ATV Pulled Brush Cutter Build

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gun410

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Hello, recently I started on my rough cut mower. It started when I saw a homemade cutter on YouTube. Last week I designed my own mower, and today I picked up a 4’x4’ sheet, 1”x2” channel and rectangle for the build. I got a Briggs Intek engine, an pto mower clutch, a 1 inch 4140 spindle(threaded & key notched) and a 13.75” pulley for the drive system. I designed my drive system similar to the mower below, but for the spindle he used 2 cheap flange bearings. With a mower that cuts small trees it needs to be heavy duty.

Additionally, he only used the 4 bearing set screws to lock on to the spindle. It seems like even with locktite it would work it’s way out over time. I’m thinking of getting some timken flange bearings and notching the spindle for the set screws to hold better. But there’s still the question of how well could the bearings could hold up to the lateral cutting forces. I could put a bronze pushing in the space between the flanges but I don’t know if it would help much.

However, I would rather save the $130 on timken flanges and use the trailer hub bellow. I could probably machine a spindle out of 17-4 but my lathe has a some twist so I’m not sure if it would work out.


Trailer hub: https://m.northerntool.com/shop/too...MImNDP_8_46gIVg4bACh1XYwrWEAQYAiABEgI2jfD_BwE

Clay’s Brush Cutter:



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In my work on farm equipment the set screw locks on bearings have a high rate of failure. I will only use bearings with the locking ring style. In light duty use the set screw will work,but a mower like your building will see hard use. I would spend the little extra and put in the better bearings. Your time is worth the small amount of extra expence.
 
Nutfarmer said:
In my work on farm equipment the set screw locks on bearings have a high rate of failure. I will only use bearings with the locking ring style. In light duty use the set screw will work,but a mower like your building will see hard use. I would spend the little extra and put in the better bearings. Your time is worth the small amount of extra expence.
Click to expand...

The timken bearings have set screws too, I’ve never seen a flange bearing with a clamp lock. Are you thinking of a shaft collar lock?
 
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Just spot drill the shaft under the set screw and use a pointed tip set screw, it wont move.......
 
I’ve been looking at various flange bearings, and I found timken’s V-Series flanges for a good deal on amazon. The V Series has a self locking collar, but it only has 1 set screw. Their design is “claiming” to tighten with use but With only 1 set screw per flange bearings it would seem a bit sketchy. I feel like I might be better off drilling spots for the set screws but these might be a better option.

Has anyone used Timkens V series bearings before?
https://www.timken.com/products/timken-engineered-bearings/housed-units/v-series/

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What's the reason for the grease zerk? Is the bearing open on the back?
 
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We have had good results using that exact bearing style. The eccentric locking collars lock the shaft way better than set screws. You have to be careful not to over grease the bearings or it will blow out the seals and the bearing will fail in short order. I have had to remove the zerks on some bearings and replace them with plugs because some operators would grease the bearings until they could see grease coming out of the bearing. Once that happens the seals are gone and the bearing shortly fails.
 
Have you thought about using spindles from an older garden tractor ? My Power King used 3/4 or 1" shafts with taper roller bearings to and bottom with grease seals at each end . I'm sure some older tractors might have similar .
 
I used those flange bearings with eccentric collars on an ATV I built years ago. Not a single problem and my sons beat the hell out of that thing.
 
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