I don't think there was a bad grease interaction. If it's been sitting that long, more than likely the old stuff is gummed up making it tight and the new grease never made it fully into the bearing. If they spin smooth and quiet, probably just need to disassemble, clean, and reassemble.
When you spun the spindles by hand, was the deck belt on spinning all of them at once? I'm not familiar with that style deck, I assume there is a tensioning pulley on the deck? Perhaps the tensioner pulley bearing is tight giving the impression the spindles are too tight?
Bill
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