Ideas to grease an idler bearing

[MHarryE]

http://vibratoare.prospectiuni.ro/DOC/AHVIV/Bearings/BCA/BCA_CATALOG_(Complete).pdf

If you look at page 130 in this catalog, you will find the cross section of this idler. It is a very inexpensive design. It is not a high precision bearing. The outer race is made in two halves so the bearing is actually held together by riveting the two idler halves which so clamps the outer race halves together. The design dates back to BCA (Bearing Company of America) but they were purchased by the large Japanese company NTN. The process was that they had their basic center design so when you needed an idler, you provided the design of the outer portion to fit your needs and they incorporated that with their hub. You paid a tooling charge for the tooling needed yo make the idler to your spec and the end result was an inexpensive idler. Note in the catalog they have options like relube but Massey did not select that. Getting lube past the seal will extend life but by your description the balls are now running down a washboard dirt road instead of a smooth highway. I would really check AGCO and see what they want for replacements.

 

[Sodo]

Awesome, MHarryE, how did you find that?

I suspect due to the speeds it's #4. If the 13" pulley is @ 540RPM then a 3" idler is 4.33x = 3380RPM But best of all, from the diagrams I can see that all of them can be drilled & lubed easily.

 

[Sodo]

I drilled into the side and greased the bearing. The first hole encountered something "hard" (the bearing race). so I drilled a 2nd hole closer to the seal. Also notice the metal dust around the 2nd hole. That's because encountering the bearing race on the 1st hole dulled the bit and I kinda had to 'wear down' the 2nd hole. Then at 2nd hole the bit clipped the bearing race inside and I'm lucky it didn't break off inside the hole. Breaking off inside would throw a wrench in the works so I would say keep a handful of new 5/64" bits with your needle greaser kit so you can drill carefully with a sharp bit each time.

I used drill size 5/64" which allowed the greaser to 'taper-seat' in the hole. The PLEWS greaser could work with 1/16" hole (at absolute minimum) but might not 'taper-seat'. PLEWS should list the 'hole sizes' that the greaser works with, on their Amazon description.

Now both idlers are quiet!. The one that was screaming, is a little "smoother" (after grease) than the one that wasn't screaming. ??WT heck?? Well anyway, these idlers ought to be fine as long as I need this mower.

I will cover the hole with a dab of silicone as cruz54982 suggested. Supa Dexta I looked the pulley over carefully, there was no existing lube hole.

 

[skyhook]

A job well done, thanks for the useful info.:thumbsup:

 

[Sodo]

Thanks skyhook, glad to help. I always enjoy that whenever I post a problem so many TBN folks jump in to help. It really helps to make more informed decisions. Now hoping grease doesn't leak out thru the pulley halves onto the belt.