Farmall Cub

Hi,
I just wanted to ask if everyone has been greasing their front wheel bearings. The Cub owner's manual says "After every 6 months or every 500 hours of operation, whichever occurs first, remove, clean, and grease the front wheel bearings." That's a lot of greasing. I doubt many people do it that often. But I wanted to put some info here, because they do need some greasing, if they get dry it will probably ruin your bearings.

Thanks for the reminder...I grease my tractors usually every other usage...Always forget about the wheel bearings.... Suppose to rain today...Good chance to do them....Reverse thread if I recall .... Dave

Tractor wheel bearings like trailer wheel bearings sit often, never getting warm enough to drive the condensation out. My experience with both types of bearings indicates the back bearing grease can become water / moisture laden.

I've seen this in my RV axles and most recently on Rex ''48 where the one inner bearing was greasy but still rusted. This can happen even with the seals being in perfect condition. The hub warms and cools with the weather, sucking moisture in. Hence the 6 months or 500 hours.

My narrative is complete

The Long Stripe manual dropped the 'routine' maintenance of the front wheel bearings. I would surely recommend that it be done as soon as you bring a Cub home. If the seals are in decent shape and you don't leave it in a deep puddle you should be set for years..... but you MUST do it once.

I have had two that were very rusty and had to replace the whole 'kit'. If I just ran them, it would eventually ruin something....

Not a hard job, the instructions are in the operators manual (except the Long Stripe manual). The bearings are pretty stout, but water will ruin them eventually. If maintained they will last as long as the tractor.

My cubs have grease fittings on the front hubs and I give them a couple shots every so often, depending on the use. On ones without the fittings, as a shortcut you can remove the cap over the end and fill with grease then screw it back in.

John *.?-!.* cub owner wrote:My cubs have grease fittings on the front hubs and I give them a couple shots every so often, depending on the use. On ones without the fittings, as a shortcut you can remove the cap over the end and fill with grease then screw it back in.

I was hoping someone would say that. That's what I did.

When you do grease them use plenty of grease pack the hub full , with the quality of today's grease it will keep most of the water out Will last a good amount of time. But I will reemphasize what Larry [ Buzzard wing ] said DO IT WHEN YOU FIRST GET YOUR CUB!!! It will save you $$$$$ most of the time all you will have to do is clean and pack em. Do not take the inside bearing off unless you have to, the seals cost big bucks.

Boss

Yep, full of grease and there is no room for water. In higher speed stuff where heat is a factor (mower spindle, for example) too much grease will expand and push past the seals. But even in my 'high speed run' back and forth to the fort, I doubt much heat is generated.

I was really pleased when I repacked the 49 Cub's front bearings, they were PERFECT. Never seen tapered roller bearings where there was no cage.... really helps to keep a Cub under cover.

John *.?-!.* cub owner wrote:My cubs have grease fittings on the front hubs and I give them a couple shots every so often, depending on the use. On ones without the fittings, as a shortcut you can remove the cap over the end and fill with grease then screw it back in.

I don't think I've every greased the bearings. I am going to try this short cut.

For the folks who do take their wheel off, which I am tempted to do, which shop tools do you use for this? I don't have a jack that can safely hold the tractor up without risk of falling over, unless I use some awkward big cinder blocks or something.

farmergiffIV wrote:

John *.?-!.* cub owner wrote:My cubs have grease fittings on the front hubs and I give them a couple shots every so often, depending on the use. On ones without the fittings, as a shortcut you can remove the cap over the end and fill with grease then screw it back in.

I don't think I've every greased the bearings. I am going to try this short cut.

For the folks who do take their wheel off, which I am tempted to do, which shop tools do you use for this? I don't have a jack that can safely hold the tractor up without risk of falling over, unless I use some awkward big cinder blocks or something.

Just raise one wheel at a time if you do not have means to raise the entire front. Do NOT use actual cinder blocks, they will unexpectedly collapse into pieces.

Hi,
If you have never greased the bearings, I would recommend that you take the hubs off, one side at a time, and clean out the old grease, it can get old and hard. Then clean everything, and re-grease the bearings. Here is a page from the Cub owner's manual showing how.
The book says it's better to leave the inner bearing and seal on the shaft, like Boss said above.
They are usually hard to get off the shaft, a puller is usually needed.
I would use something like a small hydraulic jack, and some solid blocks under the front axle to set the jack on, to raise the front, one side at a time. It only has to raise the tire a little off the ground. Put the tractor in gear, lock the brakes on, and put wood blocks in front and behind the rear tires, against the tires, to keep it from rolling. Do the job on level ground if you can.

http://www.cleancomputes.com/Cub/Cub%20 ... age-16.jpg

I get nowhere near 500 hours on the Cub a year. But, I try and do them at least annually.

WaMoo wrote:I get nowhere near 500 hours on the Cub a year. But, I try and do them at least annually.

But you probably think about your Cub at least that much....

Bob

I successfully cleaned out the bearings via the hub cab method today. It must have been the first time since 1948 since I've done that cuz the grease looked like watery oil. Not too much rust though and bearings looked alright...

What does everybody do with that inner bearing? I don't have any experience with felt washers. Can I just use brake cleaner? How important is it to keep cleaner away from the washer? Then how do I repack it? I only know one way, so that won't work. Has anybody tried one of those needle applicators on a grease gun? Thanks