Can a cast iron pulley be used for the drive belt idler?

[ebinmaine 70,792]

I have a noisy bearing in the idler pulley on Cinnamon horse. I do have another stamped steel idler and it too has the same noisy bearing. Kind of a dry scraping sound and they are both a little bit loose.

 

 

Looking in my boxes of parts I found a cast iron pulley with a stamp of 4974 which apparently is an idler from a gt14 or others. Implement stuff.

 

Can I use this cast iron pulley in place of the stamped steel pulley for the drive belt?

 

[peter lena 9,092]

i don,t see why not, the main issue is the bearing size to support it. going to various  industrial suppliers has let me find the same type of pulleys with larger bearings that really extend their life. i have also tried to lubricate sealed bearings that were noisy with penetrating oil spray. my experience is that if the bearing seal area starts to bubble up , its taking in lubricant in , quieting the bearing down. the bearing was probably shot , but it sucked in a lube to quiet it down. i would try out that cast iron pulley , if its the same size , pete

[ebinmaine 70,792]

1 minute ago, peter lena said:

lubricate sealed bearings

That was my other option here.

I was able to lube the bearing in the existing stamped steel pulley to some extent.

I did manage to get a small amount of the seal off of one side and the whole seal off of the other side.

Then, while holding it in my hand I was able to spin the pulley and spray the bearings with brake clean and get all the old dried up crap out of there.

 

I used dry graphite lube powder instead of oil figuring it would be less prone to attracting dust.

 

[peter lena 9,092]

yes i think experimenting with a known problem lets you try to better it, since using lucas red and tacky grease , trouble wear ares seam to go away ,my mower decks  are quiet and work very easily, pete

[oliver2-44 10,370]

if needed, you can drill out the spot welds on the stamped pulley and match up a replacement bearing at NAPPA or a bearing supply house.  Then just bolt the two haves of the stamped pulley back together with nylock nuts, 

Edited September 28, 2019 by oliver2-44

[ebinmaine 70,792]

11 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

drill out the spot welds

I've seen threads with that too.

I may do so.

[Lee1977 7,041]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

That was my other option here.

I was able to lube the bearing in the existing stamped steel pulley to some extent.

I did manage to get a small amount of the seal off of one side and the whole seal off of the other side.

Then, while holding it in my hand I was able to spin the pulley and spray the bearings with brake clean and get all the old dried up crap out of there.

 

I used dry graphite lube powder instead of oil figuring it would be less prone to attracting dust.

 

The cast iron idlers use a 6203 bearing If it has a bushing in it down to 3/8'"  it is most likely a standard  6203 40 mm OD 17 mm ID and 12 mm wide It can be knocked out and pressed in to a new bearing.

The mule drive bearing will be a 6203 with 3/4" ID

[ebinmaine 70,792]

10 minutes ago, Lee1977 said:

The cast iron idlers use a 6203 bearing If it has a bushing in it down to 3/8'"  it is most likely a standard  6203 40 mm OD 17 mm ID and 12 mm wide It can be knocked out and pressed in to a new bearing.

The mule drive bearing will be a 6203 with 3/4" ID

This one already has a 3/8"  Center hole so maybe somebody has changed it already...

 

 

[Lee1977 7,041]

31 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

This one already has a 3/8"  Center hole so maybe somebody has changed it already...

 

 

If i the cast irun idler was used as a belt Idler it came that way from the factory.

The stamped steel belt idlers that the bear is replaceable are  bearing no. 1623 2RS 1 3/8" OD 5/8" ID  7/16" thick with a bushing to 3/8" . 

The cheap idlers bearings are not replaceable as they just have an open sided bearing with a 3/8" ID  made for the idler..

Edited September 28, 2019 by Lee1977