wm idle shaft housing

kev · May 09, 2009, 06:02:28 PM

hi everyone changed bearing in idle shaft today what a job getting pulley off of shaft .got it off replacrd bearing but now the shaft seems to be loose in the housing do the set screws tighten this up tried the top one a little but broke it off, will try tomorrow to get it out.any help appreciad.

MartyParsons · May 09, 2009, 08:08:08 PM

What year are you working with? Two bearings or one. Earlier mills have two bearings newer mills have 1 BIG bearing. Most times you can remove the bolt or the alen screw and pull the bearing off the shaft. A puller works the best. There is a square soild tube. ( Doesn't sound right) Square solid steel fits in to a square hole. There can be a little wobble. The bolt for the blade tracking goes into the tensioner side on horizonal plane and the (5/16 studs on older mills and 1/2" bolts on newer Super). These are on a vertical plane. The vertical plane bolts tilts the idle wheel up down ( related to the blade) Use your blade tool to measure this ( 1" aluminum bar with a clip on it).
The horizonal bolt is for blade tracking. I see many of these loose. They will still track the blade correctly beacuse the tension of the blade will pull the shaft tight. You should have the spacers in the Horizonal bolt tight in the hole, these holes are slotted for adjustment.
If the bolt broke you can remove the assembly and work on it in the shop, or you can remove the bolt with a drill. I weld a nut on the stud if possible to help remove. These studs just hold the shaft from moving up or down give you adjustment for the looseness you are seeing. Once you get the stud removed use never sieze on the studs and nuts.
Need more ask me ?
M
You will not tighten the play in the front of the square shaft toward the idle wheel with the rear bolts. If the play is read bad you will need to replace the square shaft and the crome tension rod assembly. ( Not common)

WH_Conley · May 09, 2009, 08:14:49 PM

If I understand what you are doing right, there are 2 bearings in the pulley on my LT40. Replace both. There is a lot of wobble there, that is taken up by the blade, there are three rods, tightened up by the hydraulic tensioner. If the bearings and pulley are hard to get off it is probably because a bearing seized and scored the shaft, file or sand the shaft before reinstalling new bearings,should slide right on. I broke that top st screw off mine 10 years or more ago. Now that I have let the cat out of the bag I will probably need it tomorrow. That is one aspect of alignment that changes very little once it is right.

kev · May 09, 2009, 08:29:21 PM

that idle shaft is the two bearing type the mill is a1994 lt 40.the way i checked the tightness was bye taking blade off and putting the jack rod on the tightener and brought the guage up to 2000 .i may have looseed the set screws when removing pulley i had to hit preety hard with brass punch several times.how do you remove whole assembly if need be.

MartyParsons · May 10, 2009, 12:28:06 AM

To remove the crome tension shaft assembly, remove the 6 bolts and nuts that hold the plate, Once you remove the idle wheel it slids out easily.
The two bearing type one bearing sits way out (real early version three bolts hold the bearing in place, looks kinda strange but it works). There is an up grade to the newer one piece bearing but you will need to replace the square shaft ( I will call it an axle) and the wheel and bearing assembly. The bearing could be loose in the wheel or the axle could be worn if the bearing spun in the shaft.
While you are there take a look at the B57 belt area. Does a new B57 belt sit low in the shive. The belt should sit high, ( the blade should not contact the wheel at any time. In 1997 the wheels are 1/8" smaller so the belt will sit higher. Also another change is that there is a bottom to the shive, the earlier versions were V to the bottom of the shive. Over time the V will widen out due to the stress.
Idle wheel snap ring, earlier version with two bearings snap ring faces you, newer ilde wheel one BIG bearing snap ring away from you. Real early version has three bolts alen heads.
All of this relates to hydraulic tensioner mills.

M

kev · May 10, 2009, 03:17:42 PM

marty i worked on mill this mornimg i put the jack rod in to bring tension on the wheel there is some play in the axel inside the square tube you said in previous post there will be some wobble is this with tension or without.will it hurt to run this way for 5000 or 6000 more feet would like to finish up job am on before i replace idle shaft and tube if need be.