Kuhn tedder repair

One of the rotors on the tedder was wobbly as I hooked it up to use last time. I did a quick fix of installing a few more washers up under the rotor and greasing the heck out of it. I had 9 acres of hay on the ground and rain on the way. After done baling we pulled the rotor off to survey the damage. Turns out all 3 needle bearings had disintegrated. The bigger problem was the needles had broken into bits and churned around in the hub gouging the hub and the locking collar. JD dealer ordered in the parts, about 5 days to get them all. Photos show all the arms and driven gear pulled off. The bolts were very tight and the rotor is awkward to handle standing up on edge. Last photo shows the damaged hub and a pinion gear I replaced last year. As mentioned in other posts, I bought this tedder at a consignment auction and have unfortunately learned the previous owners drove it hard and probably did not grease the rotors. The replaced pinion gear teeth are about 90% gone and the driven gear teeth are about 50% gone. So, I am thinking I need to do the following, replace the other 3 rotor pinions and all the remaining bearings. Anyone here had to replace the needle bearings? Seems getting them out is going to be a pain.

Yes! it is! I have a smaller and probably older one 44 GST or something like that. First the standard way of working on these is to flip them right upside down. Then you drive out the roll pins and then you can lift the rotors off. I removed those needle cage bearings by tapping with a drift down through the center of the rotor. It just takes time and patience working side to opposite side. By taking it easy I was able to get them out whole, so that I didn't have to deal with getting just the thin outer race separated from the bore. I doubt that you will need to replace any other gears if the rotors have not been wobbling. FYI, two years ago I suddenly had gear oil all over the top of one of my inner rotors. Next winter I brought my parts unit in, tore it down and replaced all the bearings and seals in the center section, then took the best of both of the two outer sections and rehabbed them.

Sounds like a plan. One thing I have tried to confirm is this Kuhn tedder and the NH 163 are the exact same and the parts are interchangeable. The exploded parts diagrams are identical. I bought the NH slip clutch springs as they were about 1/2 price of JD was charging. With the parts I just bought, the total cost was similar but the various parts were different prices, some more and some less. If i replace too many parts with brand new, I am going to begin to approach the cost of a better machine to begin with. Well, live and learn.

Here is a story: first baler I bought and ran was a JD 24T. Is was an early model and fairly worn. Couple of years later I spotted another for sale at a consignment auction. I could tell it was a later series and hardly used, just very dirty from sitting in a barn. I got it at a steal. Just shows learning the workings of a machine well can pay off.

(quoted from post at 16:10:48 08/03/20) Sounds like a plan. One thing I have tried to confirm is this Kuhn tedder and the NH 163 are the exact same and the parts are interchangeable. The exploded parts diagrams are identical. I bought the NH slip clutch springs as they were about 1/2 price of JD was charging. With the parts I just bought, the total cost was similar but the various parts were different prices, some more and some less. If i replace too many parts with brand new, I am going to begin to approach the cost of a better machine to begin with. Well, live and learn.

Here is a story: first baler I bought and ran was a JD 24T. Is was an early model and fairly worn. Couple of years later I spotted another for sale at a consignment auction. I could tell it was a later series and hardly used, just very dirty from sitting in a barn. I got it at a steal. Just shows learning the workings of a machine well can pay off.

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The nearby dealer where I used to get my Kuhn parts gave the line up so I started getting them from the NH dealer from the NH badged Kuhns.

So, I take it the critical parts like bearings and gears are the same. Thanks . I can comparison shop. The
bigger driven gears are over $200 each so replacing those and 3 pinion gears is a chunk of change.