Howse 5Ft Cutter Repair Ques

[EdupstateNY]

I picked up a Howse 5Ft rotary cutter in decent shape that had set outside for a year or so. The front oil seal on the gearbox is seeping oil when in use. I assume the seal dried out while in the sun. I have the replacement seal. Does anyone know if you have to disassemble the gear box to replace the seal from the back side or do you simply pull it out from the front and replace it with the new one?

 

[vallyfarm]

Pump it full of grease and never look back. The lower seal went on our brush hog at least 10 years ago. Could count the drops as they came out on the ground. I let it drain out, pumped it full of regular grease, and it is still running strong. If you want to be fancy go to your JD dealer and get some corn head grease. This is a little more fluid than regular grease and will move around in the bearings a little easier. Mike

 

[drizler]

You would have to remove the blade and then the gear box itself. That shouldn't be too much of a job but its possibly best left for the Fall after cutting is over. If I remember correctly when I tossed mine out after destroying the gears they simply have an automotive seal pressed onto the shaft like any other application. Call any farm dealer and they should be able to tell you. You should be able to pry it out and get one at Auto Zone or NAPA. The Part # of the seal is stamped on the bottom of it if you can still read it once you clean it up. All the stuff they use on those things is pretty much off the shelf and you can get seals and bearings anywhere. If you decide to wait just make sure to pull the plug before each use to make sure its got oil in there. I lost a tranny in a Toyota Celica once due to a leaky seal. It leaked slow so I filled it before ferrying it home and it tore completely somewhere along the way. The first sound you hear is the bang and those big gears are 10 lbs of mush. You just can't trust a leaking seal on high speed gears. I have used the grease instead of oil trick to fix my old Ferguson's leaky steering box but that doesn't spin rapidly either, probably better to use what the manufacturer suggests. Still, 10 years using it and it's not dead yet might just be a good endorsement, I just worry about the possibility of it sloughing off or some other malidy. Those manufacturers must use oil rather than grease for some reason.

 

[Chuck-KY]

Raise your cutter and place blocks under the front and let it back down. this will keep as much oil in the gearbox as possible when you take the old seal out. Remove the front P.T.O. shaft yoke from the gearbox and clean the shaft with a wirebrush and sandpaper. Drill a couple of small holes in front of the old seal and screw a couple of sheet metal screws in the holes. Use these screws to pull/pry old seal, it won't be much of a problem. Clean the area where the seal goes and tap in new seal flush or the same depth as old one was. You may apply a small amount of sealer on housing where seal goes, but not on rubber part of seal. A small or even larger amount of a good quality gear grease with 90 weight oil will make gearbox less noisey as mentioned above. Use your own judgement as to how much, but I usually will only use no more than 50/50 mixture, but thats just my feelings. It's really a simple job and shouldn't take all that long and make your cutter last much longer. Good luck-Chuck