After cleaning my air filter yesterday morning (really heavy with dirt) I noticed the ejection cup was full and spilling out debris this AM during morning fluid checks. Normally, even in very dusty conditions, the precleaner does a pretty good job of ejecting dirt before it gets to the filter housing. I can usually run at least 3 days in heavy dust before servicing the filter again. There is usually only a trace of debris in the ejection cup rather than the half a soda can that was in there this morning after yesterday's partial work day (due to a break down). A quick check at the base of the Turbo III precleaner was without the customary 3 ejection puddles of dirt piled up on the engine hood. I knew it had stopped working from that lack of ejected dirt. I removed the precleaner for disassembly. I pulled the 8 clips to separate the 3 main components. When I checked the rotor, it was not rotating freely. A bearing was getting siezed. I looked over the assembly to see how to break down the bearing section but it was not immediately obvious so I looked for info on the internet. No parts break down, no disassembly videos, nothing other than sales literature. So, I called the company that sells these things for more repair information. Now this is what really chaps my arse about this company. The lady that answered the phone told me, "There are no servicable parts. Throw it away and buy a new one. These are limited service life and not designed to be rebuilt." Ha! Challenge accepted. BMA! I will be damned if a $500 part can't be rebuilt unless I run it through the cutterhead like I did with the first one and I'm not about to shell out another $500 because a bearing went bad. The instructions to rebuild this unit are as follows: 1) Pull the 8 metal clips from the outside circumference to break apart the 3 main sections - screen, rotator, inlet base 2) Pull the plastic plug from the center of the rotator/ejector. 3) Use an SAE Allen wrench to unscrew the rotator from the rotator base. 4) Use the long Allen bolt forced at and angle to drive out the base bearing, the spacer and then drive out the other bearing. 5) 2 new sealed bearings were less than $14 total at my local bearing shop. 6) Re-assemble in the reverse order. At the price of those bearings, I purchased an extra set to bounce around in my service truck in case this ever happens again. Problem fixed and precleaner is working as it should, preventing heavier dust/dirt from making it to the air filter. I guess what pisses me off the most is that the manufacturer won't support the item and wants you to shell out major cash for a new unit. This is not my idea of quality customer service. People gripe about going Green - how about rebuilding rather than trashing everything?
yes on recycling as long as it is cost effective, as far as electrical like starters and such in most cases it's cheaper to buy new.
Those track pads look like channel iron. It is really stupid to have to buy a complete new precleaner just because a bearing went out. Years ago the bearing in the generator on my tractor seized up. It was designed to be oiled by taking a rubber plug out of the end of the generator. It was super simple to take apart and a standard size bearing so I just replaced it with a sealed bearing. I had to put a little silicone on the rubber plug because the lip that held it in was worn off. It's been about been about 40 years and no issues. I'm sure a shop would have charged an hour labour for a 10 minute repair.
??? Just a Deere 450 size set of rails with 24" pads on this set. I also have a set with 30" pads for swamp work.
excellent. Now make it into a U-toob video for more exposure.
I think it's just the way the pic. was taken that the middle pad looks like channel iron. Looking closer I can see the top pad has the lip that goes under the pad.