Disc Repair help

[kuschneider]

This past weekend I was taking my first swing at legit food plotting using a tractor and 3 pt disc for the first time. One of the front gangs of the disc needs repair. A best I can see the bearings need to be replaced.

the first logical step seems to be removing this axle nut. Problems is I EVERYTHING on this axle turns freely and independently of the axle. The other end of the axle gives me nothing to grab onto in order to loosen the nut.

You can see the damaged bearing pack (Not even sure what it is called) in the last pic. This is a Leinbach Disc.

Any help on the parts that I need and getting this gang apart?

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Hopefully you haven't dropped the gang from the disc , all you need to do is get you a 2x4 and lay it on the ground to where the notches on the blades can bite into , take a long handled pipe wrench and get a length of pipe that will slide over the wrench handle, the longer the pipe the better, leverage will help you break the nut loose, I have done several of these and have had way better luck with the gang still attached to the harrow. Good luck. Charlie.

 

[kuschneider]

LNF.....Maybe I missing something, but the axle and the attached nut spin independent of the blades. Doesn't matter if I block the blades or not, the axle spins freely, the axle is round. Does that make sense?

 

[kthompson]

If your axle is turning free you probably will need friend with large pipe wrench holding the axle head. Some disk use blades with square holes in them and square axle. Some don't. I find a large impact wrench makes this a better job and you may need to soak with Liquid Wrench or such and even to heat the nut. On some nuts there is a piece of metal bent over them to prevent their loosening when working. Don't forget to be careful working with those disk blades when removing an axle, I would want the gang off the disk sitting on the ground so the blades are not suspended or with weight on them. When reassembly I find assembling them with nut on the axle installing them back to the mounts and doing the final tightening with disk raised and turning the axle while tightening with impact wrench.

 

[kuschneider]

kthompson....not sure what you mean by the axle head. The only thing to grab onto is the nut, the threaded stub of the axle protruding from the nut, and the flat flange on the other end, that is almost totally flat... I can't see anything to grab onto to turn against when I am loosening the nut.

I am being dense?

 

[Mace Canute]

If the axle is round with no head on it to hold, I think your best bet might be to try a good impact wrench. Tighten the nut up to take the slack out, then clean the threads and make sure they aren't deformed. Use a three corner file to bring them back into shape if necessary. Once that is done, lube the threads with a light oil and try the impact wrench again using full tank air pressure. (Don't worry, you won't damage the wrench using full pressure.) Hopefully that will work.

 

[dougtrr2]

If you are lucky you should be able to get a grip on that square plate. It would be a two man job though. Two other options would be to weld a nut on the square plate or just split the old nut off.

Doug in SW IA

 

[kuschneider]

Yeah, I was thinking about a way to get a grip on the plate, or somehow wedging an object under it. Splitting the nut occurred to me, whats the best way to do that?

 

[Lineman North Florida]

LNF.....Maybe I missing something, but the axle and the attached nut spin independent of the blades. Doesn't matter if I block the blades or not, the axle spins freely, the axle is round. Does that make sense?

I haven't dealt with a round axle , but like someone else said if I couldn't do anything else I would weld a nut on the other end of the axle to hold so I could get the nut off, obviously the blades should not spin on the axle so as someone else mentioned try tightening it and then backing it back off, I'm still not convinced that a big pipe wrench won't bite on the square plate on the other end of the axle, after all they had to have something to hold it to get it tight during assembly. Good luck let us know how it turns out. Charlie.

 

[jeff9366]

Disc Harrows from everytfhingattachments.com are clones of Leinbach Disc Harrows.


Best source of Disc Harrow parts is Agri Supply in Georgia-North Carolina-Virgina.

LINK: Disc Harrow Parts

 

[kuschneider]

OK, I got the nut off and the gang apart.

So it appears the busted part is the bearing spool 7-1/2" Ribbed Bearing Spool

The blades, the bearing, and the spacers all have square holes, I have a round axle. Is that right? Seems like I need a square axle to go with all of these square holed parts?

Thoughts?

 

[Steave]

Yep you're right you need a square shaft. Gotta be the right length because you only have a few threads to play with on the nut side. On the end with the square plate there is usually a round part called a bumper, it"ll have a square hole also and the shaft will have a square head that fits the hole in the bumper. At least that's the way mine is.

 

[kuschneider]

Here is the end of my axle and the square plate.

This axle is a 24 and 1/4 in long

 

[kuschneider]

I wonder if this gang is a total mutt. I had an inch or more of thread to play with, and it was sloppy. Some of the slop could have come from the busted spool bearings. Need to get the disc and check how the other gangs are set up

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Agri-Supply has that part, I picked one up for a friend of mine the last time I went. How did you wind up getting it off?

 

[kuschneider]

Just got a big old pipe wrench and was able to get it around that big flat plate. Then use another wrench and loosened the axle nut. Wasn't really all that tight.

Right now I am wrestling with the square vs round shaft. I may end up driving to my farm tomorrow and using my tractor to load up the disc and bringing it home to see how the other 3 gangs are put together. I am sure the bearings need to be disassembled and packed with grease.

 

[Mace Canute]

OK, I got the nut off and the gang apart.

So it appears the busted part is the bearing spool 7-1/2" Ribbed Bearing Spool

The blades, the bearing, and the spacers all have square holes, I have a round axle. Is that right? Seems like I need a square axle to go with all of these square holed parts?

Thoughts?
View attachment 512230View attachment 512229View attachment 512230View attachment 512229

That bearing doesn't look like it ever had grease!

 

[kuschneider]

I dont know if it ever had. I am headed back to my place tomorrow to get the disc, and clean and pack them full-o-grease.

 

[kthompson]

kthompson....not sure what you mean by the axle head. The only thing to grab onto is the nut, the threaded stub of the axle protruding from the nut, and the flat flange on the other end, that is almost totally flat... I can't see anything to grab onto to turn against when I am loosening the nut.

I am being dense?

No you are not, I did not word the best. The flat end of the axle to me is the head end. With round axle don't think there is any other option unless a good impact wrench can turn the nut faster then the axle can with at least some drag on it by the blades and spacers.

 

[kthompson]

I would do a search on line for the axle for the disk before traveling. Agri supply can be a good source often for such info. May need to call a store to get a person with experience. My store in Florence SC people can normally tell you which type of axle goes in the popular brands. I know they know King disk very well.

Congratulations on getting the nut off.