how to pack and adjust spoke wheel bearings

I just bought an old spoke wheel running gear that I'm going to turn into a parade wagon. This is the first of about 12 running gears I have had that has cage bearings. All the others have had tapered roller bearings. I have no experience with cage bearings. How do I repack these bearings? There are 2 bearings in each wheel and they are separated by a spacer. Are the races replaceable? I've only taken one wheel off and it appears they are adjusted by shims. The shims are held in place with a facing plate that is held on with a solid pin that is about 1/4" diameter. I haven't yet looked on google for bearings and races but first want to determine if I should invest in this relic or sell it to someone who knows what to do with it. I like the look of the spoke wheels and all appear to be in good shape except for surface rust which I can get sandblasted. Can cage bearings be driven down the road like tapered bearings? I pulled it home, about 15 miles, at 40 mph and it followed me without difficulty. Thanks for any information you can give me.

Isn't there a grease fitting there between the spokes of the wheel. That is the usual way of greasing these "roller" bearings.

I would not use it if going to be towed at high speed.

I think the first thing you need to determine is...was it horse drawn or motorized, and if so what speed was it intended for? I've seen several horse drawn wagons etc. damaged by pulling them too fast with motor vehicles, and field implements ruined by pulling them with a tractor.
That being said it certainly looks like heavy duty equipment from what I can see. I've never seen a bearing set like that before, but I'm sure someone here can help you out with that.

Yes, there is a grease zerk between the spokes on each wheel. The bearing and race is filled with that black grease that stains everything it touches - including my shirt. Should I refill each bearing and race with the same black stuff or should I use wheel bearing grease? I've always used wheel bearing grease but this is a different setup than I've had in the past.

You could initially use wheel bearing grease the first packing.Grab a 'handfull' and 'slather' it into the bearings. But then use Black moly gun grease there after. A few pumps into the zerk will be enough. I would not pull at 55 mph. 30/35 is plenty for short (20/30 miles)distances.Use as many spacers/shims as you can and still get the pin in the hole on the axle.Behind a tractor,they should out last you if kept greased.

I would use #2 grease and pump them full. I would NOT be pulling it down the road with a pickup or car.

Very first thing to do is find out how wore the bearings are andf if the race is wore on the outside of bearing and see how much of a flat bottom side of the axle is there and if it has been used hard it will be there and then does it have a grease seal in or not?
If the bearings are all tight with no wabble to wheel and a good grease seal then speed would not be anydifferent than any other wagon. But with the tapered bearings when they wear you can tighten them, with the straight roller bearing if wear only thing is to replace. And I can get you those bearings and races without problems and made locally by a friend here at DeGraff, Ohio. If that axle shaft is wore and you can get it into a lathe you can have it turned dorn to good round condition and then he could make a race ror the inside of the bearing that would be pressed onto the turned down axle. There is way more equipment out there than you think about with that type of bearing. If tight and good grease seal then they will take very little grease after the initaional fillup but if loose then they will need gresed every 10 mile or less. And just a plain good gun grease is all it takes. Those bearings are the same as the dozen in a hay rake and that is all that is ever having been used there. If tight with good seal just pump in only enough to feel the pressure on gun change and then the bearing will be full, over greasing will just blow the seal and spray grease over every thing. The new wheel bearing grease I do not know if you could get it to work in a grease gun or not but do not try mixing grease types, if you use a good sticky type on assembly and follow up wiyh a non sticky )most gun greases) it will make all your good grease like the bad grease. That type of bearing is not limited to the spoke wheels but used in a lot od demountable hub wheels. You are lucky in that the rims are factory and not having been a still tire cut off and rubber put on. I have a couple of gears like that. The one the rims are rusted away and I need to cut them off and weld new rims onto the spokes. But getting things perfectly round is a problem. email open

Please resend your message. I accidently hit delete so I have no way of emailing you back. Lester (Leroy) Helmlingerm 10622 Ashburn Rd., Wapakoneta, Oh. 45895 and [email protected]

Leroy what is the contact information for your friend who makes these bearings

I see that something added an m to back of my last name that is not supposed to be there. Name is Helmlinger

You need to wright to me at [email protected] and I will get back with you. I don't have his mailing address at hand and need to find it again, may take a few days. He is only avaible by snail mail or by driving to find him as he is Amish so he has no phone or computor. I am Lester (Leroy) Helmlinger, 10622 Ashburn Rd., Wapakoneta, Oh. 45895

Just curious... Is that an IH running gear? I have an IH with wheels and bearings, along with the steering parts, just like that. My Father said it originally had steel wheels but the local Blacksmith had a setup with a torch that he could cut the spokes evenly and replace the steel with a rim and tire. Not sure if he said the wheel turned or the torch was put into a jig of some sort. He said it rolled a lot better on rubber than steel..... I just have a 5x10 deck on mine and use it around the place for little jobs.

Just found the information on the friend that makes those bearings.

Sam's Machining
Sam Borntreger
1201 Road 208 North
DeGraff, OH 43318

Snail mail only way to reach him unless you drive to his place.
Those that were interested please let me know if you see this.

Yes, it's an IH 631-WA running gear. I did some serfing on the internet and found that it originally had steel wheels. On mine the steel wheels were removed many years ago and rubber tire rims were welded on to the spokes. It's original colors were Indian Red for the frame, Harvester Cream for the spoke wheels, and Harvester Blue for the hubcaps according to IH Paint Committee history of October 10,1929. Probably more information than you wanted to know.