specs for transmission bearings for H

[riverbend]

It appears that it you have a wallet thick enough you can get any bearing you want. There are a million of them.

What spec bearing should I be looking for for my '40 H ? I see bearings with 15 or 17 balls that are R or P clearance spec but can't find anything that defines what that means. C0 and C3 are both pretty common but what is appropriate for a gearbox on a work a day tractor ? If the shafts flex, too tight is not good. Too loose seems like a problem right off the bat (see the chipped tooth on the layshaft).

IIRC, the bull pinion shaft bearings had 13 balls originally and lasted 50 years. The CIH replacement in the '90s had 11. They last 10-15 years. Seems like more is better.

As a bit of background: This is a working tractor. It has a chipped tooth on 3rd gear on the countershaft in the transmission. In my mind not replacing the bearings in the transmission is a false economy. Using incorrect or cheapo bearings would be downright foolish. Since I'm going to have the whole thing apart (and there is a little grease leaking out from under the brake cover) I'm going to replace the bull pinion shaft bearings at the same time.

What do you think ?
Thanks
Greg

 

[Janicholson]

Get the bearing number for a deep groove max fill bearing and shop for it. The clearance will not make any difference unless it is so wrong it should not be sold. Jim

 

[D Slater]

Per IH bearing book the number I posted before MRC bearing 209M was a direct fit to the IH bearings. They fell under SKF bearings at some point. If you search the MRC 209 number you can find them still around for several prices and have the 13 balls like most original numbers. Not sure if the SKF numbers that come up are the exact same.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Personally I think you're overthinking it.

Take the bearings to a bearing supply and have them matched up. You may have to make do with whatever you can get, because you might only be able to get 11 balls in a certain size that was originally 13, but as long as you buy the quality bearings it should be good.

 

[pete 23]

Well, first off, it is a rare H or M that has not had the bull pinion hearings replaced if the tractor ever did any real work. I replaced a lot of failed or plum wore out bearings in those tractors the very first few years I worked at a dealer and that was in late fifties.

Most of them were L numbered bearings . I kept a chart showing how many balls each number contained so I was sure to recover all the pieces.

IH was constantly changing bearing numbers and capacity of the bearings . Always used the latest and greatest when replacing them. Still had some fail. They just wear out period.

I own two H's dad bought new. The 52 model did more of the heavy work and wore out more bearings and gears than the 45 did. Had them both stripped to last bolt when I went through them a few years ago. You could tell easily which one plowed and which one was daily loader tractor. Totally different areas of wear.

You can find charts that show bearing capacity ratings and what all the prefix and suffix markings mean.

 

[riverbend]

All good advice. I'm reluctant to pull the H apart until I have all the parts in hand. The 350 has its place but is really a back up for the H. It is a good tractor but doesn't have 30 years of attention to adapt it to our farm. The dead alternator last weekend put off plans for field work and planting. If it was a problem that couldn't be easily resolved, I would have used the H in 2 or 4th gear. Right now is a very busy time.

Poking around places like Motion Industries website seems to generate more questions.
Thanks
Greg