John Deere 25A Flail Mower

[TomIn]

I have an older 25A flail mower that came with a tractor that I bought about 10 years ago. It's rather beat up, and one of the bearings on the drum shaft recently disintegrated. I only use it a few hours per year (mostly to cut paths in my tall weedy areas. It seems to go through belts rather quickly.

I've looked up the parts I need to replace the bearings and belt. It looks like I will need a pair of AE20715 bearings (in the square flange blocks), a pair of E3503 bearing shields, and a new supply of E51728 belts. The John Deere (Timken?) bearings are about $120 each, and the shields (I haven't been able to find a generic shield) are about $30 each. The E51728 belts are about $40. I'm not sure that it worth putting $300 to $400 in parts in my rather worn machine---not to mention that changing the bearings isn't a fun job for an out-of-shape old geezer with bad knees.

I've looked at alternative parts and find that I can buy a generic (Chinese?) bearing for $15 to $30. I can't find another source for the shields. It looks like I can find equivalent size belts (even Kevlar ones) for less than half the Deere price.

Does anyone have any opinions about using generic parts rather than John Deere parts? Any suggestions for good sources of bearings and belts>

 

[Scott 730]

You need to get the part number from the bearing itself. You don't need to replace the cast housing if it isn't broke.

 

[TomIn]

John Deere Parts catalog shows the shaft bearing (without casting) to be JD10387----equivalent to Timken G1106KRRB. The outer race of my bearing is sloppy in the casting, so I thought that replacing the casting would be appropriate. Since the bearing disintegrated, the inner race and the balls are missing.

 

[Tim(nj)]

How sloppy is sloppy? I've used Loctite 680 retaining compound to keep new bearings in worn housings with success.