Several studies on the use of Support Vector Machines (SVMs) for diagnosing rotating machinery have been successfully carried out, but the fault classification depends on the input features as well as a multi-classification scheme, binary optimizer, kernel function, and the parameter to be used in the kernel function. Most of the published papers on multiclass SVM applications report the use of the same features to classify the faults. In this study, simple statistical features are determined on the basis of time domain vibration signals for various fault conditions, and the optimal features for each fault condition are selected. Then, the optimal features are used in the SVM training and in the classification of each fault condition. Simulation results using experimental data show that the results of the proposed stepwise classification approach with a relatively short training time are comparable to those for a single multi-class SVM.