New Idea Rake-Tedder No. 4

I have a No.4 rake-tedder. Between the two bearing caps there is a grease fitting. Sometimes the shafts (tooth bar) is turned such that you really can't get a gun on the grease filling. In some cases I can turn the shaft just enough to make the fitting accessible but other times not. Is there a trick there that I am missing?

I use the screwdriver as well and have to use a hammer with it at times. Now something that might help you. The plates that hold the bearing on are supposed to be tight enough to hold it in place, they will get bent apart after time and the old style are worse for that. For this you have to take all the teeth off first but unbolt all the flange plates and look at them and you will see a bend in them, just clamp the bolt hole part in a vise and take a hammer and bend the top part of the flange toward the bearing and when you put it back together that puts pressure on the bearing so it hopefully will not turn. And I have seen many of them that had a 3/16" hole drilled through both halfs with a 3/16" by 1/2" bolt to hold the halves together. I have fitted hundreds of those bearing flanges like this. I have 4 of those rakes setting here as of now that I am rebuilding, have to change part of frame on back on one and front frame on a second (frame from the 3 bar is same as the No. 4 4 bar) (this 3 bar was too far gone to rebuild when I needed the parts elseware) and will have to rebuild several of the disks that the real bar bearings bolt onto as they either have the bearing bolt holes tore out or are all bent and some have the big circle in center for the ecentric to run against completely torn away. These 4 will go when they are done to a dealer I work with to be put on his sales lot. I have converted the 3 bar version to a four bar that the No. 4 is. Must have did over 20+ of them and also rebuilt plenty of the McCormick 3 & 4 bar, John Deere 3 & 4 bar and Case and a Massey and even put a Massey real in a McCormick before I realized it was not a McCormick real.

When those bearing flanges turn like that they wear the sides of the zerk so gun will not snap on tight enough to keep greae from pushing out befor goes into fitting. There is 16 of the 1/4 x 28 thread grease fittings there plus 4 on the caster part of the rear wheels and the rest are 1/8" pipe thread fittings think 14 of them and they all get changed on every rake. You will find some broke off and some rusted so you will never get them loose and some will work as good as new but I never take a chance on the old fittings, and you can see with these 4 rakes that is a lot of fittings I have to buy.