Super C clutch pilot bearing

[Roger46]

I have a Super C that I completely restored several years ago. It only has a few hours on it since I only drive it in tractor shows and parades. At that time I put in a new pilot bearing and a rebuilt clutch. Anyway, I have been noticing a rattling when I push in the clutch and also get a vibration when I let the clutch out. Today I split the tractor to see what was going on since I could reach up in the bell housing and move the transmission shaft up and down. The pilot bearing is warn out on one side. There were some shavings from the bearing inside the clutch. I can't figure out what would cause that after such few hours. The end of the shaft that went into the pilot bearing had some rough spots on it, but couldn't see how that could cause so much wear. I polished the shaft, so that should be fixed. Then I thought maybe the shaft was rubbing on the end of the crankshaft internally. I measured the clearance and it appears that there is over 1/4" clearance from the transmission shaft end to the crankshaft bore. Just as a preventative measure I ground a little off the end of the transmission shaft.

Anyone have an idea why this might have happened? Thanks, Roger

 

[caterpillar guy]

Setting causes as much problems as running them.The bearing probably set up or got dry from lack of use no grease running around the balls.

 

[Janicholson]

I have a Super C that I completely restored several years ago. It only has a few hours on it since I only drive it in tractor shows and parades. At that time I put in a new pilot bearing and a rebuilt clutch. Anyway, I have been noticing a rattling when I push in the clutch and also get a vibration when I let the clutch out. Today I split the tractor to see what was going on since I could reach up in the bell housing and move the transmission shaft up and down. The pilot bearing is warn out on one side. There were some shavings from the bearing inside the clutch. I can't figure out what would cause that after such few hours. The end of the shaft that went into the pilot bearing had some rough spots on it, but couldn't see how that could cause so much wear. I polished the shaft, so that should be fixed. Then I thought maybe the shaft was rubbing on the end of the crankshaft internally. I measured the clearance and it appears that there is over 1/4" clearance from the transmission shaft end to the crankshaft bore. Just as a preventative measure I ground a little off the end of the transmission shaft.

Anyone have an idea why this might have happened? Thanks, Roger

The space behind the bearing should be part way filled with grease. A new bushing could be placed in a tin cup and heated in grease to assure it is saturated. (be careful, no flames). The snout could be checked for roundness/cylindricity to assure it is not making things worse. Jim

 

[Jim Becker]

The original bearing was an oilite bushing. If you used a plain bushing there would have been no lubrication beyond whatever you added at assembly. Did you squirt oil or something into the hole in the crankshaft at assembly time?

By the way, parades are rough duty for clutches. You probably have your foot on the clutch longer during one parade than you might in a whole summer of regular use.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

I don’t get the part of being worn out “on one side”. A picture or two of this predicament might explain a lot.
Based on what you have stated so far, it sounds like you may have had the clutch disc out of alignment , and forced it together with the bolts, literally broaching a slot in the bushing with the end of the shaft. There may have been some evidence of this on the end of the shaft, but you ground it off.
I can’t think of any deficiency ( bent shaft, rough spigot, bushing too tight) that would generate chips large enough to be seen all these many years later.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

I have a Super C that I completely restored several years ago. It only has a few hours on it since I only drive it in tractor shows and parades. At that time I put in a new pilot bearing and a rebuilt clutch. Anyway, I have been noticing a rattling when I push in the clutch and also get a vibration when I let the clutch out. Today I split the tractor to see what was going on since I could reach up in the bell housing and move the transmission shaft up and down. The pilot bearing is warn out on one side. There were some shavings from the bearing inside the clutch. I can't figure out what would cause that after such few hours. The end of the shaft that went into the pilot bearing had some rough spots on it, but couldn't see how that could cause so much wear. I polished the shaft, so that should be fixed. Then I thought maybe the shaft was rubbing on the end of the crankshaft internally. I measured the clearance and it appears that there is over 1/4" clearance from the transmission shaft end to the crankshaft bore. Just as a preventative measure I ground a little off the end of the transmission shaft.

Anyone have an idea why this might have happened? Thanks, Roger

Check your transmission input shaft for runout. I've seen that on a Cub before. Everybody I asked told me it was fine, but it wasn't fine. Cost me $150 for a new transmission input shaft.

 

[JimB2]

Back in the early 1950s my Dad had a SC with a loader on it and he was the only farmer in the area with a loader at the time and he did a lot o loader work for other farmers and even loading gravel for the Township and he would have to replace the pilot bearing about once a year.
Dad also thought that with the loader, it was causing the torque tube to flex and the end of the transmission shaft would wallow out the pilot bearing. So check the alignment of the transmission shaft to pilot bearing.

 

[Roger46]

I think I found out why the pilot bearing went bad. There were probably two reasons. First, one of the clutch fingers was almost 1/4 inch higher than the other 2 fingers. Secondly, I must have failed to lubricate it before I put it back in as it was completely dry.

An issue I had on reassembly was that the pilot bearing I got from Steiner fit the shaft fine when I tried it before installing in the crankshaft, but after installing it as a fairly tight fit, the drive shaft was tight on the bearing and wouldn't allow the drive shaft to turn freely. So I had to hone the inside of the bearing to make it fit properly. Needly to say I had to split and unsplit the tractor several times.

It is all back together now and it seems to run smoothly.