and get the pulley w/ bearing. Have too much other crap to wrench on 😆

[@wtbm123]

that is ok if only buying one or two , but if you have a crap load of tractors this is much cheaper and does not take long . less time than going to a store or waiting days to order . Thanks for watching and commenting

[@8SecSleeper]

Check the prices now. I used to just spend $40 for 2 pack of these pulleys. Now it's $65 each pulley, and $110 for the larger diameter ones. I have 5 mowers and I'm not blowing money on them, I'll do it this way till the prices come back to earth.

[@mikespain8655]

You could have taken the seal out of the old bearing, cleaned it and greased it. Would have saved another $5 bucks, ha ha.

[@wtbm123]

Thanks for stopping by

[@philliphall5198]

Really 4 of the 1/4 bolts is plenty for any of the pulleys 😊😊😊

[@wtbm123]

Probably correct ,

[@philliphall5198]

I do this on my mower and for family but for customers I just buy a new one because labor will add up quickly

[@wtbm123]

If one time replacement yea get a new one . But on a fleet of mowers that runs everyday and many of the same mowers , once you have changed bearing once it is fast and easy next times . Some pulleys are cheap , others are $50 + on commercial mowers . Thank you for stopping in and commenting

[@philliphall5198]

@@wtbm123I agree and I do that for three of my business clients but not for the average customer 😊😊

[@jimmyfontenot1524]

What is the bearing number?

[@wtbm123]

That depends on the pulley , not all use the same bearing . If you look on the side of the bearing , most times the bearing number is there . 6203-2RS is a popular one , but not what all of them take

[@michaelwillcutt2619]

You do understand all those bolts and nuts could unbalance the pulley

[@wtbm123]

Well the spot welds are evenly spaced , and i have not weighed them but sure each nut and bolt weighs near the same . I have done these this way for years and never an issue . Some new ones are not straight . It is a good observation and thank you for your comment .

[@michaelwillcutt2619]

@@wtbm123 well there not spot welds, there equally weight dowel pins stamped pressed for accuracy crimping

[@wtbm123]

@@michaelwillcutt2619 Some are , and some are spot welds . . I have not ever had a issue on any of the ones i have not . One can always just buy new ones if they wish .

[@billsmith1770]

i've done several over the years w/no problems . on the last one , the bit grabbed and spun the pulley . big time cursing , pain , talking ugly about its momma , and a little blood ensued . i advise clamping the pulley down .

[@wtbm123]

Yes they can spin , Thanks for stopping in and commenting

[@julianmcalister6865]

If it was a matter of just pressing the old bearing out and a new one in, it would be feasible. To much work for a cheap in price pulley. But hey, to each his own.

[@wtbm123]

If you are the guy at home , Needing to replace one pulley then ok , But if you have a fleet of mowers or do commercial mowers that the pulleys are $50 plus a pulley , Then it starts making more since , And the second time one needs to put in a bearing it is easier.

[@julianmcalister6865]

@@wtbm123no problem with what works for you brother. Your reasons of replacement options may be different from mine. I totally respect yours. Really would have been nice if they didn’t incorporate the pulley over the bearing because I would totally be doing the same.

[@ciphercode2298]

Ive bought replacement pulleys and they put the cheapest chinese bearings in them. Ive hung onto my oem pulleys and will start rebuilding them and wait for the chinese ones to start failing,thanks.

[@wtbm123]

As long as pulley is good in the v i save and rebuild . For some mowers a replacement can be $15 and some $50 . Just drill the spot welds out big enough that you do not bend pulley separating it . Thanks for stopping in .

[@ciphercode2298]

@@wtbm123 yeah,that's what I'll do. I can get the cheap pulleys,but the bearings aren't lasting long.

[@ThreePhaseHigh]

Buy the whole darn pulley there only 15 bucks especially if you’re times worth anything.

[@wtbm123]

Thanks for stopping by

[@kevintomb]

Depends...some idler pulleys are 25-35 bucks, I did this for 2 high priced ones, and paid like 2 bucks for bearings and an hour of time.

[@jtaylor9355]

The cheap Chinese ones are usually not made true and the bearings let go with in a year.