Morbark 18" 2400 maintenance question

[cory]

Great chipper.

But, it says repack the chipper bearings 2x/year. They don't have a grease fitting, to avoid over greasing. To repack means removing belt guard, unbolting and moving engine to take tension off drive belt, removing top bearing cap on each side, pack grease in after removing old grease, and replace all including moving engine back for proper belt tension and making sure it is totally square to the belt. Big job imo. What do you all think. Do you repack your bearings?

 

[MasterBlaster]

I'd slap an alemite in it, if possible.

 

[cory]

You mean a grease fitting? It already has one but it is to keep grease around the ends of the bearing to keep out dust etc. It doesnt send grease into the heart of the bearing. Morbark says too much grease will cause heat and problems, so they say to pack the lower half of the bearing, instead of greasing a grease fitting.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Ahhh...

 

[rangerdanger]

Our Model 17 says that also, I can't recall the last time we repacked the bearings, but we don't do it twice a year. Maybe once every 2-4. Then again it's not seeing use every day, and we don't kill it with big wood all that often.

 

[MasterBlaster]

There are many variables involved.

 

[lumberjack]

I would suggest (uneducated, just practical experience) to monitor the bearing's temperatures (I use my hand) and take note when temp changes. Temp change=frictional change, which is bad. I would suggest inspecting at the first sign of appreciable temperature change. Changing by time without regards to use is foolish. Changing by use without regards to application can be excessive.

My stump grinder's cutter wheel bearings haven't been greased in going on 900-1k hours. Before we would grease them twice a (long) day and they would rarely last 400 hours.

 

[MasterBlaster]

And there ya go.

 

[PCTREE]

Cory, make sure you get the right grease, the blue high temp stuff. Before you loosen the motor mark the slides so you know where to put it back to. Tension the non belt side first till it gets to mark then tighten 1 bolt on that side to keep it there and then tighten other side. Put straight edge on drive pulley to check alignment. This was how I did my model 17.

Maybe a 2 hour job, not bad for piece of mind.

 

[cory]

Carl, agreed, they stay cool, but one started making noise the other day, hence the inquiry here.

Paul, excellent details to make the job easier, thank you.

 

[lumberjack]

If it's a bearing making noise, check it out.