RCK60B-22BX Gearbox oil seals

[Brycheiniog]

Hi All,

Tractor has done 1150 hours of which the last 150 were by me and I don't know its history before that. Having had one of the spindle bearings collapse on my deck, I figured I would replace all of them.

Whilst the gear is off the deck I noticed a build up of gunge on the gearbox casing behind the main pulley & I think the main seal is weeping a tiny amount or oil. Is this normal or should it be bone dry? If it is loosing oil it is a tiny amount as there still seems to be plenty in the gearbox.

I guess what I am asking is do I need to strip the box down and replace the seals? If so what parts are worth replacing in addition to the seals?

Thanks

Jonathan

 

[RCW]

Jonathon -

Just serviced my mower deck Saturday. My RCK54-23BX mower is probably at-least similar to yours.

It has some thick crud stuck to it around the spindles all the time, especially the center spindle/gearbox location.

Like you, mine is never low on oil, and it wasn't when I drained it.

I attribute it to surplus grease that gets slung around. I have never noticed anything oil-like outside of the gear box...pretty thick and sticky stuff.....

I would rather extra grease, than not enough!!

 

[Delmar]

Like RCW said, the excess grease from regular greasing can build up and make a mess. However, if you've already got the deck off and partially disassembled, I'd strongly encourage you to go ahead and change the two oil seals. At 1,000+ hours, it's not overkill at all. Both seals are probably less than $25 (Messicks is a good source and will help over the phone if you don't know part numbers). Literally a 10-minute job.

By the way, it's usually the bottom seal that goes bad, of course the one you can't really see.

Good luck!

 

[Brycheiniog]

It probably makes sense to replace. Two questions:
How does the pulley come off the shaft?
What is the best way to get the old seals out?

Thanks!

 

[Delmar]

Use a three arm puller to get the pulley off. (Tip: put the blade bolt back in the end of the shaft to protect your threads when using the puller) Use a small screwdriver or pick to remove the old seal. I use a small screwdriver - hammer it in, pry up a little. Move sides and repeat until it pops out. Really nothing to it.

Good, cheap way to avoid a $1k+ repair later.

 

[Brycheiniog]

After lots of heat and pulling, the pulley is off and seal replaced. What is the best way to press the pulley back on? I am concerned about damaging the pinion gears if I try and drift it o..

 

[whitetiger]

Take the top seal plug out of the gearbox, remove the snap ring right above the lower gear and remove the shaft. Now you can press the pulley back onto the output shaft with no danger of damaging your gearbox. The output shaft slides in and out of gearbox freely, much simpler than pulling the pully off.

 

[jsbarker]

Hey White Tiger,

If you need to take the output shaft out, to put the pulley on, can you just leave the pulley on to begin with, take the shaft out (with pulley), replace the seal and then put the shaft back? I'm getting ready to do mine for the first time which is the reason I'm asking? Thanks