Cultipacker bearing

[Kenneth Whildin]

I have a 10ft Dunham cultipacker that needs bearings. When I took it apart I was suprised to have octagon shaped WOODEN bearings in there ! ( maybe bushing would be more accurate)
Any way does anyone know if these can be purchased or will I have to fab them myself ?
This really surprised me as this implement dosent appear to be that old, I thought maybe from the 1960s.
Any help will be appreciated, thanks

 

[Anonymous-0]

Actually for the use intended these wooden bushings do very well. If you are going to redo them, use black locust or Osage orange. An interesting aside- the U.S. Navy uses a wood (Lignum Vitae, tree of life) from South America as a bearing surface on long prop shafts. Apparently, no other material can match it for its ability to hold oil, not corrode, and its hard surface.

 

[dwrk]

Depending where you are, a lot of the wood bearings in this area were made with apple wood. Some with oak but the apple seemed to work a lot better.

 

[Fordfarmer]

It's not just the Navy- the local hydro-electric plant uses wood bearings for the water turbines.

 

[Larry59]

Well they say your never to dang old to learn something. LOL did not know about these wooden bearings being used. Interesting

 

[Vally Farm]

On my 8' Brillion I rebuilt the bearing with PVC pipe. Several pieces cut to slid within eachother to get the proper inside and outside diameters. Haven't had any problems with it in over a decade. Did drill holes through the PVC to let the grease get all the way in. Mike

 

[msb]

Rock Hard Maple is what was used in the 30s and 40s. Around here at least. Also used on straw walker cranks in threshing machines and combines.

 

[moonlite 37]

I was a repairman of commercial laundry equipment several years ago and some of the washing machines had wood bearings where the parts would be in water. The water provided the lubrication. I did not replace any of them

 

[greygoat]

I bought an old wheelbarrow, it needed a new
bearing. When I took it apart i found that it
had a wood one. It had a patent number cast into
the cast iron wheel. I looked it up, and found
that the bearing was hard maple, "boiled in
mutton tallow". I replaced it, however with a
bronze bushing, which i machined and pressed in
place. The wheel had a zerk fitting in the hub,
so I drilled a hole in the bushing to line up
when pressed in.I could have grooved the inside
for a grease channel, but didn"t think that a
wheelbarrow needed it.

 

[Mudfish]

I just bought some. It takes two per side per axle. That's 4 for one row of packer wheels and 8 for two rows. I think they are $4 each.

Leinbach Machinery
5000 Reynolda Road Winston-Salem N.C. 27106
9125 Hwy 67 East Bend N.C. 27018
(336) 924-4115

There is a toll freee number but i do not have it handy