Hi All,
Trevor,
I had not come across that problem with the lawnmower deck bearings, but could see it happening especially in warmer climates.
When I replaced the deck on my ride on I had it blasted and zinc dipped before fitting it
Th grass can be very wet over here
There are "sealed" bearings and there are corrosion "proof" bearings like these
http://www.skf.com/group/industry-solutions/food-and-beverage/processing-stages/post-processing-and-packaging/skf-stainless-steel-deep-groove-ball-bearings-with-solid-oil.htmlThere are also different materials used for shields/ seals where the bearings are exposed to water "spalshes" etc
The seals fitted to normal bearings are designed to keep the grease inside not so much contaminants out
If you fancy there's an easy dodge to add grease to a sealed bearing without removing the seals
cut a hole in a piece of rubber gasketing say 1/8th thick, smaller than the outer race but larger than the OD of the inner, place this on a flat surface and the bearing on top, fill the inner bore and the hole in the rubber with grease
Push a tight fitting cork or tight fitting dowel/ spindle into the bearing bore while holding the outer race tightly down onto the rubber gasketing
Take it easy or you can easily pop the topmost seal out
as the bearing will be full of grease
John