Flail Mower Caroni Flail Roller Bearings

[OhioCowboy]

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.

That's a very good idea! Maybe 3 wheels spaced across the back would help prevent scalping off the crowns and uneven spots in the lawn while mowing?

 

[greg_g]

The outer races are difficult as I can't see where the roller ends and the race begins..

If the rest of the bearing is gone, and only the outer race remains - it will shatter under a cold chisel.

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?

That would suggest either the circlips are no longer holding, or the stub over which the inner race fits has worn excessively. Either/both will cause the inner race to slide on the stub.

Maybe 3 wheels spaced across the back would help prevent scalping off the crowns and uneven spots in the lawn while mowing?

Or you could look at the one season of scalping as preparation for a more level lawn next year. I personally welcome the occasional scalping, as it's just that much more level the next time I mow.

//greg//

 

[sodamo]

If the rest of the bearing is gone, and only the outer race remains - it will shatter under a cold chisel.That would suggest either the circlips are no longer holding, or the stub over which the inner race fits has worn excessively. Either/both will cause the inner race to slide on the stub.Or you could look at the one season of scalping as preparation for a more level lawn next year. I personally welcome the occasional scalping, as it's just that much more level the next time I mow.

//greg//

I agree with the scalping except when it involves rocks LOL

David Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[sunspot]

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.

It's not a hard job to drop the roller and check the bearings/side play. Only 2 bolts on one side. 19mm socket and wrench.

After I repair mine. I'm going to pump grease until it oozes out visibly.:thumbsup:

 

[joemd11]

Greg, thanks for the info - even if it's not what I wanted to hear. My mower is only a year old and probably only has 12 hours of use on it.

Sunspot, looks like I'll be taking my roller off to check it. If I understand you correctly, I only need to remove the two bolts on one side and the roller will slide out ? I'm not looking forward to this.

 

[N8ghz]

I don't know if this old trick will work for you on getting an outer race out of a blind hole or not.

If you are good enough & the thing is big enough to work inside of it, here is what can be a very handy thing to know. Run a hot & fast pass of weld full-circle around it where the balls or rollers ran. It will shrink and fall out. I have done that many times on outer races and even valve seats. For the smaller valve seats, I used a TIG with no filler rod, just a bead around the inside diameter.

Hope that helps.

 

[joemd11]

Well guys, I backed the mower into the shop today to inspect the roller bearings and they seem ok to me. Both bearings had grease and seem to turn freely and the circlips were fine. The axle stubs look good with no signs of wear. I cleaned everything as best I could and reassembled the roller. I then greased the snot out of the bearings. I then measured the side-to-side slop in the roller and it is 1/2 inch - not the 1 inch I mentioned earlier. I took pictures of the roller with it slid to one side. This is what each side looks like

 

[leonz]

Well guys, I backed the mower into the shop today to inspect the roller bearings and they seem ok to me. Both bearings had grease and seem to turn freely and the circlips were fine. The axle stubs look good with no signs of wear. I cleaned everything as best I could and reassembled the roller. I then greased the snot out of the bearings. I then measured the side-to-side slop in the roller and it is 1/2 inch - not the 1 inch I mentioned earlier. I took pictures of the roller with it slid to one side. This is what each side looks likeView attachment 272464 View attachment 272465

Hello Joemd,

You need to spend some more time looking at the right picture.

For whatever reason the right side bearing holder is off by about
10 degrees from vertical and that is not good from what I can see
I may be wrong but....

The roller stubs are supposed to stay between the bearing mounts
and be unexposed at least they are on my Mathews.

I cannot for the life of me understand why this steel has fatigued lke this-
unless the bolts are loose or stretching from the repeated raising and lowering
of the mower to do work.

It may be as simple as welding a piece of strap iron from bearing holder to
bearing holder to maintain the two bearings in a vertical axis.

 

[joemd11]

Ya, I am afraid that the roller mounts have somehow been spread outwards. I looked and didn't see anything obvious.

 

[leonz]

Good Morning Joemd11,

It appears thet they (Caroni) implemented the design with the bearing holders withn the interior
of the mower shroud due to the location of the extended anti skalp skids.

Most everyone else has the bearing mounts/cups bolted to the outside of the mowers side weldments.


I would be simple enough in the off season to take the bearing holders to a welding shop with the Caroni
drawings and your photos to illustrate the problem and allow them to see where the extra thickness of
steel is needed to strengthen the bearing mounts.


Making a pair of new weldments should not be difficult for them as long as you have the roller there for them to use
to correctly measure the distances between the interior wall distance of the side weldments.

I cannot imagine the Caroni engineering department making a mistake like this.

FWIW When I contacted the folks at caroni about getting pdf copies of the manuals for everyone
here they were very nice and forwarded them right to me so that I could e mail them to the folks that were
not provided manuals for thier units when they were shipped.

I will send an e-mail to the gentleman from whom I recieved the PDF copies to mention the problem and see if they have
a fix for this that the Agrisupply folks may not know about.

For right now I see no harm in waiting until mowing season is over to do any repairs to prevent future problems and allow it to be installed on the exterior of the mower side weldments.The work will require a bit of machining for the bearing and circlip/snap ring grooves as the bearings are a slip fit type to make it easier to replace them.

leon