I just had the bearing fail in my Cub Cadet 2518 PTO clutch. It started to give that dry bearing howl and then stopped disengaging. This machine has 200 run hours on it and is my go-to for lawn mowing as well as the snowthrower for my 1/4 mile long Michigan driveway.
While reading many posts on multiple sites there seemed to be a theme that says that these can't be repaired. I checked the pricing for a replacement and the OEM Cub price is $500+. Aftermarket about $220.00. In all I figured the worst I could do is fail replacing the bearing and I would have to buy a new clutch.
So... in less than 10 minutes I had the mounting bolt off and managed to dis-assemble the front pully from the rest of the clutch. The bearing was frozen solid in front but free in the rear.
Took the pully to the shop and we pressed the old bearing out. This is an NSK bearing with the number clearly etched on the inner race. Local bearing supply shop had it in stock at $23.00. NSK by the way was suggested to be one of the best quality available but a Chinese copy was less than 1/2 price. No thanks.
We measured the press fit difference between the pully and the bearing and it was .002". Calculating the expansion rate of steel @ 0.0000073 per degree F per inch we heated the pulley to 300 degrees and we easily pressed the bearing into place.
Back home, re-assembly was 10 minutes and it works like new.
I am lucky to have a machine shop at my disposal but this job could be done by anyone with good mechanical skills and a large vise. An understanding wife that will let you heat the pulley in the oven will help as well.
While reading many posts on multiple sites there seemed to be a theme that says that these can't be repaired. I checked the pricing for a replacement and the OEM Cub price is $500+. Aftermarket about $220.00. In all I figured the worst I could do is fail replacing the bearing and I would have to buy a new clutch.
So... in less than 10 minutes I had the mounting bolt off and managed to dis-assemble the front pully from the rest of the clutch. The bearing was frozen solid in front but free in the rear.
Took the pully to the shop and we pressed the old bearing out. This is an NSK bearing with the number clearly etched on the inner race. Local bearing supply shop had it in stock at $23.00. NSK by the way was suggested to be one of the best quality available but a Chinese copy was less than 1/2 price. No thanks.
We measured the press fit difference between the pully and the bearing and it was .002". Calculating the expansion rate of steel @ 0.0000073 per degree F per inch we heated the pulley to 300 degrees and we easily pressed the bearing into place.
Back home, re-assembly was 10 minutes and it works like new.
I am lucky to have a machine shop at my disposal but this job could be done by anyone with good mechanical skills and a large vise. An understanding wife that will let you heat the pulley in the oven will help as well.
