bailing twine twisted on wheel hub

[Soundguy]

yep.. some are barbed..the more agressive ones.. some are almost like a fluted piano wire.. and about as thick..

soundguy

 

[whistlepig]

I use a box knife, needle nose pliers, and a small screwdriver. I pry a little of the strands out at a time and cut them one place with the box knife. I then use the needle nose pliers to pull the strands and unwrap them out from underneath the seal.

 

[fuseboxer]

I use a box knife, needle nose pliers, and a small screwdriver. I pry a little of the strands out at a time and cut them one place with the box knife. I then use the needle nose pliers to pull the strands and unwrap them out from underneath the seal.

I have a hook carpet knife, is a box knife a utility knife?

 

[whistlepig]

SuperknifeThe Ultimate Utility

 

[Soundguy]

box knife is a general term for a utility knife or box cutter. a few different designs.. some with flip blades.. some with extendable break off blades.. etc..

soundguy

 

[kuboman]

Plastic twine has destroyed many a seal. By the sound of what you are describing it is almost impossible to get it out. Chances are if it was going to ruin the seal it would have already. As suggested maybe just run it till you have to fix the seal.

 

[Soundguy]

sounds kind alike leaving a plugged radiator plugged till the tractor goes ahead and overheats.

if the seals not hogged out yet.. get the string out. if it's already hogged, get the string out and repalce the seal befor ethe bearing goes... sheesh! no free lunch here..


soudnguy

 

[RickB]

sounds kind alike leaving a plugged radiator plugged till the tractor goes ahead and overheats.

if the seals not hogged out yet.. get the string out. if it's already hogged, get the string out and repalce the seal befor ethe bearing goes... sheesh! no free lunch here..


soudnguy

It's not about a free lunch. It's about creating a leak where none exists right now. There's no way to tell if the seal is destroyed or not until the twine is removed and the oil starts flowing. The one thing we do know is that it is not leaking now. The tractor can be used in the short term as is until the it can be laid up and the seal is replaced, assuming that a leak will appear when the twine is removed. If the OP can't afford the repair or can't afford to lay the tractor up from a time/need standpoint, removing the twine is not something I'd rush to do. Not everyone has 17 tractors at their disposal.

 

[beenthere]

I don't think anyone is suggesting doing the replacement right now. Just saying it is likely inevitable that a seal replacement is in the OP's future. In his post fuseboxer just wanted to get rid of the twine. Suggestions to do that when prepared to do the seal were made.

Then

Easy to suggest without regard for the effort and/or expense in changing an axle seal. Especially if it is a flanged rear axle shaft as I suspect.

comment was made and the answer to that can only be made by fuseboxer. I don't think any responses were made with or without regard to effort or expense as that is a fuseboxer decision.

So I'll leave it up to fuseboxer to take from the posted comments whatever he wants, and go forward. Hopefully it is full of oil now and is not leaking out through the twine.

 

[fuseboxer]

I purchased the thin wire with razor barbs this morning after walking with all the old retired people at the big local mall 12mile away. I came home and crawled under the tractor but the clearance to work was near impossible. I removed my wheel weights, work in progress,and then tires to get a good view. See pic.
First sight looked bad, real bad, but after a little work untangle and cutting it had no seal damage on either wheel. I wish I would have did the work outside on the cement pad so I could power wash the area. I wire brushed and sprayed black rustoleum rust remover where needed.

The tires I have wanted to turn for max width so I did so and put them on the opposite sides to correct the R4 tread grip. Valve stems inside. I got lucky, no damage, also it should be noted that the gap between the wheel hub and the tractor is wide and not super tight like the front wheel asm. I jockey the 250lb tires/rims ok and wonder if my older body could handle the +400 to +500 additional of Rimguard. I think I better play with fancy old wheel weights.

It should be noted the thin, nasty, razor wire with barbs may fit the thin crack on the front wheel asm but what if it snags the end edge of the seal? It could defeat is used purpose.

I still love some of the old artistic wheel weights that are available for cheep. You would be supprised how many will fit your Deere.