[arcam8123]

I'm rebuilding a Gravely grass vac for my rider and I need some bearing cross referencing help. The bearing is Gravely part number 039023. A mere $25 from my local Gravely dealer. The bearing is a sealed ball bearing with "NICE SKF 38" on the seal. That's all it said. These are the bearings that the fan shaft runs on.

 

[Tencubed]

"NICE" and "SKF" are, I think, divisions or associated with one of the big bearing companies. You should be able to cross that number to any one of several bearing manufacturing companies.

I'd check with my local Car Quest or Napa counter person. They will have the information you need. If you can take the bearing and seal with you, they can match it by size.

Mike

 

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

Ron,

That bearing is a PEER #1641-2RS, 1" x 2" x 9/16" with double rubber seals. Like a lot of GRAVELY bearings it does not cross over to a lot of brands because it is not metric.

The GRAVELY replacements I bought a few years ago came through in a PEER box with that part number. They were $20 from GRAVELY when bought two a while back. I have looked it up and it still is a good number with PEER, so someone should be able to get them - likely cheaper than GRAVELY.

Let me know if you find a source, I may be interested in a set.

Sheldon

 

[arcam8123]

Ron,

That bearing is a PEER #1641-2RS, 1" x 2" x 9/16" with double rubber seals. Like a lot of GRAVELY bearings it does not cross over to a lot of brands because it is not metric.

The GRAVELY replacements I bought a few years ago came through in a PEER box with that part number. They were $20 from GRAVELY when bought two a while back. I have looked it up and it still is a good number with PEER, so someone should be able to get them - likely cheaper than GRAVELY.

Let me know if you find a source, I may be interested in a set.

Sheldon

Well that number brought up all the cheap ones on eBay. As low as $4 each.

I found a Nice SKF number, 1641DCTN, but it's a much more expensive at a low of $14 each. It's kind of a pain to get the blower apart, so I'm wondering if the name brand bearing will out last the Chinese bearing.

 

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

I have only worn out one in 16 years, so I only changed the one that failed.

Sheldon

 

[Richard-tx]

In my experience the cheap chinese ball bearings lasts between 2-4 years. A lot depends on the load and speed. Since the blower bearings are somewhat of a pain to change, I would go with a good bearing. I classify the bearings I buy as Premium, good, and finally mediocre or worse. Premium bearings are NTN, and then SKF. Good is Nachi and Peer. Everything else is mediocre (NSK) or worse (RB Tech, etc).

In the high speed spindles that I rebuild, I only use NTN bearings. SKF bearings don't cut it in high speed service. I have been rebuilding high speed spindles for about 6 years or so now. To date I have not had one come back. (I offer a limited lifetime warranty).

When it comes to oddball bearings like the 1641, I try to get Nachi or NTN bearings. For something like trailing wheels, I will use RB Tech.

The reason the 1641 is so expensive is that there is little demand for it. I expect that one day the 1641 will no longer be made by any of the bigger bearing manufacturers. It will be like the 88000 (felt sealed) series bearings. There are no good 88000 bearing made anymore. They are all mediocre to poor.

I spent over $3000 buying ball bearings during 2010. The previous year I spent about $1500. I have no idea what I spent in 2011. Almost none of that money was spent on Gravely bearings.

When it comes to bearing life, I have not seen one good sealed bearing that was still good when it reached it's 20th birthday. Oil lubricated bearings like the bearings in the gravely transmission seem to last almost forever.

When I changed my blower bearings, both were on the verge of failing. Both were slightly rough. I replaced them both. The blower was quieter after the bearing change.

In general, when it comes to ball bearings, you get what you pay for.

 

[Richard-tx]

I considered making the bearings on the blower/vac greasable. I figured that I could pop off the inside bearing seal and let the grease ooze out the outside seal but I didn't do it. I might take it apart and do it this year if I get bored.

 

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

I considered making the bearings on the blower/vac greasable. I figured that I could pop off the inside bearing seal and let the grease ooze out the outside seal but I didn't do it. I might take it apart and do it this year if I get bored.

You and I talked about the pros and cons of this once before. If/when mine need replacing again I too have considered revisiting the idea.

I estimate my blower has about 400 hours on it. One bearing failed about 4 years ago, which was at about 300 hours. At the time I replaced only that one, all is currently good, but you never know when the next one will go.

Over the years I have become very "in tune" with the sound/feel of the blower. This spring it too will get a good going over and some repainting before being re-installed for summer.

Sheldon

 

[smoothracing]

Wherer do you live in Maryland,theres a place in Middleriver on 8415 Kelso Dr off of Rossville Blvd called Motion Ind. that sell nothing but bearings

 

[Richard-tx]

Motion's prices are a bit high but they have almost everything.

Nothing is worse than my local bearing house on prices. I was quoted $37 for a bearing that I bought for $7 from Accurate bearing.

 

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

Wherer do you live in Maryland,theres a place in Middleriver on 8415 Kelso Dr off of Rossville Blvd called Motion Ind. that sell nothing but bearings

I'm in Forest Hill, I will check out Motion Ind.

Sheldon

 

[smoothracing]

Sheldon Thats where we get our bearings and bushings at when we dont have them.where i work part time down the machine shop (JB's automachine) I got a set of front wheel bearings for my Cub Cadet 129,I think I paid $35 for a 4 bearings. there # is Phone: (410) 687-2700
Fax: (410) 687-5147

 

[Richard-tx]

$35 for 4 sets of tapered roller bearings sounds about right for Motion. I think I paid about $25 for a set of 4 Timkens from Tony at Accurate. I would have to call Tony and get prices. It has been a while since I bought Timkens.

The last time I needed wheel bearings I bought Koyo bearings (rated OK in my book) which are a bit cheaper. Front wheel bearings on a Gravely don't see a lot of load nor do they see high speed so it seemed logical that a cheaper wheel bearing would be acceptable.

 

[Jimmy in NC]

Motion is a top notch outfit. We buy thousands of dollars a year from them. Maybe not the cheapest, but always come through for me. I've used them to get Garlock seals also. We haven't found something they couldn't get yet.. and that says a lot with an asphalt plant, 4 paving machines, asphalt mill, etc... (We eat lots of bearings!)

 

[Richard-tx]

Motion is a top notch outfit. Maybe not the cheapest, but always come through for me. We haven't found something they couldn't get yet.

Their stock is rather impressive and they do stock almost everything.

Since I am now doing fleet maintenance, I went from reactive buying to proactive buying of bearings. I have saved a fair amount of money that way.

The down side is that I do have money tied up in bearings that are sitting on the shelf. On the plus side, I can get a job done in minutes instead of waiting for a day or more for bearings to be delivered. Here in Texas I have to have everything shipped or pay ridiculous prices.

At any given time I will have wheel bearings, spindle bearings, and more in stock. When I finally get done rebuilding the last two 50" decks I hope to have 6 sets of spindle bearings left in stock. If I keep things greased, the bearings should last for a few years.

 

[smoothracing]

But in our area, Motion Ind is the place to get bearings without ordering them

 

[arcam8123]

That's a 50 mile hike for me. But if I needed something same day, it's good to know they are there.

 

[Richard-tx]

That's a 50 mile hike for me. But if I needed something same day, it's good to know they are there.

I could drive to Accurate's store in Irving TX, but that is a 50+ mile hike. It is really nice to tear something down and be able to reach in a drawer and pull out a new bearing and install it instead of having to spend time driving somewhere. Depending on the time of day, that 50 mile trip can take 2 hours.

 

[arcam8123]

I could drive to Accurate's store in Irving TX, but that is a 50+ mile hike. It is really nice to tear something down and be able to reach in a drawer and pull out a new bearing and install it instead of having to spend time driving somewhere. Depending on the time of day, that 50 mile trip can take 2 hours.

I agree. I keep spindle bearings, idler bearings, front PTO bearings, front axle bearings, and at least one rider clutch bearing on the shelf.

 

[Richard-tx]

I just checked my clutch bearing stock a few days ago and I have a few of the plain 6208 and about 4 of the 6208 with snap ring. For those bearings I use Nachi. NTN is just too expensive. Front PTO bearings are a 6205 and I have at least 6 in stock at all times. I use those to make some specialized bearings for drill presses is why I keep so many of them in stock.

The only thing that I really have too much of is new style cultivator bearings. I goofed and double ordered. Now I have enough to replace the shaft bearings on 6 cultivators. They are the ones with the hex bore. Funny thing with the new style cultivators is the jam nuts at the end of the shaft. The corners of the flats get rounded off fairly quick. If it is a real problem I will go to a grade 8 or stainless nut.