bearing question

[johnnova]

The bearings in the rear right and left bearing cages on my max2 are shot all of the bearings are falling out so they need to be replaced. The question I have does anyone know if the bearings in the bearing cages use the triple seal or are they just normal bearings. I tried checking out the other bearing cages but its hard to tell what the seals actually are.
Next question would it be ok to run the tracks on the max2 with the rear bearings basically not there. I would rather wait till spring to tear this apart and use it in the snow. I don't have a garage to work on this in only a shed I keep it in so working on it in the cold stinks.

[TalSet]

it would stink more if you go out on tracks with shot bearings and you have to leave your max in the woods till spring due to a major axle failure

[hydromike]

Hi John,

Typically when you replace bearings, you'd like to go for the triple sealed units on the outside of the machine. If you don't see a ton of mud and water, you can get away with getting the regular sealed, much cheaper units but expect to change them a lot sooner. I've had some super scary luck with some budget bearings on a couple machines, and I can't explain why they've held up. It was a bad plan (lazy...) on my part and I fully expected to pull them and replace them within a year, but they've held up well. In the long run, go for the pricier-triple sealed units. You can sometimes get good quality triple sealed Fafnir/Timken/Torrington units on eBay for relatively cheap. I just picked up a set of six triple sealed 1-1/4" Fafnirs for only about $12 each.

Don't run the machine with tracks and bad bearings. I know it sucks having to work on it in poor conditions, but it'll be a good investment in time and money to do it now. Do it before the weather gets crappy up in Salem! You'll have good peace of mind running it all winter long with fresh bearings. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend in New England... get a head start on tearing it apart, and putting it back together will be a cinch.

[johnnova]

Thanks for the reply everyone I really hate to start working on my machine now but I rally want to use the tracks this season. I just ordered 12 triple seal bearings and 6 of the inners, I am still getting over the price shock from buffalo bearings. I went to about 6 or 7 places and not many people carry triple seal bearings or if they did they were 20$+. I also thought of the fact many of the 6x6 people have gone there and when I told them I was buy parts for my 6x6 buffalo knew exactly what I was looking for.
Not sure if I am going to do all the axels now but I will at least do the rear ones, if they come apart easy I may get ambitious if the weather also holds out. Now I need to find some bearing flanges the ones on the cages are a four bolt pattern like the max4 it seemed kind of odd but RI said they did that with some machines with the solid axels. do you guys have a place to buy them from or do most buy the 3 bolt ones and drill them out for the 4 bolt pattern?

[Noel Woods]

I've used the 3 bolt, 4 bolt, for years, and had good luck. Adair Argo also sells a synthetic bearing for about the price of an inexpensive bearing. I'm running two on an Argo Frontier, and two on a Max 2 with tracks. I really think the synthetic bearing is superior (its made of UHMW) and has an oil passage built in. If I needed bearings again, these are what I'd get, this also eliminates having to have locking collars.

[countrycummins99]

should be able to do all 12 bearing in and out in about 1 Saturday

then again if it was me I would use the synthetics bearings from adair on the outside that's what I use and I beat the hell out of my machine

[johnnova]

I will look into the Adair ones next time around since I already ordered them from Buffalo. I think it may take me more than 1 day to do this since I don't have a garage and would be working out of a shed. my max2 is in pretty good shape so I think it should come apart fairly easy but you can never tell with anything that's been outdoors how hard it may be to take apart. I am going to give it a good shot of penetrating oil tonight and spray it down a couple more times before I start hopefully that will save me some troubles.

[Tomo]

hi to all
What is the current price for a triple seal outer bearing [locking collar 72mm ] in the USA ??
Please state the brand also .

tomo

[johnnova]

I just paid 17$ a piece from Buffalo Bearing I did find other places but they didn't have them in stock some were in the low to mid 20$ range and shipping was pretty expensive. I did find that you need to ask for the triple seal since most places that sell bearings do not offer them.

[Tomo]

Hi Johnnova,
Thankyou


ps The bearings from Buffalo brgs are they a brand name Nsk,Ntn etc or Chinese made

cheers Tomo

[Adondo]

I don't have a garage to work on this in only a shed I keep it in so working on it in the cold stinks.

You need one of these:Kerosene Heaters sold here at Woodland Products



You don't even need to be inside, and you'll still be warm! I have one that runs on diesel and I built a little cart with wheels to roll around the workshop. I've worked on stuff outside in snow, and had to keep moving the thing back farther because I was getting too hot!

[countrycummins99]

thats what i have in my garage 165,000 btu will cook you right out of the garage and it multifuel

[johnnova]

Tomo I think they are Peer bearings, many people from this forum have used bearings from there with no complaints.