MadModder

All ground back - a bit of pad welding and it's all back together and workng a friend having helped physically lugging it back to the tractor shed.

The disks that form the support for the stub axle are 10mm thick but the tube I'm welding to is only 3 mm thick so hard to ensure good penetration in one without burning through the other - or at least that's my excuse !

I did a quick four stripes in the rushy bit of the paddock and it seems to be working ok.

  [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

Hi Folks,
A mixed fortnight of electronic repairs, field work and drive construction, it was hard and hot work! We ran out of gravel and the good news is there is another three bags arriving on Tuesday, the bad news is that it is going to rain all week!!
Phil, the monsoon cometh in East Yorkshire!

Very good Ade - wait till you see the next bit of welding - definitely farmer style !

So the new bearing arrived:

   [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

I cleaned up the inside end  of the roller tube, placed the spool in and packed it to central with temporary  bits of welding wire then tacked it and removed the packing. Welded it up which went horribly - needs more fettling and a bit of pad welding in places. A job for the weekend - guests tomorrow and I'm now knackered.

  [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

Certainly needs a bit more attention - probably strong enough but the roughness will gather grass.

So a bit of fiddling around while waiting for the bearing:

First I turned off any remaining bits of weld that would prevent it being slid into the roller tube and did a test fit - yes it fits.

  [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

Then I tidied up the bit of the stub axle that will fit into the bearing insert - I'd been whacking it with a sledge hammer to try and get it out so it was rather bell ended - a combination of hand filing and filing in the lathe. Now all marginally below 1.25" by a few thousandths so the bearing insert should fit.

  [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

Then I increased the beveling on the circumference of the end plate to allow for a bigger weld:

  [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

Back to finger twiddling - I'll clean up the end of the roller tube by angle grinder when it's up on the welding table when I can press gang someone to help.
 

What is it with the right side roller bearings? Replaced mine 4 years back (both sides: left was reasonable, right was shot) & the other day I got a squeaking noise & upon first look it seems the right one needs doing again! I agree about the useless grass guards - I try to cut all the rushes away from mine after every use, but it  never  seems to work.