8 Foot Caroni Finishing Mower Dissapointment......

[Utopia Texas]

I have had my eight foot Caroni Finishing mower for 3 years now and treat it exceptionally well. The 7 acres I use it on are smooth and manicured like a golf course. (Picture Below) Have about 125 hours on the unit so far, rinsed off after every use, stored inside and bearings greased every 3 hours.

Two years back with about 50 hours on the unit I had to replace two wheels where the rubber split and peeled off. Last week a bearing on one of the idler pulleys froze and snapped the pulley off the shaft. When I took the covers off I found the other idler pulley on the other side would not spin smoothly by hand and was rough when spinning by hand. I have just today replaced the idler pulleys at $85 each (ouch) and decided to replace the 2- 119 inch belts also. I am in a quandry over why the manufacturer has a grease fitting on each of the 5 blade spindles but no grease fittings on the two idler pulleys? They spin just as fast as the greased pulleys and have the same amount of belt tension.....so why no grease fittings? Do any of you that have other brands of finishing mowers that have grease fittings wherever appropriate? I am Dissapointment that I may have to replace the idler pulleys every 125 hours as a regular routine....
PS- Anyone ever used a “grease needle” on a sealed bearing?

 

[Storm56]

I had Caroni 6 foot finish mower for years, worked very well. Guy I sold it to still uses it. Only work needed other than routine greasing and sharpening of the blades was a seal in the gearbox. Cut great. Still has original belts as far as I know.

Think you maybe just got a bad one unless the quality has gone down hill.

 

[Storm56]

I have used a needle greaser on sealed bearings. Just be careful with the seals.

 

[Utopia Texas]

Careful in what way? Please explain....

 

[kthompson]

I have a Bush Hog brand has over 500 hours on it. Most was our lawn cutting but near half has been heavy grass taller than lawn grass is normally cut at. It only has grease fittings on the spindles, idler pulleys do not have grease fittings. It has grease fittings on the pto and wheels or course. Can only remember replacing wheel sleeve bearings, blades and one spindle. Dealership I bought it from who is now run by a good friend said you are not greasing the spindles enough.

Have a good friend who used same mower as you for many years on his lawn and bragged on how well it held up. A thought to the idler pulleys and belts failing is the belts may be too tight. On the tires that failed, were they the front or rear? Or maybe one side or the other? Reason asking if front or rear maybe the third arm is not adjust correctly throwing more weight on those two and if one end could they be running over over the ground that was mowed with less cushion for them getting more shock ever bet it very small impacts?

 

[Storm56]

Careful in what way? Please explain....

I use a needle pick to work the seal up, then insert the grease needle and shoot some in. It does not take much. Then carefully work the seal back in. You can ruin them by putting too much grease in as it will pop the seal.

If you pay attention to the sound your equipment makes, you can tell when those idlers need grease. They will start to get a bit noisier, kind of a humming or singing.

 

[Utopia Texas]

I have a Bush Hog brand has over 500 hours on it. Most was our lawn cutting but near half has been heavy grass taller than lawn grass is normally cut at. It only has grease fittings on the spindles, idler pulleys do not have grease fittings. It has grease fittings on the pto and wheels or course. Can only remember replacing wheel sleeve bearings, blades and one spindle. Dealership I bought it from who is now run by a good friend said you are not greasing the spindles enough.

Have a good friend who used same mower as you for many years on his lawn and bragged on how well it held up. A thought to the idler pulleys and belts failing is the belts may be too tight. On the tires that failed, were they the front or rear? Or maybe one side or the other? Reason asking if front or rear maybe the third arm is not adjust correctly throwing more weight on those two and if one end could they be running over over the ground that was mowed with less cushion for them getting more shock ever bet it very small impacts?

I might have the belts a bit tight but in my career farming/nursery/orchard for 45 years have used 35-40 machines with multiple belts and never had any problems.
I adjust the upper 3 point link where the finish mower rides on the ground by the four wheels. The top link only comes into play when the mower is raised on u-turns and as I stated originally this ground is as smooth as a pool table. The wheels that split apart were on different sides, one front and one rear.

 

[Utopia Texas]

I use a needle pick to work the seal up, then insert the grease needle and shoot some in. It does not take much. Then carefully work the seal back in. You can ruin them by putting too much grease in as it will pop the seal.

If you pay attention to the sound your equipment makes, you can tell when those idlers need grease. They will start to get a bit noisier, kind of a humming or singing.

Thanks! Will give it a try.....

 

[Atchuuu]

That is a beautiful piece of property. What type of trees are those?

 

[Utopia Texas]

They are Pecans or as folks up North call them Pee-cans!
I am very fortunate to live here. The family bought the raw property when I was a pre-teen. They paid $400 per acre which at the time was high but my recent tax bill listed it at $40k per acre! Ouch!
The orchard is out my front door and Bessie’s Creek is only 10 feet out my back door. We are 35 miles from downtown Houston but unfortunately it has grown to the front of our subdivision. Someday soon all the open cattle pasture across the creek will be housing and I will no longer be able to drink my morning coffee in my underwear! Picture was taken in the middle of Winter. Everything is solid green now and locally the first cutting of hay for the year is in progress. If there is enough rain this Summer some will get three cuttings of hay to bale.