problem removing NH flail mower bearings (roller)

sreavis · Jul 23, 2018

I bought a New Holland 917H, the bearings on the roller (rides on the ground) need replacing (1 had failed completely). They are in the height adjustment housing. One is intact within the housing) the other had failed and just has the inner and outer race left. No luck removing the housing with 3 jaw puller and heat. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm hooked on flail mowers since I bought my 6' Caroni flail and got a great deal on this 90" NH.

Scott in NC

Lnk · Jul 24, 2018

Cut the race with a dremel and use a blunt chisel to split it. Eye protection, gloves and long sleeves recommended.

leonz · Jul 24, 2018

You have two E rings that are holding the roller in place if you have the sealed end cap type of bearing and roller holder.

Jack Yuan · Jul 25, 2018

sreavis said:
I bought a New Holland 917H, the bearings on the roller (rides on the ground) need replacing (1 had failed completely). They are in the height adjustment housing. One is intact within the housing) the other had failed and just has the inner and outer race left. No luck removing the housing with 3 jaw puller and heat. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm hooked on flail mowers since I bought my 6' Caroni flail and got a great deal on this 90" NH.

Scott in NC

You need fire to cut that bearing housing, like this photo.

We always remove the stuck bearing housing in this way. Designer should think about if easy to maintain it.

sreavis · Jul 25, 2018

I will take a few pictures and post so you can the issue. Many thanks for taking the time to assist. Scott

ericm979 · Jul 25, 2018

Heating the housing often works. Both the housing and the race will expand but the housing expands more. You can try cooling the race but that can be difficult.
I've used the dremel and chisel trick too. Cutoff wheel is the best if you can get it in there. The race will be hard so regular HSS bits won't do it.

dieselscout80 · Jul 25, 2018

Scott, for the race (item 15) stuck in the bearing housing (item 18) see pic, if you have a welder weld three 1 inch beads on the inside of the race and let it cool. The welds will shrink the race and it should come out of the housing (item 18) with no real effort.

leonz · Jul 25, 2018

I would like to know if part number 23 which is the E ring was removed???

sreavis · Jul 26, 2018

leonz said:
You have two E rings that are holding the roller in place if you have the sealed end cap type of bearing and roller holder.

Here are a few pics. The bearing holder is also the height adjustment for the roller. There is a snap ring that holds the bearing assembly. Little room behind the assembly, I ground down the feet of my 3 legged puller to fit behind the assembly and heated the stuck inner bearing with a torch but it would not budge. Difficult to get good assess with the torch. Hard to get a split bearing puller behind it because of the height adjustment plate. No room for a die grinder, cutting the inner bearing is not an option without risking damaging the snap ring groove. I wonder how the dealer mechanics removed this assembly to replace the bearings?