The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of AgWeb or Farm Journal Media. The opinions expressed below are the author's own.
Loading News
The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of AgWeb or Farm Journal Media. The opinions expressed below are the author's own.
As a farm machinery mechanic and writer, Dan brings a hands-on approach that only a pro can muster. Along with his In the Shop blog, Dan writes a column by the same name as well as the Shop Series for Farm Journal magazine. Always providing practical information, he is a master at tackling technical topics and making them easy for all of our readers to understand. He and his wife, Becky, live near Bouton, Iowa.
Serious mechanics will disdain this field-fix, but it works and can save the day when storm clouds are on the horizon, a bearing has spun on a shaft, and there's still 10 acres to bale, or spray, or whatever.
If the failed bearing has spun on its shaft and reduced its diameter, use a hammer and center punch to pock the worn area of the shaft with dozens, maybe hundreds, of small craters. Make that area look like it's been knurled. The raised edges of all those craters can increase the shaft's diameter enough to allow a replacement bearing to temporarily fit snugly.
This isn't a permanent fix, and I'm reluctant to confess that I might have been party to such crude repairs on occasion. But sometimes my job is to make the customer happy, at least temporarily, and not to make time-consuming permanent repairs.
Loading News