8 Foot Caroni Finishing Mower Dissapointment......

[Utopia Texas]

I have had my eight foot Caroni Finishing mower for 3 years now and treat it exceptionally well. The 7 acres I use it on are smooth and manicured like a golf course. (Picture Below) Have about 125 hours on the unit so far, rinsed off after every use, stored inside and bearings greased every 3 hours.

Two years back with about 50 hours on the unit I had to replace two wheels where the rubber split and peeled off. Last week a bearing on one of the idler pulleys froze and snapped the pulley off the shaft. When I took the covers off I found the other idler pulley on the other side would not spin smoothly by hand and was rough when spinning by hand. I have just today replaced the idler pulleys at $85 each (ouch) and decided to replace the 2- 119 inch belts also. I am in a quandry over why the manufacturer has a grease fitting on each of the 5 blade spindles but no grease fittings on the two idler pulleys? They spin just as fast as the greased pulleys and have the same amount of belt tension.....so why no grease fittings? Do any of you that have other brands of finishing mowers that have grease fittings wherever appropriate? I am Dissapointment that I may have to replace the idler pulleys every 125 hours as a regular routine....
PS- Anyone ever used a “grease needle” on a sealed bearing?

 

[Storm56]

I had Caroni 6 foot finish mower for years, worked very well. Guy I sold it to still uses it. Only work needed other than routine greasing and sharpening of the blades was a seal in the gearbox. Cut great. Still has original belts as far as I know.

Think you maybe just got a bad one unless the quality has gone down hill.

 

[Storm56]

I have used a needle greaser on sealed bearings. Just be careful with the seals.

 

[Utopia Texas]

Careful in what way? Please explain....

 

[kthompson]

I have a Bush Hog brand has over 500 hours on it. Most was our lawn cutting but near half has been heavy grass taller than lawn grass is normally cut at. It only has grease fittings on the spindles, idler pulleys do not have grease fittings. It has grease fittings on the pto and wheels or course. Can only remember replacing wheel sleeve bearings, blades and one spindle. Dealership I bought it from who is now run by a good friend said you are not greasing the spindles enough.

Have a good friend who used same mower as you for many years on his lawn and bragged on how well it held up. A thought to the idler pulleys and belts failing is the belts may be too tight. On the tires that failed, were they the front or rear? Or maybe one side or the other? Reason asking if front or rear maybe the third arm is not adjust correctly throwing more weight on those two and if one end could they be running over over the ground that was mowed with less cushion for them getting more shock ever bet it very small impacts?

 

[Storm56]

Careful in what way? Please explain....

I use a needle pick to work the seal up, then insert the grease needle and shoot some in. It does not take much. Then carefully work the seal back in. You can ruin them by putting too much grease in as it will pop the seal.

If you pay attention to the sound your equipment makes, you can tell when those idlers need grease. They will start to get a bit noisier, kind of a humming or singing.

 

[Utopia Texas]

I have a Bush Hog brand has over 500 hours on it. Most was our lawn cutting but near half has been heavy grass taller than lawn grass is normally cut at. It only has grease fittings on the spindles, idler pulleys do not have grease fittings. It has grease fittings on the pto and wheels or course. Can only remember replacing wheel sleeve bearings, blades and one spindle. Dealership I bought it from who is now run by a good friend said you are not greasing the spindles enough.

Have a good friend who used same mower as you for many years on his lawn and bragged on how well it held up. A thought to the idler pulleys and belts failing is the belts may be too tight. On the tires that failed, were they the front or rear? Or maybe one side or the other? Reason asking if front or rear maybe the third arm is not adjust correctly throwing more weight on those two and if one end could they be running over over the ground that was mowed with less cushion for them getting more shock ever bet it very small impacts?

I might have the belts a bit tight but in my career farming/nursery/orchard for 45 years have used 35-40 machines with multiple belts and never had any problems.
I adjust the upper 3 point link where the finish mower rides on the ground by the four wheels. The top link only comes into play when the mower is raised on u-turns and as I stated originally this ground is as smooth as a pool table. The wheels that split apart were on different sides, one front and one rear.

 

[Utopia Texas]

I use a needle pick to work the seal up, then insert the grease needle and shoot some in. It does not take much. Then carefully work the seal back in. You can ruin them by putting too much grease in as it will pop the seal.

If you pay attention to the sound your equipment makes, you can tell when those idlers need grease. They will start to get a bit noisier, kind of a humming or singing.

Thanks! Will give it a try.....

 

[Atchuuu]

That is a beautiful piece of property. What type of trees are those?

 

[Utopia Texas]

They are Pecans or as folks up North call them Pee-cans!
I am very fortunate to live here. The family bought the raw property when I was a pre-teen. They paid $400 per acre which at the time was high but my recent tax bill listed it at $40k per acre! Ouch!
The orchard is out my front door and Bessie’s Creek is only 10 feet out my back door. We are 35 miles from downtown Houston but unfortunately it has grown to the front of our subdivision. Someday soon all the open cattle pasture across the creek will be housing and I will no longer be able to drink my morning coffee in my underwear! Picture was taken in the middle of Winter. Everything is solid green now and locally the first cutting of hay for the year is in progress. If there is enough rain this Summer some will get three cuttings of hay to bale.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

They are Pecans or as folks up North call them Pee-cans!

Beee u T Full.

Did you plant those, or did you buy the place with them on it? How old are they? What sub species? I like to ask a lot of questions....

FWIW, I prefer to buy bearings with the 2RS suffix. Like a 6203 2rs...... That means they are sealed. But they don't last forever. Like the previous guy said, "Listen". You will hear them get noisier. I bought a needle grease fitting, but did not have the patience....It was harbor freight and it bent/broke on 2nd or 3rd attempt to slide it under the edge. Maybe if I'd done like previous poster said and use a dental pic to remove the seal first....

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

PS. Most bearings come from China these days.

I like Timken and Koyo, but use whatever I can get in a pinch.

 

[Utopia Texas]

Beee u T Full.

Did you plant those, or did you buy the place with them on it? How old are they? What sub species? I like to ask a lot of questions....

FWIW, I prefer to buy bearings with the 2RS suffix. Like a 6203 2rs...... That means they are sealed. But they don't last forever. Like the previous guy said, "Listen". You will hear them get noisier. I bought a needle grease fitting, but did not have the patience....It was harbor freight and it bent/broke on 2nd or 3rd attempt to slide it under the edge. Maybe if I'd done like previous poster said and use a dental pic to remove the seal first....

The property was flat open pasture when bought and my Grandfather and I planted the trees. Dug all the irrigation ditches and used the post hole digger on a Ford 8N to plant. It was a tremendous amount of work. Trees are now 50 years old and have mostly American Indian names. I have a love/hate relationship with the orchard. Looks nice when maintained but every time a high wind comes up there are tons of branches to saw up and remove. These are “Paper Shell” Pecans and the limbs are brittle. The native Pecans grow slower and the limbs do not break off anywhere as much. The funny thing is my family will not eat the paper shell varieties so we harvest the tiny native Pecans near the Creek. The native Pecans have much more of the natural oils in the meat and taste much better. Commercial candy companies and commercial bakery’s also prefer the native Pecans due to the better taste.

 

[ruffdog]

Like it was said before, use a needle grease tip. I go between the seal and inner race. Carefully work the needle on a angle until it is inside the bearing. You may have to do this a few times for every bearing but spin the bearing after each application to work the grease around.

 

[Stancoll]

They are Pecans or as folks up North call them Pee-cans!
I am very fortunate to live here. The family bought the raw property when I was a pre-teen. They paid $400 per acre which at the time was high but my recent tax bill listed it at $40k per acre! Ouch!
The orchard is out my front door and Bessieç—´ Creek is only 10 feet out my back door. We are 35 miles from downtown Houston but unfortunately it has grown to the front of our subdivision. Someday soon all the open cattle pasture across the creek will be housing and I will no longer be able to drink my morning coffee in my underwear! Picture was taken in the middle of Winter. Everything is solid green now and locally the first cutting of hay for the year is in progress. If there is enough rain this Summer some will get three cuttings of hay to bale.
View attachment 602512

Do you say pea-nut or pay-nut? Either /or per the dictionary for pecan. Most rural southerners say pee-nut or pea-can, the uppity city folks say pea-khan. LOL.

 

[Utopia Texas]

Do you say pea-nut or pay-nut? Either /or per the dictionary for pecan. Most rural southerners say pee-nut or pea-can, the uppity city folks say pea-khan. LOL.

LOL. Actually here in S.E. Texas most folks pronounce it puh-con !

 

[Stancoll]

LOL. Actually here in S.E. Texas most folks pronounce it æ’¤uh-con !

LOL, Now that's funny

 

[Utopia Texas]

LOL, Now that's funny

I looked up Eastman, Georgia out of curiosity and found it is the original location of the Stuckeys Roadside Pecan And Candy Shops. When I was real young we had them on major hiways here in Texas but I have not seen one in years. Also noted that Eastman has a street named Congo Lane. With all the excess political correctness going around these days in the Deep South I was a bit surprised.

 

[Stancoll]

I looked up Eastman, Georgia out of curiosity and found it is the original location of the Stuckeys Roadside Pecan And Candy Shops. When I was real young we had them on major hiways here in Texas but I have not seen one in years. Also noted that Eastman has a street named Congo Lane. With all the excess political correctness going around these days in the Deep South I was a bit surprised.

Et tu Brute? Yea, I worked at the Stuckey's plant when I graduated High School (1971). I started off in the kitchen cutting fudge. Before I left I had worked a little of all of it. Alas Stuckey's is no more. It was bought out by Pet co (not the animal place, part of Pet Milk) in the late 60's or early 70's. They in-turn got bought out by the Spradley family who changed the name to Standard Candy or something like that and then moved all of the plant (workers and admin) up to Nashville Tn. The Stuckey family had a son in law that opened a offshoot of his own to Stuckey's, I believe it was called Wayfarer. I knew Mr. Stuckey, good, good man. to look at him, you would not think he was rich, but he had it. Friendly with everyone. I remember his chauffeur, Boots Fluellen, now that was a character! The Stuckey home is still in Eastman, no one lives there and it's kept up, somewhat. His son Bill was a Congressman for our district and they moved up to DC and never came back. In fact I live in the Stuckey Subdivision and few folks that live there even know its name. I know right where Congo Lane is, pass it as often as going to Walley World. I think Standard still makes candy for the few Stuckey Franchise stores that remain out there. MY sister and her husband managed a franchise Stuckey's store out in Texas a long time back but do not remember where in Tx (i want to say Dallas, but won't swear to it). Big state Texas almost as big as GA, LOL. I've been there several times on business and to see my son when he graduated basic training from the Air Force. Especially liked the New Braunsfel (?) area. Big chunk of chicken fried steak with white gravy and fresh mashed taters. Jalapeno jelly. Yum, Yum.

 

[Utopia Texas]

You and I are near the same age. I graduated from Highschool in 1972 and yes.......us Texans love our Chicken Fried Steak....Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner!