Wheel Maintenance 8199G

   / Wheel Maintenance 8199G #1  

daugen

Epic Contributor
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
21,425
Location
New Hope PA
Tractor
in between now
it's been almost eight years since I repainted my Gravely and it has worked very, very hard in those eight years.
After a local tire store really brutalized the rims putting on new Firestone tri-ribs in the front, I knew it was time to make them
look nice again.

Not a very interesting post but we get so few in this area, well....

First off came the wheels and the new bearings that were just put on. We found when the wheels came off to replace the tires, there was water and rust in the bearings.
That all went in the can and new bearings put in with new grease. So while I worry about getting the bearings in somehow backwards, everything came out
fine and it was time to prep.

First the blue taping all the way around, then newspaper covering the tire, then a washdown with degreaser. When that thoroughly dried I started sanding and
then sanded some more. Then cleaned that off and washed down with denatured alcohol. And at this point the Rustoleum RustFix primer has dried over night and today
hopefully I will get a coat or two of gloss white on. Then a final coat of clear.

The front end of this little tractor is pretty durable. The pieces are all still original after 30 years and 980 hours. I lube it regularly and put some Kroil in various areas to keep
things slip sliding properly. With the wheels off and up on stands, the steering wheel just spins back and forth, easily after I've lubed everything thoroughly. I'm working on a brand new implement shed concrete floor and for the first time I can use my little rolling seat and creeper easily. Getting off a dirt floor to work on has been super.

Will post the final pic when done. I have a new tub of grease to pack the bearings. In the old days we would pack the cap full, I assume so the grease in the cap could fall back into the bearing. Right now the caps are empty so the dealer didn't think they needed to be full. Thoughts?
 

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   / Wheel Maintenance 8199G #2  
You do need a air gap in the bearing cup so maybe half full not packed would be alright. The wheel does not turn as fast as a car wheel so I can't see what could go wrong. Drew, when did you get the RTV? Thought you had a golf cart? Nice Barn!:thumbsup:
 
   / Wheel Maintenance 8199G #3  
In the old days we would pack the cap full, I assume so the grease in the cap could fall back into the bearing. Right now the caps are empty so the dealer didn't think they needed to be full. Thoughts?

Any grease in the cap isn't going anywhere, it's just a waste of grease. Maybe handy if you're dragging a trailer cross country and find yourself needing to re-grease the bearings at the side of the road, but that's not a situation you'll find yourself in with the Gravely. :2cents:
 
   / Wheel Maintenance 8199G
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Murph, I've had the UTV-RTV400

about four years. Simple little thing, single cylinder EFI Subaru engine, in a Kubota. Both the golf cart and UTV were bought to help my late wife get around. Now they are just nice toys/tools for me. And used constantly.

RNG, yeah not a lot of velocity from the Gravely to whip that sticky grease out of the cup and into the bearing. maybe on a really hot day some of it might melt a bit and
work it's way over, but neither Kubota dealer who has worked on this Gravely has seen fit to fill the cups.

I did get a coat of white paint on the wheels this morning, before it started to rain, and the wheels are now drying in my woodshop where some heat is on.
Another coat of white tomorrow, and a coat of clear the next day and back on they go. And then I repeat the process with the rear tires.
 
   / Wheel Maintenance 8199G
  • Thread Starter
#5  
I finished the front tires today, belatedly, since I really messed them up last time finding out to my dismay the steel wheels were just a little too cold and all the paint and the primer with it rippled. All that prep work. Well, I fixed them somewhat, but now it's only protected instead of protected plus looking nice. Almost no gloss. Looks nice from ten feet away...
At least I did find out why the front bearings were rusted. The current dust caps, thick steel odd sized caps that in my case one had a pinhole leak in it. Could see daylight on the other side. So when I was powerwashing the tractor or even hosing it off, the water was getting in where it shouldn't have. No water on the wheels until I get two replacement dust caps, which are not easy to find. Found them at Jack's online.

Something just basic and fun about pushing grease into a bearing by hand. Like a kid playing in the mud...
Got everything packed nicely with red axle/bearing grease and tightened the center nut down by hand until it just started to add a tiny bit of drag, and then
opened it up a tiny bit from there, making sure there wasn't any bearing wobble. Those wheels will be good for a long time now.

The challenge with taking the rear wheels off is that it of course opens up the entire engine area that is normally blocked, so for sure I'm going to do some cleaning up in there. About time to take off all the engine shrouds and makes sure nothing is clogged in the fins. Hundreds of hours of field and lawn work since this renovation picture.


After I took this picture I went back with a small brush and touched up. And checked the air, 24 pounds in a 28 max tire, so I lowered them to 20-21 to get a little flex in the sidewalls. It's so wet out that I can't use any of my equipment, would just tear up the ground no matter where I went, I might as well
work on the equipment til things dry out a little. Which hopefully it will do in the coming week.
 

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   / Wheel Maintenance 8199G
  • Thread Starter
#6  
I was all set to take the rear tires off but couldn't spare the Gravely. My new pole barn shed and muddy conditions has made my water roller indispensable.
problem is the HDAP tires really aren't very good in mud. I guess nothing is other than an R1 and I have been avoiding them due to the lawn. I think after pulling the Gravely out three times today with the Kubota I'm going to consider new tires for the rear too. Those new tri-rib fronts worked great, never slipped but for sure they mark up the mud quite precisely.

Jack's mower parts sent my new wheel dust caps, so I'll put them on later this week. About twice as thick as the stuff you buy for trailers. About 9 bucks a piece.
Should outlast me.

In the first picture I am stuck in the muck. Second pic is a little older, I've got all those boards up and rolled quite a bit of this area, looks much better but will all have to be reseeded. Then a culvert is going in where the little temporary bridge is. What a mess...
job security for this retired guy.
 

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   / Wheel Maintenance 8199G #7  
problem is the HDAP tires really aren't very good in mud. I guess nothing is other than an R1 and I have been avoiding them due to the lawn. I think after pulling the Gravely out three times today with the Kubota I'm going to consider new tires for the rear too. Those new tri-rib fronts worked great, never slipped but for sure they mark up the mud quite precisely.

You could pull the roller with your Kubota, but then it would be laying down even bigger ruts. But at least you wouldn't get stuck! :laughing:

Or could you just wait a bit for things to dry out? :confused3:
 
   / Wheel Maintenance 8199G
  • Thread Starter
#8  
You could pull the roller with your Kubota, but then it would be laying down even bigger ruts. But at least you wouldn't get stuck! :laughing:

Or could you just wait a bit for things to dry out? :confused3:

It's funny RNG, pulling the gravely with the Kubota, which was pulling the roller, through a couple of the worst places and it worked pretty well...
But yeah, four days of clear weather ahead, 20+mph winds today, that should dry things out in about three days. Then I can roll again.
With the exception of mud, the HDAP tires work very well.
 

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