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Needle bearing grease access hole


SmilinSam

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My experience is that if there is a zerk to grease a needle bearing , then there is a corresponding hole in the neeedle bearing race that lines up with the zerk.

The oem Simplicity replacement bearing I got for the pitman arm on my sickle mower does not have a hole in the race for grease from the zerk..

Question is: How do I go about putting a hole in the race for the grease? and/or should I?

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Interesting question - - - I apply grease directly to the bearings upon assembly.  Then apply more grease through the zerk until grease comes out from behind washer or around the seal.  When the grease gets warm, it will work its way around to the inside where the needles sit.  But if you try to drill the race you will nick one of the needles or worse yet, dislodge one.  

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Not totally sure what bearing you have there but if it's a hardened race as most bearing are there is just about no way you are going to get a hole in it. I say just about, as there is always a way to do things but sometimes.....ya just don't want to try it.

Harry

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22 minutes ago, Chris727 said:

Did the original bearing have a hole?

I havnt taken it out yet because the casting its in is ok, and I think its ok too. The rest of the assembly is cashed out though. the new parts I got included a new casting and bearing- both Simplicity replacement parts of the correct part numbers..

Pretty sure it does though, because with the inner race out, I pump grease into the zerk and the grease comes right out through the needles in the bearing right where the zerk is.

Would like to use the new parts, but not if I cant grease them...

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13 hours ago, wwbragg said:

Interesting question - - - I apply grease directly to the bearings upon assembly.  Then apply more grease through the zerk until grease comes out from behind washer or around the seal.  When the grease gets warm, it will work its way around to the inside where the needles sit.  But if you try to drill the race you will nick one of the needles or worse yet, dislodge one.  

 

3 hours ago, lugnard said:

Not totally sure what bearing you have there but if it's a hardened race as most bearing are there is just about no way you are going to get a hole in it. I say just about, as there is always a way to do things but sometimes.....ya just don't want to try it.

Harry

Yeah, drilling isnt going to work on this material.

Was toying with the idea of using my dremel tool and very lightly grinding a hole in the race.

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On ‎9‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 5:01 AM, wwbragg said:

When the grease gets warm, it will work its way around to the inside

WRONG!  I was wrong.  I asked my guy at the machine shop.  He said normally, the bearing race will have a grove and holes.  But I have to admit, I have never noticed grooves and holes in a bearing race. 

What about the bore, where the bearing goes?  Does it have a grove?

The bearing race is pressed in so unless the bore is grooved, altering the race will have absolutely no effect.  The race is sealed against the bore.  But the bearing rides on a shaft and there is a small space between the shaft and the bearing race.  When you apply grease through the zerk, grease is pressed into that small space.

Edited by wwbragg
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1 hour ago, wwbragg said:

WRONG!  I was wrong.  I asked my guy at the machine shop.  He said normally, the bearing race will have a grove and holes.  But I have to admit, I have never noticed grooves and holes in a bearing race. 

What about the bore, where the bearing goes?  Does it have a grove?

Theres no groove in thie casting on this one.

 

Quote

The bearing race is pressed in so unless the bore is grooved, altering the race will have absolutely no effect.  The race is sealed against the bore.  But the bearing rides on a shaft and there is a small space between the shaft and the bearing race.  When you apply grease through the zerk, grease is pressed into that small space.

Not necesarily. You just have to line the hole in the race  up with the zerk hole in the casting.Then the greae goes right on through.to the bearings in the race. I have seen  it done on different applications both ways. If theres a groove,  then you dont need to worry about whether the hole in the race lines up with the zerk hole in the casting..

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On 9/4/2018 at 7:51 PM, Chris727 said:

Did the original bearing have a hole?

I pressed the old bearing out of the used casting, and yes it indeed does have a 3/32 hole in it lined up with the zerk hole.

Cant imagine why Simplicity would source a replacement bearing without the hole.

 

So..... it would appear I'm going to have to try and grind a small hole in the race with my dremel tool.

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14 hours ago, SmilinSam said:

Cant imagine why Simplicity would source a replacement bearing without the hole.

Because they're just like most other manufacturers - they assume the user doesn't know any better, and by the time it fails the owner will most likely not try to fix it, just buy new.  IMO, people today think if something lasts 10 years, that's a long time.  sm02

PS - I've messed with mechanical stuff for many years, but didn't know about lining up the hole with the grease zerk.  Now I'm wondering if that was necessary when I replaced the bearings/bearing holders with zerk on the NOS "new style" snow blower I got a few years back (new setup has no grease zerks and bearings that use setscrews to keep them in place ).  I'm thinking where the spherical bearing holder halves meet, there's enough space for the grease to find its way into the bearing.  

 

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Cant imagine why Simplicity would source a replacement bearing without the hole.

 

 

Simplicity did not necessarily outsource anything. Briggs and Stratton did, though. That 10 year life expectancy is built in, and most everything fails shortly before or after 10 years. I bought some deck bearings yearly from a supplier. They always came in Simplicity packaging. Yearly, I put new bearings on my deck. Thinking alignment, I shimmed, played with, used all my tricks one time. bearings failed as before. I looked at the bearings a bit better, all said CHINA on the races. I called the supplier and asked if their new bearings had China on them. Yes... I bought deck bearings from a local machinery supplier. Well, I replaced one set this year. Those have been on the deck around 8 years. I paid about the same amount as the Simplicity bearings

If there is a Motion Industries, Kaman or similar machinery supplier close to you, check to see what they might have. When I replace Simplicity needle bearings, I have found that Simplicity uses basically the shortest length bearing they can. Industrial suppliers can get the longest bearing that will fit in the casting and still allow for seals/fit of the next part, etc. More bearing surface usually equates with less wear, easier use in turning the shaft supported by the bearings, and longer life. Any bearings I have to replace, come from Motion Industries, including the ball bearing mains in Briggs engines, mortar mixers, pumps, whatever is broke. I replace enough in the hobby shop out back to have an account with Motion locally, rarely go to the manufacturer for bearings, unless the bearing was specifically made for that piece of equipment

 

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10 minutes ago, MrSteele said:

Cant imagine why Simplicity would source a replacement bearing without the hole.

 

 

 When I replace Simplicity needle bearings, I have found that Simplicity uses basically the shortest length bearing they can. Industrial suppliers can get the longest bearing that will fit in the casting and still allow for seals/fit of the next part, etc. More bearing surface usually equates with less wear, easier use in turning the shaft supported by the bearings, and longer life. 

 

Likely the designers thoughts are that the shorter bearings will allow more flexibility to the shaft. That is true to an extent. However, the shafts we are talking about are usually short, movement at all is limited, so flexibility is not necessarily to be taken into design criteria. The longer bearing in my Landlord steering yielded almost a power steering situation compared to what it was before the longer bearing. The needle in the input shaft into the BGB, I allowed to extend inside the housing. The bearing is lubricated by oil splash in the hole, mine runs over the end of the bearing giving positive lubrication. I am not sure of the life expectancy of the BGB with use, will let you know which failed first, the longer needle or something else, has only been 12 years since I rebuilt it

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1 hour ago, MrSteele said:

Cant imagine why Simplicity would source a replacement bearing without the hole.

 

 

Simplicity did not necessarily outsource anything. Briggs and Stratton did, though. T

 

This is a NOS bearing from a sold out dealers lot. Long time before Briggs ever owned Simplicity . I dont know that there are any sickle mower parts even available to order new from the delaers anymore.

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14 minutes ago, SmilinSam said:

This is a NOS bearing from a sold out dealers lot. Long time before Briggs ever owned Simplicity . I dont know that there are any sickle mower parts even available to order new from the delaers anymore.

Snowmobile jackshafts use the same type of idea.  At least the older machines I have do.  Line the tiny hole up with the zerk in the bearing retainer.  I know you have the bearing already but I guess I'd try to outsource through Motion to see if it's available with the hole.  I'd still grind the hole in the existing one you have as well but as you already know, you will have many tiny pieces of debris.  I'm in agreement with @MrSteele about outsourcing bearings sold through Motion that are not made in China.

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Well I sat down with the dremel today. Just kept "kissing" the race with the pointed end of a shaped grinding stone. Just kept at it until a tiny little hole gradually opened up in the race. Smaller than the one in the original bearing, but it still lets grease pass through. Should work out OK.  Should ba able to put the rest of the mower back together in a few more days and give it a trial run.

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