Idle wheel play, 2005 LT70

[woodmills1]

It wiggles, should I replace the bearing?

[terrifictimbersllc]

Does it wiggle when the band is fully tensioned?   It wiggles like crazy if no band on it, that doesnt count.  I don't know how one can detect wiggle if the band is tensioned.  You have a good question though.  Maybe a dial gauge positioned on the edge of the band wheel spun by hand under tension could tell if there is wobble. 

If when spinning the wheel by hand or take the wheel off and spin it, it feels rough that is a clue. But watch out the roughness is coming from the belt rubbing on the blade housing, that doesn't count. 

[pineywoods]

If you can wiggle the bandwheel more than a few thousands, pull it off and replace BOTH bearings. Yeah, there's probably 2 in there. One bad and the other ok will drive you nuts..

[woodmills1]

Ok, it wiggles with band off but it is not the mechanism it is just the wheel.  I assume you are saying with no tension you get the play in the whole thing.  If i leave the tension set the wheel wiggles maybe 1/16 or a little more.  Not much noise when I spin the idle wheel

[woodmills1]

the play seems to be in the single bearing in the idle wheel itself, not the two bearings that the mechanism is hing on

[Percy]

I have a 2003 LT70 with 11,000 plus hours and have changed the bearings in my idle side band wheel twice....If you aint sure, change them.


 I like spending other peoples money  ;D ;D

[MartyParsons]

Hello,
  One bearing on the idle sided. When they go bad you can hear the bearing balls hit each other when spinning. It will also have a distinct noise, well like a bad bearing.   You can remove the center bolt and remove the seal and smell the grease, if it smells like burnt gear oil or worse time to replace the bearing. You may need a wheel puller to remove the wheel. You can press the bearing out. ( best way) I have hammered them out but if you miss and hit the cast wheel you will be purchasing a new wheel which has the bearing installed. :
Marty

here are some pictures of the drive side bearing removal. Note the bolt in stalled in the shaft. I have damaged the threads before always use a short bolt in the hole to protect the threads.



 

This bearing is bad.



 

[gmmills]

   I change the bearings out if I can feel noticeable play in the wheels. If you do decide to change out the bearing you need to source a quality bearing. If you happen to have a local bearing supplier have them source an SKF 3309 A-2RS1/C3 bearing. Very high quality bearing and the ones I have purchased were made in USA. Ironically, they used to be supplied by WM as OEM. Not any longer.  Do yourself a big favor and don't replace the bearing with Chinese Peer brand. In this application a high quality bearing is a must considering the down time and labor for replacement.

[Sawmill Man]

I have just had to replace the idle side bearing in mw WM super lt 40hd. Ordered new from WM and was disappointed to see the brand was peer bearings as I had heard that they were almost worthless and now I have one in a very critical place on my mill. I hope it last but I feel I should stock a replacement immediately. Also noticed all my new guide rollers had peer bearings.

[MartyParsons]

Hello ,
I have not seen failures of the bearings to be abnormal. I am not found of bearings made other than USA. WM is a global company. To get any company to change a part I would need to prove a high failure rate. In this application I have not seen any difference. 
Marty