Groomers are in

 Yes they are here, now to get the reels ready for install . You will have to check the bearings and end play , adjust / replace as needed . Might be a good time to use the pi tape and see where you are at for wear on the reels . If they are near the wear limit , new reels should be installed .Might as well do it all in one shot it's a little bit of work .

The above pic is the bearing I'm going to try . My bearing supplier found this one for a match .
 I have 2 reels which feel bad just by hand spinning . This totals 4 reels now on this machine in under 1200 hrs.  .

When I removed the reel  bearings they were well packed in grease .There was no end play in the reel and were never adjusted from new . There might be an outside chance that the operator may have hit this area to hard with high pressure irrigation water forcing debris into thee bearing  . We have the same operator on the same machines 90 % of the time . The other machine has no issues and has more hrs. on it. Every year something like this happens and it's up to the tech to figure out what went wrong and where the changes need to be made .This spring I'll remind the operators not to hold the high pressure in the bearing of the  reels .

 

There was enough time to install new bearings and get the new groomer on one reel frame and started  doing the spin grind today . Nice groomers....easy install and can't wait for spring to get both units out on the course . I noticed a difference last season with just the one machine running them . As a golf course tech it should be part of your job to go check your work on the course . The grass will show you how your doing plus it doesn't hurt to have good operators running the gear .

Groomers ... front roller scrappers ...and brush kits ....what an awesome combination . Plus with the groomers the scrappers are on the top side and clean up really easy on the wash rack .

 Here is one of the bad  bearing cleaned up . Notice it's only one row of the ball bearings that are rough looking . It is also the row closest to the seal . Water must have been getting past the seal. Either way we are going to have to keep an eye on them and grease them enough to purge the water out . The swepco doesn't mix with water so I'll try greasing it till I see water drips .

One set completely done , another one on the grinder and working on putting the groomers on the rest . Also have one more bearing replacement on Left rear reel and installing new  bedknifes to grind .  . At least the bearings can easily be changed out .

New HD bedknife and relief /  spin grind . Whisper quite contact and cuts newsprint with no effort .