Babbit bearing

[1949DC]

Leather mains I’ve heard of. We had late 1940 case tractors that had Babbit mains. Around 1960 the mains were sent out to be replaced but the line boring was not done correctly. The bearings required hand scraping for the crank to rotate. Do you repair main bearings on a DC Case tractor? I might have a restoration project if you live close.

[Bill Shields]

No...bearings were large industrial application where we could not get replacements and had to work with repouring into the old shells. IIRC the shafts were on the order of 125mm diameter and the shaft was very inconvenient to remove so we made an undersize mandrel and finish bored the bearing to size after we bolted the halves together.

We also drilled lube holes and cut oil grooves into the finished bearings.

Learned a lot about the process

[1949DC]

The bearing is done. I smoked the mandrel plenty good but it was very difficult to remove. I used 3/4” all thread to pull it free. I’m very pleased with results, .0005” clearance. I could have gone more but the spindle shaft runs a tad bit loose giving the only run out I have now. Should work so much better drilling 1” and up.

[NP317]

Pleased to read of your success.
RussN