Hello all, Ive got a bum bronze bearing on my #10 upper snapping roller. I pulled her out yesterday and greased and oiled it up hooked it up and ran it for a few minutes at pto speed for kicks and had alittle smoke from this bushing. It got fairly warm. This is a new to me picker so i'm starting early to see what im in for. Theres a chance i missed the fitting during greasing this, and its been in a shed for oh, 10 years but I wouldnt think grease or not it should get that hot that quick. I ran at an idle for 10 minutes re-oiling things then kicked her up to pto for 2 or 3 minutes when i noticed a bit of smoke on that roller under the guard. I re- greased the bearing then ran it again and it didnt seem to get hot again. The kicker is there doesnt seem to be alot of slop in the bearing like you would think. The picker doesnt show much wear at all. Could it be that i overlooked the fitting during greasing it and the old grease was dried up creating friction on the shaft?? The other question i have is does anybody know where i can get parts such as bearings for this old picker?? Or is this a machine shop job. I called my local agco dealer and even had an original part number for this bearing and they told me it was n/a. thanks for reading
It is very easy to miss a grease fitting. You have to be very methodical about greasing by starting at one point on the picker and working your way around. I know there have been a number of times in my life where I would "find" grease fittings after greasing a piece of equipment for years. It really helps to have an owners manual to point out all the grease fittings although it is not completely necessary.
It sounds like you may have just missed it. At least now you know where to keep an eye on your picker when your picking. As far as bearings you should be able to just measure the old bearing and any good bearing shop should be able to hook you up with a replacement without any trouble.
New Idea usually had pretty good grease zerk diagrams in the owner's manual. I photocopied that diagram for each piece of equipment and had it laminated. Each time I grease the equipment I use a dry erase marker and check off each zerk as I go. I have to write stuff like this down since I forget where I put my mental notes.
Yes that's a good idea but regardless of if I missed the zerk or not it shouldn't of gotten hot enough to smoke within minutes of starting it up in the yard should it? Since there's not much play in the bearing thats what gets me. I think it would best to take it apart and have a look. Also has anyone had luck crossing these bronze bushings new idea used in the snapping or husking rollers?? I called the guy that rebuilds rollers from the forums and he said he could get me one but never said how or where, And I was afraid to ask how much. I actually have acess to bronze bushings that have a one inch i.d. And a shoulder on them as a thrust washer I could bore the old bearing out and press this in with a hole for grease and it should work? Any ideas ? Thanks
Pretty hard to diagnose without being there, but from your posts, it sounds like a little rust might be the culprit. If that zerk was hard to find, it might not have been greased before it sat for 10 years. As long as it sat unused, it might have built up a little rust inside the bearing or the roller or the bushing or any combination of parts (steel parts, not bronze, obviously). That might have locked things up enough to make something slide instead of roll, which would have made things hot. I have had similar issues with other parts of my NI 324/327 pickers (the "bicycle" chains are the worst), but I turned the PTO by hand with a breaker bar before I hooked it to the tractor. I have found "frozen" (rusty) chains and other parts that way, gave them a little oil/grease/TLC, and they are still going today. It sounds like you had it running fine after the first couple of heat-ups. It also sounds like you have a solution in the event of a breakdown. Considering how hard it is to find parts, you might just get the repair as ready as you can make it and see if fresh grease solved the problem. Of course, the other side of that coin is breakdown time during harvest. I would try to run the part as is, but I also have a backup picker in case of breakdown.
