any toro groundsmaster fans on here?

[Asymair95]

Pulling the bottom grease seal with a seal puller.



Seal pulled out gives access to the lower tapered roller bearing.

 

[Asymair95]

Got the top and bottom inner bearings out, and everything cleaned out.





The outer race is still pressed in the housing. The book says to use a punch and tap them out, but I don’t see anywhere to hit them to get the things out of there. The lower one has a gap I could probably get a punch in, but it would be sketchy. Will do some more research before tackling this.



I drained and refilled the gearbox with 80-90 wt. About a 1/2 cup came out, and I was able to put a bit over a cup back in before it spilled out the check plug. The plug was frozen in there, had to use some heat to get it free. I was careful not to get so hot to melt seals.



The zerk for the pto shaft was broke off. I had to drill and tap for a new one.

 

[Asymair95]

Painting is just about done.



Shot the red today on the shell.



Got the other spindle torn down also. Laid everything out the way it sits inside the spindle. Seals on either end, then bearings, and finally these two spacers, one large and one small.

Going to call the Toro dealer tomorrow and see about removing the bearing inner races for me. I just don’t see a way to use a punch to get them out without really messing things up.

 

[Asymair95]

Got a goodie box from r&r supply with about $200 in parts in it.



The new bushings and bolts for the castor wheels.



The castors are ready for install.

This is the aftermarket spindle bearing kit from r&r. Includes the two bearings and required spacers.



As you can see from the pic, the bearings are Chinese made. The OEM ones that came out were torrington I believe, and of much better quality. The aftermarket ones were just thrown in a bag, with all the other parts. From what I know, bearings are matched sets, and there was no way of knowing which inner race went with which roller cage. I’m not surprised by the quality, considering they were half the price of the Toro replacement bearing set. But, while I was at the Toro dealer today I asked to see a genuine Toro spindle repair bearing set. Surprisingly, they were also Chinese made, but did appear to be of slightly better quality. Still not as good as the torrington bearings that came out though.

 

[Asymair95]

Got a goodie box from r&r supply with about $200 in parts in it.



The new bushings and bolts for the castor wheels.



The castors are ready for install.



This is the aftermarket spindle bearing kit from r&r. Includes the two bearings and required spacers.



As you can see from the pic, the bearings are Chinese made. The OEM ones that came out were torrington I believe, and of much better quality. The aftermarket ones were just thrown in a bag, with all the other parts. From what I know, bearings are matched sets, and there was no way of knowing which inner race went with which roller cage. I知 not surprised by the quality, considering they were half the price of the Toro replacement bearing set. But, while I was at the Toro dealer today I asked to see a genuine Toro spindle repair bearing set. This set is about $160 each. Surprisingly, they were also Chinese made, but did appear to be of slightly better quality. Still not as good as the torrington bearings that came out though.

 

[Asymair95]

Spent the morning at the Toro dealer having my spindles built back up.



I was afraid to beat on the inner bearing race and booger up the housing. I watched a few videos where guys welded things to the inner race to give them something to beat on, but I wasn’t comfortable with that because of the welding splatter my mig welder makes. My original plan was to have the dealer just remove the inner races, and install the new ones, and I would finish the build up. But, I was thinking there really isn’t anything to these things once the races are installed. So, I just had them build them the rest of the way up...it’s the last time I will be doing that. They billed me $170 to build up two spindles that were already cleaned and torn down, except for the inner races. I was thinking $50 max! I’m sure it had much to do with me bringing in my own after market parts. Anyway, they’re done and ready for install.

 

[laurencen]

here is a tip, when I have outer bearings that I can not get a punch to I run a bead of weld around the bearing, after a short time the weld cools and the outer race just pops out, worked for me many times and clean removal

 

[Asymair95]

Thank you, I had seen that technique used online. My mig welder is a flux cored model and leaves splatter everywhere, so I don’t think that would have been a good option for me. With a good welder though, I could absolutely see that working well.

 

[laurencen]

even with a good welder spatter is aissue, I take some heating ducting, the round tubes and cut a couple strips, wind them like a spring and put them close to bearing front and rear, it uncoils covering the bore, works well

 

[Asymair95]

That’s a great idea, thanks.