Did this bearing REALLY need changing ?

[awemawson]

This time of year various farm implements get pulled out and looked at before the season. This flail mower is a fearsome beast and takes quite a bashing so some routine maintenance was called for. I knew the bearings were on the way out on the main flail shaft, so had ordered a pair before starting the job

[awemawson]

Stripped out the belt housing and pulley sheave to find this 

[awemawson]

Not a single ball bearing left in the self aligning bearing, and all the bits rather knackered! I expect the belt, which drives from above and would have taken the considerable weight of the flails stopped it making too much noise!

The inner race was so firmly glued on that it resisted all normal removal methods. I tried heating with a blow lamp, bearing puller and a hydraulic puller to no avail. In the end I had to bring out the big guns and burnt it off with oxy-acetylene. Always slightly dodgy as you don't want to burn the shaft 

[awemawson]

Then the 'easy' bit - put it back together with new bits.

Well it would be easy if they'd sent the right bearings 

Replacement promised overnight so no guessing what I'm doing tomorrow 

[lordedmond]

Andrew
That old bearing had loads of life left

Wrap some binder string round the shaft that should fix it up for at least another season

Or repackage with a grease we used at the iron works for exposed gears called Marfac boy was it thick and had stringy bits it it and you nigh on could not get it off your hands


At my uncle farm the reaper was held together with binder twine , I have fond memories of the pink thrashing drum arriving and the flat belts flapping about ,no HS them days

The one thing I want to forget was a very bad tempered Jersy bull , before AI was used he was nasty we had to tie his ring to the TVO fueled Fordson

Stuart

[Brass_Machine]

Nah. A few more seasons were left in that bearing. Just needed grease!

How did it even spin?

Eric

[John Stevenson]

Normal everyday job.
Least the shaft was good.

Typical one.

Shaft worn but not that bad.

Impellor was worse.



This is what it SHOULD have looked like.

[awemawson]

Well if the flail shaft had been knackered I'd be really in the smelly stuff, as its 6 foot long with loads of sticky out bits to attach the swinging flails - no way I could spin that on my machinery

[mattinker]

I suspect, that if need be, you'd have found a way!

Regards, Matthew

[awemawson]

Well after a very frustrating few days at last the bearing has been replaced. As you saw in the previous picture they first supplied a square 'supposedly compatible one but the mounting holes were different centres, that was replaced by a circular one that had the same mounting hole centres, but the mounting holes were 10mm not 12mm and the bearing projected too far back 'into' the machine.

At last, last night another pair arrived that were right 

Only took under an hour to get them mounted and tested, so long grass watch out - I'm now going 'equipped' 

Turns out that the German manufacturer of this flail had specified a Japanese version of this style of flange bearing (denoted by a J on the end of the part number) that slightly differs from the normal standards