Flail Mower Caroni Flail Roller Bearings

[sunspot]

I did not use enough grease. Now I have to try and dig out what's left of the circlip to pull the remainder of the bearing race. I was able to knock off the inner race from the support plate.

Worse yet, I have to rebuild both ends.

I really don't want to buy a new roller @ $500.

BTW, I grease the flail rotor every time I use the mower.

Circlip
Bearing
Washer

 

[Ledge End]

How old is the mower? What model mower is it?

If you greased it every time then why do you think you didn't use enough grease? :confused3:

Are both ends the same?

How did you know there was a problem? Did it get louder all of a sudden?

I'm interested in this mower type as it looked like it would do well on an area I have. More info would be appreciated.

 

[joemd11]

Ouch! I have a Caroni TM1900. I usually give each end of the roller a few shots of grease before each use. Maybe I should use more grease. What alerted you to this situation? Did the roller start making noise or did it lock up all together? Hope the repair isn't too costly. Do you have to go thru Caroni for parts?

 

[OhioCowboy]

Sunspot-
I had the same problem with my NH 918 last fall. I had to rebuild both ends completely.
I wasn't quite as good as you with greasing each time I used it, tried to grease every 8-10 hours. I was mowing about 10-12 hours a week. The roller lasted me 4 years after I bought it used. Can't complain because I was mowing all types of areas-lawn grass, pond ebanks, horse trails through the woods, pastures. I used to use a rear finish mower (Coroni then a King Kutter) I'll never go back to a finish mower.
Good luck on the rebuild. Make sure you use a hi temp grease.

 

[leonz]

Hello Dana,


Sorry to hear of your bad luck. I do not think all is lost yet my freind.
I would lay in a supply of dry ice if possible and then pack it inside the outer race
both bearings and the outer races should slip right out.

If not a sawzall with a short metal cutting blade will enable you remove the outer
race with little trouble.

When you have everything out and have new interior C clips you can put
the new bearings in the freezer for a day or two and they will fall into the bore
for you.

As a fail safe after the old bearings are out you can try to dry fit the new bearings, and if there
is slop a trip to a machine shop to fix the bore and add a speedy sleeve should solve the issue.


About the greasing issue, It may be helpfull for you to install a pair of grease cups from Mcmaster Carr
with hose extensions allowing you to see the grease in the cups and replenish the supply of grease quickly.

The grease cups should be covered in a plastic bag to prevent dust from entering through the top where
the vent holes are.

you can use loom clamps to secure the hose runs to prevent them from being snagged and broken.

 

[greg_g]

My 917H recently turned from mower into cultivator as well. Turned around to see what happened, and the roller was lying 15 feet behind the mower. Only one bearing failed, but somehow the circlip on the opposite end let go. Only way to get at it was to destroy the bearing, so I ended up doing both sides as well. Removal was far far more difficult than installation.

It looks to me as if the end in your photo still needs to have the outer race removed. I was able to get mine out with a hammer and cold chisel. The other side however, had to be burned out with a torch. I suppose this is stating the obvious - but since you grease the rotor every time you mow - I guess you'll now be greasing the roller every time as well.

//greg//

 

[sunspot]

How old is the mower? What model mower is it?
If you greased it every time then why do you think you didn't use enough grease? :confused3:
Are both ends the same?
How did you know there was a problem? Did it get louder all of a sudden?
I'm interested in this mower type as it looked like it would do well on an area I have. More info would be appreciated.

It's about 5 years old and is a TM1900 with the B rotor. I did not grease the roller enough. I did grease the rotor at every use. I disassembled the roller because of a squeaking noise.


So far, I only have one inner race removed. The outer races are difficult as I can't see where the roller ends and the race begins.

A good education is expensive.

 

[8404]

must be something in the air. Mine did the same thing and my mower is only a year old. I added grease every time i mowed and it still failed but i think the problem is because i mow in wet conditions in the spring time and moisture and grit is getting into my berrings especially on the offset side that i use to cut the lowest part of diches with.
Im going to be going a differant rout on the repair this time im going to remove the roller and replace it with two bush hog tail wheels. ive been thinking about this for some time. with the roller out of the way i it will cut going backwards too and the roller wont interfear with the discharge of tall grass as much either. anyway ive always ended up modifiying my mowers for better or for worst.

 

[8404]

View attachment 272263View attachment 272264must be something in the air. Mine did the same thing and my mower is only a year old. I added grease every time i mowed and it still failed but i think the problem is because i mow in wet conditions in the spring time and moisture and grit is getting into my berrings especially on the offset side that i use to cut the lowest part of diches with.
Im going to be going a differant rout on the repair this time im going to remove the roller and replace it with two bush hog tail wheels. ive been thinking about this for some time. with the roller out of the way it will cut going backwards too and the roller wont interfear with the discharge of tall grass as much either. anyway ive always ended up modifiying my mowers for better or for worst.

 

[joemd11]

sunspot,
I have the same mower and went out to check my roller. It spins freely, but it has about an inch of side-to-side play in it. Do you know if this is normal? I've only had the mower about a year and I don't recall seeing this before. Thanks.