IHC #9 mower

[Russel]

Hi there

I put oil in my mowers gearbox today and its leaking through the wheel joints and the pitman shaft. I read on some other forums that you can actually fill the whole gearbox with GREASE and just some oil and this will solve my problem. Any opinions on this?

Many thanks
Russel Harvey

[mitchmaine]

hi russell. welcome. never tried that trick, but it’s quick and easy and can’t hurt if and when you back up and do a proper job. maybe some hard grease packed in around the seals and bearings and leave the gears to run in the oil bath. isn’t it winter down there? you might have time to pull it apart. we are right into the game here, i’d have to try out your plan till i had time. best luck, mitch

[jrward]

It only takes a couple hours to replace every seal on a #9 and they are all available at your local parts store. I would recommend staying away from anything thicker than 90wt. because it cant travel down the tube to the pitman bearing and that is the part of a mower that needs the most lube.

[Russel]

What do the seals look like?

[jac]

Jeez these number 9s must really be something special. I dont think they were ever exported over here but I believe the number 7 was.. Is there much difference between the two models apart from the cutterbar size.?.. The victorian model I have has no roller bearings or grease zerks, even the gearbox is on a total loss system:eek: oil caps which as you can imagine holds the oil for like 14 seconds and the bronze bushes must drag pretty bad but the two mares seem ok with it… mind you at 4’6″ cut its not too bad to pull I suppose. I take it the seals you ask about are like most wheel bearing seals ?..
John

[mitchmaine]

the pitman seal is pressed into the housing just behind the pitman flywheel. you can measure the shaft showing through the flywheel. i broke a wrist pin a couple years ago and thought i should pull the flywheel, but it turned out easier to pull the shaft. once it was out the seal was no problem. there is a bronze bushing right behind it acting as a bearing but i didn’t fool with it. i think that should be driven out from inside. on a number 9 the wheel shaft bearings have proper grease fittings. nice machine.

[ngcmcn]

the pitman seal is easy and requires the removal of the flywheel with the shaft attached, usually two modern ones of the same I.D. make up for the thickness of the old single ones. the wheel axle seals aren’t hard to replace but require a pretty rugged wheel puller, two or three arm type to get them off. its the easiest way i’ve found to do it. if you get the mower off the ground so you can spin the wheels freely is there a lot of slop in the axle? if so, your journal bearings might be junk and a new seal might work for a while but not long.

good luck

neal
maine………….vt.

[jac]

Russel if youre planning a rebuild it would be an idea to send away for Lynn Millers book.. “The mower book”.. This is starting to sound as if we have shares in Lynns book business but his books really are worth it..
John

[Russel]

I actually want to get all of his books as they look really interesting. Problem is that its expensive to get books from overseas because of the import taxes! 🙁

[mitchmaine]

whoever has the book, can you find out the specific reason the pole wants to be 31″ off the ground? doesn’t seem like an arbitrary number. i saw a diagram in the journal a while back with a drawing and that number but no explanation for it. we have a factory pole in our mower (seems short) and i’ve pulled them in and bucked them back and shortened the pole and quarter straps and couldn’t seem to ever get the pole where it should be. it always worked well, but i sure would like to know the answer to that question. i saw donn h.’s tongue trucks at the fair last fall and thought they would solve that problem quickly. still would like to know why 31″. thanks,

mitch

[jac]

Mitch I seem to recall reading somewhere that Lynn reconed it would take fairly tall horses to get that number, but as for why it was important beats me.. can only imagine its to do with cutterbar tilt angle coz I know on mine if the pole was too low, by the time I had adjusted the tilt lever to bring the fingers level, the pitman was running pretty steep compared to the knife. BTW how long is the factory pole you have?.when i broke my old one i had one at 12’6″ but thought it was too short…..
John

[Russel]

Can the tongue be made out of matchwood poplar or eucalyptus?

[mitchmaine]

my pole is 12’9″ total, and is 9′ from yoke pin to evener bracket. from yoke pin to evener pin is only 8’8″. and i think and am pretty sure its made of yellow pine. ash is the preferred wood up here for blanks. thanks john, i do have to adjust the bar back alot. it seems to like running on the points rather than on its heel tho if your off a bit.

mitch

[Does’ Leap]

I think the 31″ measurement was to insure that the oil was well distributed around the gearbox and the pitman shaft housing.

George

[Russel]

How do you get the small bearing inside the gearbox attached to the pitman shaft off? Does it unscrew? Because I cant see any way of getting it off…

[Author]

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