woodmaxx flail mower?

[3fordasho]

Or, if he has a welder, weld a bead around the inside of the outer race.

Aaron Z

Bingo - worked like a charm. I was going to mention that trick but I figured it was mostly common knowledge.

Any tricks for getting the inner race off the stubshaft? I am going to cut it best I can with a cut off wheel, then crack it with a chisel.

On a side note I noticed that Woodmaxx has a new blurb on their flailmower page talking about "now with NSK bearings since Aug 2016" Mine was purchased May 2016....

 

[Ricn]

Woodmaxx mentioned these new NSK bearings were on my new mower saying, they should not be an issue like some were in the past. I will be changing my grease intervals to a few hours regardless! Sorry to hear of this happening, terrible looking bearing in those photos, sort of scary really. Maybe grease would not have helped, more than likely a faulty bearing from the start?

Ricn

 

[3fordasho]

I suspect a low quality bearing is at fault but was also a bit thrown by the lubrication recommendation from the Woodmaxx service tech and the talk about greasing too much. In my case I think more lube (not less) would have made these bearings last a bit longer but I think they were going to fail no matter what. A 50 hr grease interval??? I seriously doubt I have even 15 hrs total on this mower.

Woodmaxx mentioned these new NSK bearings were on my new mower saying, they should not be an issue like some were in the past. I will be changing my grease intervals to a few hours regardless! Sorry to hear of this happening, terrible looking bearing in those photos, sort of scary really. Maybe grease would not have helped, more than likely a faulty bearing from the start?

Ricn

 

[aczlan]

Any tricks for getting the inner race off the stubshaft? I am going to cut it best I can with a cut off wheel, then crack it with a chisel.

I would advise against a bead of weld around the outside
I would use an oxyacetylene torch if you have one. I did that this week on one of the rollers out of the round baler, warmed it up until it was just starting to change color as I ran the torch over it (the sheen would change from a matte to a gloss), then hit it twice with a cold chisel.
That cut most of the way through and expanded it so it just rattled around on the shaft.

Aaron Z

 

[CincyFlyer]

Bingo - worked like a charm. I was going to mention that trick but I figured it was mostly common knowledge.

Any tricks for getting the inner race off the stubshaft? I am going to cut it best I can with a cut off wheel, then crack it with a chisel.

On a side note I noticed that Woodmaxx has a new blurb on their flailmower page talking about "now with NSK bearings since Aug 2016" Mine was purchased May 2016....

I recently removed a pulley that was stuck on the shaft of my mower by welding a flange to it, which I then used with a puller.

 

[Z-Michigan]

I suspect a low quality bearing is at fault but was also a bit thrown by the lubrication recommendation from the Woodmaxx service tech and the talk about greasing too much. In my case I think more lube (not less) would have made these bearings last a bit longer but I think they were going to fail no matter what. A 50 hr grease interval??? I seriously doubt I have even 15 hrs total on this mower.

I'm not saying this is what happened here - you obviously have mechanical skills and this looks more like a defect / poor quality issue. But many companies warn against over-greasing, and the article linked below describes why this can be an issue.

The Dangers of Overgreasing

What type of grease had you been using? I am still wondering about the possibility of incompatibility between types of grease.

 

[Ricn]

Great info, thanks for posting the link. Have sent this on to both my Sons who own and operate several large pieces of equipment; both trac and wheel types.

Ricn

 

[IslandTractor]

I'm not saying this is what happened here - you obviously have mechanical skills and this looks more like a defect / poor quality issue. But many companies warn against over-greasing, and the article linked below describes why this can be an issue.

The Dangers of Overgreasing

What type of grease had you been using? I am still wondering about the possibility of incompatibility between types of grease.

I understand the over greasing issue but have a hard time thinking that three squirts of grease into bearings every eight hours of mowing is going to ever cause problems. Under greasing is far more common as a cause of part failure.

 

[Ricn]

makes sense.

Ricn

 

[leonz]

I was wrong in thinking that the bearings were also set with seals on the inboard side of the bearing.
I would hold off on their seals as well and just go to KAMAN industrial to purchase seals and the new bearings.
or if at all possible flange bearings minus the flange which have a sealed side. just be sure to take an old bearing
or whats left of it with you to find the proper size.

Those bearings have bad metallurgy written all over them and there is no sense in installing bad bearings a
second time and then having to do more surgery..

I would like to know if the old seals had springs on the lip edge to hold compression tension on the seal lips too.

I am so sorry you are going through this, you should be out playing with your new toy, ERR, mowing.

 

[3fordasho]

I'm not saying this is what happened here - you obviously have mechanical skills and this looks more like a defect / poor quality issue. But many companies warn against over-greasing, and the article linked below describes why this can be an issue.

The Dangers of Overgreasing

What type of grease had you been using? I am still wondering about the possibility of incompatibility between types of grease.

Grease I'm using: Mystik Store - Mystik(R) JT-6(R) Synthetic Blend Grease #2 - Product Details
Bearing races all out, wasn't too bad. Inner race even spun a bit on the stub shaft - will need to clean that up.

For Leonz- seals do have a spring on the lip, that said they don't strike me as the highest quality, maybe mediocre. The outer seal on the drive side (between belt pulley and the outboard side of the bearing housing was installed crooked. If the replacement bearings are anything like the ones I've pulled out- straight to the recycle bin they go.

Edit - took another look at the seals and would upgrade to "good quality" - I don't want this to look like a "bash WoodMaxx " thread as that is not my intent- just reporting my experience. I fully expect to get years of service once this bearing issue is solved.. Obviously WoodMaxx has identified the bearing issue as they are advertising upgraded bearings.

 

[leonz]

National Oil Seal for seals and FAG or SKF bearings at KAMAN forget the junk they are sending you!!!!!!!!

 

[Ricn]

So does anyone know if NSK bearings from Japan have a bad rep? I think these are the upgraded bearings in the newer Woodmaxx mowers. If true, I may change mine out before trouble comes knocking...Hard to think Japanese stuff is not near the top in quality these days what with all they make throughout the world..

Ricn

 

[DieselBound]

Per Woodmaxx's website, they started using NSK bearings August of 2016.

The pictures of the bad bearing show "HRB," which is clearly a Chinesium product: Harbin Bearing Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

If you get NSK as replacements then you're probably going to be fine. These folks - FAG Bearings, INA Bearings, TIMKEN Bearings, NSK Bearings - ACES BEARING LIMITED - seem to lump NSKs with all the other big name bearing manufacturers: don't appear to me like they'd be peddling junk.

It's amazing what you can learn/find out with just a little bit of research!

 

[3fordasho]

National Oil Seal for seals and FAG or SKF bearings at KAMAN forget the junk they are sending you!!!!!!!!

Just confirmed with WoodMaxx that they are sending NSK bearings as replacements for the failed China bearings. Good enough??

 

[Z-Michigan]

View attachment 517196View attachment 517197
Grease I'm using: Mystik Store - Mystik(R) JT-6(R) Synthetic Blend Grease #2 - Product Details

Thanks. Link says:

Mystik JT-6 Synthetic Blend Grease is a premium quality, multi-purpose, high-temperature, lithium-complex EP grease with excellent low- temperature properties

Should be A-OK. Lithium complex is the most common chemistry for tractor and other heavy equipment use.

For anyone interested:
The Skinny on Grease Compatibility

Grease Compatibility Chart

I harp on this because some of the more expensive greases, that are supposedly better, are polyurea based and incompatible (or potentially incompatible) with the common lithium complex. As of 10 years ago, Deere's preferred grease was a green polyurea grease, while most others on the market were/are lithium complex. (I say 10 years ago because that's when I owned a Deere tractor.)

 

[3fordasho]

a week and a day later my flail mower is back up and running. New seals and NSK (mfg in Japan) bearings and some re-assembly and we're back in business. I think I am going to follow the recommendations to give those bearings a few pumps of grease before each use. I suspect the failed bearing while greased on a timely basis there was not enough or in the right spots from the start.

 

[Ricn]

Great! Glad to see you back in business -

Ricn

 

[tommott77]

Hi all,

Looks like Woodmaxx has updated their site with another batch of flails coming in later this year......in green to match my tractor now as well. I'm tempted to put down a deposit for the 62" hydraulic offset model unless somebody can talk me out of one. Their site is now adverting the NSK bearings and from what I've read the scraper has been re-positioned as well, the only two complaints I've come across reading up on them as much as possible here.

I'm curious how folks who have the adjustable offset model are running their hydraulics. Does most everybody run them off of rear remotes? I kind of like the idea of running them off the loader controls. Perhaps off a third function control or even tied into the curl function ports for true left and right control/operation as this member has done....

Woodmaxx Flail Mower First Impressions - YouTube

 

[airbiscuit]

Nice Video!