Replacing bearings in my Tiller

[Johndeere3720]

A while back, I did a tilling job out on the Oregon coast. It all went well but soon enough, it was leaking oil and towards the end developed a bad sound. I got the job done but knew that there was one bad bearing and several seals that i needed to replace or repair.

 

[Johndeere3720]

I had the tiller sit until i got the time to get it fixed and recently had the oportunity to get it back to useable condition. So I started taking it apart. I suspected it was the left side bearing since i had to replace the right when i restored the tiller. Now for those who dont know, my tiller was in a shop fire and I salvaged it since it was "free". Now that "free" has gone up in value.:laughing: Anyways, i got the old bearing out and sure enough, it was rough turning so i ordered a new one; $58. I got the bearing after i got back from my Utah thanksgiving and put it in yesterday afternoon. I got the gear back on and put the chain back on. To test it I turned the PTO shaft by hand. But it was still hard to turn and still had a bad sound which i pin pointed to be in the gear box. i have replaced one bearing in the gear box before as part of the restoration so i knew it wouldnt be hard to change... I posted a picture of the tiller before restoration so you can get the idea how these bearings are going out. It was pretty cooked when I got it, its gone a L O N G way.:thumbsup:

 

[Johndeere3720]

I got the back plate off the gear box and sure enough, a "shot" bearing. Now i can see why it was so rough turning. :laughing: I got it out of there and cleaned out the gear box with mineral spirits. The gears seem fine even though i am missing several parts of the ball bearing. So it was obvious, i have another bearing to replace. Not what I planned but it has to be done. To remove the gear box, i had to take off the shaft that connects to the chain drive which i havent taken off before. Pretty simple since i only had to remove a few bolts.

 

[Johndeere3720]

I got me new bearing in today as well as a can of touch up paint. There were some spots that were scratched up from the tractor and had rusted so i got out the ole' grinder and cleaned er' off. I also got a picture of the bad bearings too. I got Thursday and Friday off this week so i plan to get it painted up and get it back together by then. The bearing and paint was $45 so my total so far is $103. I have replaced 4 bearings on this tiller so far. I think that there are only 1 or 2 more left.

 

[CompactTractorFan]

Nice job!!! :thumbsup: Sounds like you got a good deal on the tiller.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

Nice job. Where are you buying bearings from. The prices seem kinda high.
Bill

 

[Johndeere3720]

Im getting them from Napa.

 

[Scotty370]

I know when you "Need what you need, and you NEED IT NOW!", you have to bite the bullet. But we've got Bearing distributor in this area that put John Deere to shame on pricing. If you can recover the number stamped on the side 'race', your golden for shopping around....~Scotty

 

[Johndeere3720]

I know when you "Need what you need, and you NEED IT NOW!", you have to bite the bullet. But we've got Bearing distributor in this area that put John Deere to shame on pricing. If you can recover the number stamped on the side 'race', your golden for shopping around....~Scotty

I will have to definitely keep that in mind, there are 1 or 2 more bearings in there still. I have been keeping the old bearings in the boxes from the new bearings so now I have some part numbers for next time.

 

[bjr]

I needed 1" square hole disk bearings a couple yrs ago. I finally gave up on the local dealers as they all "Could Order them". "I Ordered them" from Agri-supply for about a quarter of the price. Bearings can be real spendy if you let the local vendors get them for you. bjr