We bought our Grasshopper mower back in '06, and have had good, reliable service from it. We grease the bearings that can be greased regularly, and we keep a logbook so we know the hours. We typically grease it every four hours, but sometimes let it go to eight. This gizmo is the electric clutch for the mower deck. It rides on the crankshaft at the back of the machine, and has two ball bearings that are sealed. One of them failed at a little over 800 hours, which is a pretty good run, but this assembly is pricey. The new one is installed and is running well, but now I wonder; should I pop the clutch off every couple hundred hours, tease the seals up and shoot a little grease in, or would that be inviting trouble? There is also a little gearbox hidden under cover on the mower deck that cannot be greased. The jackshaft and driveshaft feed power into it, and there is no way to access it for service other than tearing the machine down. H-E-Double Toothpicks is going to break loose when the seals let the grease out of that! I better talk to the dealer before next Spring.
In the past I have had good success using a hypodermic needle style grease gun to avoid damaging the rubber seals,
ReplyDeleteMerle
David I agree with Merle's tip for a fix to prolong the life of the bearing.
ReplyDeleteBut I think there is a design problem somewhere that you are most likely not going to be able to fix.
I don't know your exact mower model, but the problem piqued my interest and I found an Ebay listing that mentioned a "Bearing Upgrade" and also another listing that calls out that the bearing is replaceable.
This is the listing with the upgraded bearing.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/PTO-Clutch-For-Grasshopper-718K-720K-725K-388769-Free-Bearing-Upgrade-1-125-ID-/261475887188
I went back but couldn't find the replaceable bearing listing.
I don't think you are the only person with premature bearing failure, and you are taking far, far, better care of your equipment than the average person.
I did find the listing for the replaceable bearing on Amazon.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Replaces-Grasshopper-Models-Clutch-FatBoy/dp/B00XK66F4Q
I am retired now, but I did spend a large percentage of my working life getting paid to fix machinery.
My family did learn that saying, "You probably can't fix this." Motivates me greatly!
John and Merle: Thanks for the comments! I went to a dealer when it failed, rather than looking online for a replacement, so I paid retail. I won't do that again, but I needed the machine back up and running. The bearings are crimped in, but they could be pushed out with a press. I am thinking that I will pull this once a year to grease the bearings with a needle. I have done that for idler pulleys on vehicles when the bearings begin to talk. The mower engine makes a lot of noise and you don't hear the bearings early on when they dry up.
ReplyDeleteDavid. In the photo I can see the bearing is heavily staked and you possibly could remove and replace it. If you still have the unit with the failed bearing, you might be able to get the bearing numbers from the failed bearing, and you could experiment with the failed unit. As the blogger, The Silicon Graybeard said, "You can't break it more than broken."
ReplyDeleteYou are just a wee bit far from Philly for me to swing by and help you.