Bearings

[Stefan Palokangas]

Most machines tend to use two bolt cast iron 'pillow' block bearings. They are easy to change and usually locate on the shaft with two allen type grub screws. Unless they are corroded, they should slide off relatively easy. The makers recommended ones are always expensive as importers and retailers all add their costs on. Best thing to do is find the equivalent high quality bearing and fit it yourself! RHP do some very good ones which will match your current ones. They also do belts! Just get the code from your ones and find an alternative! For instance, all 'V' belts have a code such as A64 in the part number. That means it is an 'A' profile with a 64 inch internal diameter.

You should find pretty much any bearing or belt you need here at a vastly reduced cost!

Buy 2 bolt cast iron pillow block housings online

Shame you are so far away or I could come and help. Then again, it isn't or we would be in competition!

Regards

SG

I don't really see how anyone can really make a living from doing stumps if they can't fully maintain and repair their own machines as they require constant TLC due to the harsh life they lead. A new machine will last a good while, but will eventually self-destruct even if maintained properly. The cost of a new machine is a lot to recuperate, so you can't just keep buying new ones! Effective maintenance and repair is the only way to make them cost effective.

A £30,000 machine that has done only 530 hours has already cost you £56.60/Hour in purchase alone without running costs, fuel or profit! That's a lot of money to make back!

Breakdowns that you can't repair yourself cost a fortune in parts/labour and lost work.

I try and carry enough spares and tools so that I can fix a machine myself on site. I've only twice failed to complete a job where I couldn't fix the machine on site.

 

 

Thank you very much for that link , searched for it before could not find any.

9 pounds versus 40 or so that I paid.

 

Thanks [emoji120]

 

 

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[Stefan Palokangas]

Or not 34 pounds for the correct inside diameter, still cheaper tho

 

 

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[Ty Korrigan]

530 hours

 

 

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That was good, ours was at the lower end of normal hours/wear.

I had bought in a belt but decided to have the machine converted to metric bearings which are a saving over the imported imperial sizes.

Ty

[Ty Korrigan]

I would work out the machine costings like this.

Purchase price 30'000 depreciated over 5 years = 6000 per year.

Say machine 2 years old £6000/265hrs = £23 depreciation per hour.

Bearings and belts every 500hrs =

Other damage/wear =

Fuel per hour =

Average tooth wear per hour =

Time per hour non-grinding/travel/maintenance =

Associated costs such as vehicule/publicity/insurance =

 

Resale value after 5 years =

 

Ty

[Ty Korrigan]

I also found that a big ball ache of doing the work ourselves was the use of toothed belt rather than V belts which are simpler to set up and far less expensive.

Toothed belt took alot of time to aligne correctly to run in the middle of the pulleys.

A slight shift to one side and a tendance to rub on a pulley edge meant a shorter life span.

We swapped the 4012s purge bearings for sealed units as the bearings tended to purge grease into the toothed belt housing.

Ty

[Stefan Palokangas]

I would work out the machine costings like this.

 

Purchase price 30'000 depreciated over 5 years = 6000 per year.

 

Say machine 2 years old £6000/265hrs = £23 depreciation per hour.

 

Bearings and belts every 500hrs =

 

Other damage/wear =

 

Fuel per hour =

 

Average tooth wear per hour =

 

Time per hour non-grinding/travel/maintenance =

 

Associated costs such as vehicule/publicity/insurance =

 

 

 

Resale value after 5 years =

 

 

 

Ty

 

 

Indeed a good way to break down real cost. Sensible and realistic

 

 

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[Stefan Palokangas]

 

 

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[Stefan Palokangas]

Thanks for such a positive reply Korrigan. That kind of breakdown is how I price the jobs. Otherwise can't afford upgrades

 

 

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[Stefan Palokangas]

Bearings arrived, time to prepare and change it all tomorrow night.

 

 

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