Oil seals...leather vs neoprene

[Jason S.]

I've been restoring an old Ferguson sickle bar mower and several of the original seals had leather in the middle. I can get the seals from Ford since they are the same mower as the Dearborns but they are over $30.00 a piece. I went by the dimensions and got modern neoprene lipped seals from Federal Mogul for $7.00 a piece. Has anybody run into any problems doing this? There is a little pitting in the shaft where the seal rides. Would either seal hold up any better than the other one?
 

[Phil Tibbetts]

I would think the neoprene seals would be superior to leather as long as it is the correct ID and OD. Leather seals are old technology.
 

[RickB]

You aren't likely to get leather even from New Holland.
 

[Jason S.]

Well that was kinda what I was thinking that newer style seals would be better but I thought I'd ask anyway since somebody on here has probably already been thru this.
 

[Brian in MA]

I would bet $10 that both seals are actually the same. It's my experience that the CNH seals are often exactly the same as the locally sourced seals, but 5X the price.
 

[JRSutton]

You CAN find the leather ones if you really want them, but 99% of the time you'll be just as well off, if not better - with the newer style seals.

The one problem you'll find is that the seal itself is probably going to be about half the thickness of the original.

Shouldn't matter in most cases - but in some applications it can look odd if you put the seal in too far. So sometimes using two is ok just to keep things looking right.