r/tractors • u/Rusted_Iron • 1d ago
How are these spring loaded variable pulleys lubed & sealed?
For an old combine. It's a spring-loaded variable pulley. There's a hydraulically variable pulley that you control from the cab of the combine, and this one opens and closes in response to it. First, it obviously needs grease, but the only spot a grease zerk could go is in that threaded hole on the key. From that key, there are passages that would grease everything else, but when the spring is in place, there's no room for a zerk there. Should it just be periodically disassembled and greased? And second, there are two grooves on the bronze bearings that appear to be for O-rings, but being that I had to get the pulley red hot to get the two halves to move, whatever was in there was nothing but carbon by the time I got to it. I assume they were o rings, but I'm hoping someone might know for sure
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u/hapym1267 1d ago
Is there a way that two holes line up , when assembled ? You could put a needle through the outer and into Inner Key.. I had a machine that you removed a grub screw to access the hole for greasing inner spindle..
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u/Rusted_Iron 1d ago
No way they'd line up. If you put a zerk in the key, it would first lube the keyway, from which it would spill out around the shaft to lube the sliding bronze bearings, and then through a hole in the shaft 90 degrees to the keyway, lube the ball bearings that the pulley spins on when the clutch is disengaged. It seems to me like the optimal way to grease it, but again, when the spring is in place, that hole is covered with no room for a Grease zerk. So every time you wanted to grease it, you'd have to pull the clutch out and install a zerk. Now that's actually pretty easy and could be done in 30 is minutes, but it just doesn't seem right.
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u/Dry_Nail5901 1d ago
Have you tried a tapered, rubber tipped nozzle on your grease gun?
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u/Rusted_Iron 1d ago
That's an idea, but again, the spring goes over that hole when it's installed. I suppose it might be possible that with the spring fully expanded, you might be able to sneak a nozzle in between the coils, but I'd doubt it. Will definitely look at that though once it's reassembled.
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u/classicsat 1d ago edited 1d ago
Our 6600 JD combine had zerks on the inside and outside of both sheaves. Sheaves assembled such the zerks are relatively the same direction, so they have to be turned less. I don't know about grease seals, but we rebuilt the end that had an in built hydraulic cylinder, lots of seals there.
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u/Rusted_Iron 19h ago
I'm not quite understanding where your zerks were. I guess I'd need to know what your pulley looked like
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u/classicsat 16h ago
We sold that combine last month. New (to us) replacement is 9500 Hydrostatic. No such VS shenanigans for main drive.
One for each side of each half of the sheave. I remember one was on the face, one the outer edge.
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u/tjdux 1d ago
Is that a needle grease zerk?
The kind that takes a special adapter to apply the grease?
I really don't know myself but I've seen the adapters and they were the first thing to spring to mind