A neighbor has a well-abused 525 that I think he ran low on oil in the rear axle. The right outboard axle bearing finally went, and the axle proceeded to wear through the housing until in cracked and the axle came out of the bull gear. I removed the axle & housing hoping that replacing it would be all that was required, but I was greeted with a handful of ball bearings at the bottom of the bull gear. The cantilevered load from the axle must have been more than the bull gear bearing could take.
He has the shop manual, but I cannot find any good pictures or a description of how the bull gear is held in place -it covers only the differential and pto gears from what I can see. Can anyone give me a rough idea of what is involved in removing the bull gear, and how is it supported? I imagine that it is not feasible to fix since the rest of it is pretty rough, but it still might be a good winter project. Thanks for any help.
He has the shop manual, but I cannot find any good pictures or a description of how the bull gear is held in place -it covers only the differential and pto gears from what I can see. Can anyone give me a rough idea of what is involved in removing the bull gear, and how is it supported? I imagine that it is not feasible to fix since the rest of it is pretty rough, but it still might be a good winter project. Thanks for any help.