New Counter-shaft Bushings

[wa5cab]

That's a nice mod. I take it that no one makes a sealed ball bearing with 5/8" bore and an OD small enough to fit inside the original bearing outer races?

 

[Wierd Harold]

That's a nice mod. I take it that no one makes a sealed ball bearing with 5/8" bore and an OD small enough to fit inside the original bearing outer races?

That was a good question. I just measured one of the old bearing carriers and the hole is 1.25 with a wall thickness of .3 or so. I would say plenty of meat there to open it up a little to leave a shoulder to seat the bearings against or you could put a thin spacer inside to seat against. I did a quick search for 5/8 id by 1.25 od bearings and came up empty However 5/8 by 1-3/8 is a common go kart and lawn mower etc. size and can be had in packs of 10 for about $16 from Amazon in both snap ring and flanged. Should work and still leave plenty of wall for the amount of stress they are probably under. I have a few of those carriers in the parts box and will have to give it a try. (won't be as pretty though}
HWF

 

[Wierd Harold]

I almost ordered the 5/8 by 1-3/8 bearings when I thought I should measure the shafts I have and discovered both of my 10" machines have 3/4 shafts.
Amazon has 3/4 by 1-3/8 flanged bearings for about the same price. I ordered some and will see how it works out .

 

[wa5cab]

Harold,

Thanks for alerting me to a mistake of mainly omission. Some time ago, someone had wanted to know the highest countershaft RPM, given the motor RPM. To make it easy for me to find in the future, I asked here and on the A-C groups.io list for the OD of the two pulley steps. And just marked up the two OD figures on the reverse engineered drawing of the motor pulley, 10-428. As the diameter of the hole didn't matter to the ratio, I didn't ask for it. And the other day when the question of a substitute for the straight roller bearings came up, the drawing still had the 5/8" showing for the ID. And without thinking about where the figure came from, I used it. Thanks for catching that.

Before making a similar mistake by assuming facts not in evidence, was the 0.3" wall thickness that you mentioned measured at each end of the original outer races? Or was the measurement taken in the middle? If the latter, what is it at the ends?

 

[Wierd Harold]

That was at the outer edges, the center is a little thicker though I didn't measure as it doesn't matter. I will have to open up the carriers by 1/8 total which will still leave about .265 wall . The bearings I ordered have a small flange but its size wasn't given. I figure if possible I will turn a step for them to fit inside or shorten the carrier the thickness of the flange on each end. If it works out I will draw it up and give part numbers.
HWF

 

[Wierd Harold]

Gotta love Amazon Prime. Ordered the bearings 3:15 pm yesterday , delivered today at 2:10 pm ,free shipping. Sure beats the "old days" when all mail order was 3-6 weeks + S&H. They look like they will work fine.

 

[wa5cab]

OK. Thanks. I would bore the ends for the ball bearings and counter bore for the flanges, so that the overall length remains the same as the original. An expanding mandrel would probably be the best way to hold the races.

 

[Wierd Harold]

OK. Thanks. I would bore the ends for the ball bearings and counter bore for the flanges, so that the overall length remains the same as the original. An expanding mandrel would probably be the best way to hold the races.

We think alike on this. I made a mandrel that was a light press fit and drilled and tapped an M5 hole in the bottom of one of the mounting dimples. Not sure if the set screw was needed as the cast iron cuts like butter. I just made the one so far but when I get the other one done I will mount on a spare shaft and see how it performs. The inner part of the race sticks out about an 1/8" but I did not compensate for it as there is plenty of extra room on the shaft. Here are the bearings I used.

Amazon.com : XiKe 10 Pack Flanged Ball Bearing ID 3/4" x OD 1-3/8", Lawn Mower, Wheelbarrows, Carts & Hand Trucks Wheel Hub for Suitable, Replacement for Ariens, MTD, JD, Snapper, Toro, Marathon ＆ AYP Etc. : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : XiKe 10 Pack Flanged Ball Bearing ID 3/4" x OD 1-3/8", Lawn Mower, Wheelbarrows, Carts & Hand Trucks Wheel Hub for Suitable, Replacement for Ariens, MTD, JD, Snapper, Toro, Marathon ＆ AYP Etc. : Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

These are rated at 1500 lbs and 4600 rpm.

 

[wa5cab]

Looks good to me.

 

[RandyMcNally]

A really nice project is to make new bearing carriers and use pressed in sealed ball bearings, Clean quiet and you should never have to touch them.

@Wierd Harold I've been fantasizing about this project all summer. It's been too hot down here to be in the garage, but temps are dropping. I'm ready to order some parts!

I think I'd like to make the carriers rather than refit the OEMs. I'm a newb & I think I can work-hold new bar stock far easier than the castings. Plus, I like the ability to return a machine to stock parts/condition.

Any chance I can get some information from you?

I don't mean to wear you out, so let me say: I'd be grateful for any info even if you can't answer all my questions. But if you're feeling chatty, I'd take anything you could tell me. I'm not kidding about being a newb, so even basic info might be valuable to me.

1. Bearing part number?
2. Bearing carrier dimensions?

a. Major OD (outer; on each axial end)​

b. Minor OD (inner; where the dimples are)​

c. Major ID (bearings; I'm assuming you'd base this on actual bearing OD measurements? If so, what's the press fit variance?)​

d. Minor ID (inner; the ID beneath the dimples)​

e. Bearing seat depth (I'm assuming this would equal bearing width? Is the seat bored to a flat 90º shoulder?)​

f. Carrier Length (axially)​

3. Carrier material type? Did you blue it or anything?
4. Is this setup still working for you? Any hindsight revisions?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, sir.

edit: I feel like I should say my machine is an Atlas 10" QC54. I'm assuming your's is an Atlas 10" QC, also. Your machine looks nearly identical to mine, except your spindle looks to have independent gear covers, where mine has the flip-up cover over the gears & pulley. And are those grease xerks in front of each spindle gear? You've got some fancy customizations, don't you? And man, I like those nice, fat dials! Ok, I'll stop.