Jeff-C175 7,199 #26 Posted April 7, 2021 33 minutes ago, peter lena said: easier experimental trial Well... THAT WAS EASY! One Mule down, One to go. The grease that was in there was not much, and kinda 'hardened', but the bearing still perfect. I only took one side seal off wiped out what I could, packed the race with R N T popped the seal back in. The sheave on this will be long gone before the bearing is! Doing the other one now. And you've got me thinking about the drive belt idler now! Is that the same setup ya reckon? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff-C175 7,199 #27 Posted April 7, 2021 1 hour ago, Jeff-C175 said: Well... THAT WAS EASY! One Mule down, One to go. The grease that was in there was not much, and kinda 'hardened', but the bearing still perfect. I only took one side seal off wiped out what I could, packed the race with R N T popped the seal back in. The sheave on this will be long gone before the bearing is! Doing the other one now. And you've got me thinking about the drive belt idler now! Is that the same setup ya reckon? Unfortunately, one can NOT perform the process of removing the seal on the DECK IDLER. Too much of the seal is covered by the flange on the pulley and you will absolutely destroy the seal getting it out of there. I tried first on a junk pulley in my scrap box. Still not sure about the drive belt idler though... some disassembly required to get to that one. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peter lena 8,583 #28 Posted April 7, 2021 could be , also hi temp the pto needle bearing, inside the lift off pulley cone not much grease, because of possible splatter , overall I found the entire mower deck belt driven ,cutting assembly, works without effort and super smooth engagement . also improved the pto lever action by removing 3/8" of sloppy end play , by adding teflon and metal washers , next to battery tray , thoroughly lubricated , works with zero effort. note bolt to flange bearing for steering shaft , no slop , solid ,smooth. hook up for battery tender for easy use. heim on pto lever . very sorry to drag you into what I have done , but while i am in an area , I often say why not ? pete Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff-C175 7,199 #29 Posted April 7, 2021 (edited) 48 minutes ago, peter lena said: hi temp the pto needle bearing Yes, that's where I first started using the R N T many years ago. I saw that post a while back. I did similar with my PTO linkage back some time, but didn't install the Heim joint. I managed to get that seal back in the deck idler pulley after much cursing. It's REALLY messed up and not sealing too well. That bearing was 'crunchy' and I replaced it a couple years ago so it's junk anyhow. I shot some carb cleaner into the bearing, blew it out with air. Repacked with RNT. It's now turning pretty smoothly, but still a little bit noisy and crunchy. Suitable to use as a temporary spare in a pinch. Going to look at the drive belt idler this afternoon maybe. I don't have good luck with those, been through several of them over the years. Hopefully that seal will come out without damage control. I don't have a spare in stock so not going to experiment but I should be able to tell by looking if it's possible or not. Edited April 7, 2021 by Jeff-C175 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
peter lena 8,583 #30 Posted April 7, 2021 JEFF ,referring to the belt idler , AGAIN ITS THE DETAILS , going with the same size idler , but with a bigger bearing and wider side seals , they are all over the net , the original idler has tiny side seals and a small bearing , insuring no area to grease service it . found the same size idler with wide bearing side seals , pop out , hi temp grease , push them back in , no failures. good luck with it , pete Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jeff-C175 7,199 #31 Posted April 7, 2021 2 minutes ago, peter lena said: they are all over the net I'll look Pete. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites