Pulleys & idlers for Free

[WHX?? 48,809]

Well maybe not for free but on a budget! Some of you old timers  may already know this trick.

I wash my horses & decks alot. Almost after every mowing i wash the tops of the decks off and have underside quick wash connects installed on all of my mowers. The price I pay for all this cleanliness is usually payed back in the form of noisy deck pulleys, idlers & spindle bearings. Hence I have been known to spend a small fortune on pulleys & idlers that, for some, can be 40-to 50 bucks a wack. So after finally figuring out that these things just have common bearings in them that could be replaced if they weren't welded in tighter than a buxom beautie in a brass bra!!

Alas no more....

First step is wire brush the offending noise maker so you can identify where it is spot welded together. Usually a dark spot or a dimple marks the spot. Center punch the spot, notice the symetrical patern of the welds.

Next drill out the welds starting with 1/8" bit then 1/4". proceed to 5/16' if it appears that 1/4 " did not take out 90% of the weld.

Next position the pully on a block of wood and separate the halfs.

Use a small cold chisel.

It may take a bit of effort to separate them. If the half bend a little they can be hammered strait after apart.

Remove the bearing & drive out the bushing if it has one.

[WHX?? 48,809]

This one just happened to have a VERY common 6302 bearing (40mmx17mmx12mm) the same one as used in the deck spindles. Ebay crawls with them all different prices, I got five of them for about 12 bucks.

 

Carefully drive the bushing in the new bearing. Support the inner race when doing this.

 

Install the new bearing in the halfs and press together using 5/16/ bolts as guides for alignment. I used a socket for sealing the new bearing.

Anothe quick appointment with Mr. Regal and good to go.

I used 5/16 x 3/4" allen head stainless bolts with nyloc nuts for final assembly, added a whopping $12 to the bill but what the heck my girl is worth it & gives it that Hi-test industrial look! I also have that allen/stainless fetish from my scooter bike days. If I would have used bolts out of the bolt bin total cost on this would have been way less than 5 clams not including the power to run the drill press & the regal! This particular on retailed for 45 bucks from Toro but saw them on the net for high as 95 ...PT Barnum was right!

 

This works on any idler or pully with a common bearing, even if the unit is riveted together. just grind or drill the rivets out. Don't worry if you wreck it doing this... it was shot anyway!

Edited January 28, 2016 by WHX6

[oliver2-44 9,724]

I've done this with a couple of Mule Drive pulleys and it's as simple as WHX^ described.   I scribe a match mark before I take the 2 halves apart to put it back exactly as it came apart. I also use some of the Blue Loctite on the nuts just for insurance. 

 

[WHX?? 48,809]

Yes works excellent on muleys Oliver.. This one just happened to have that extra (drain???)  hole in it for reference on reassembly. Leave it open for drainage if used in a horizontal app.

Best thing about this is the pully can be easiliy reseparated for future replace.

[Pullstart 62,826]

Genius!  Between this idea and bringing a bike to the big show, I'd say you're a genius!

[WHX?? 48,809]

Not really Pullstart....just  got tired of paying those prices!!!

[JC 1965 1,530]

Good to know. Might try that with some of my pulleys. Thanks for sharing the info.   

[stevasaurus 22,713]

Excellent write up Jim and great pictures.  If you don't mind, I will move this thread to the "reference section" in a couple weeks.  It is worthy of that. 

 

[buckrancher 2,679]

started doing just that back in 2009 works great

 

 

 

brian

[WHX?? 48,809]

Love the hardware Brian  

[WHX?? 48,809]

This one was given to me by another member. It is the clutch idler pully for tractors with that 5003/5010 transmissions. The bearing was seized and I needed it for the mounting stud. I will rplace the bearing in it so if someone else needs one let me know.

 

It helps if grind down the top of the rivet flat for a good center punch. This one has a 30 OD x 10 ID x 9 width (MM) or a very common 6200 bearing. 5 clams on ebay.

[WHX?? 48,809]

OK now for the what not to do. After drilling the heads off the rivets they punch out easy just make sure you do it on a FLAT surface and not on the top of the vise like I did...otherwise it will end up looking like this. I can straiten this out but the idea is not to do it in the first place! One of those "I knew better not to do that"  things.....56 yo metal bends pretty easy!