Wheels done and installed on IH #9 mower

The wheels are currently installed on the mower.  Very exciting.  And I only made one mistake that may cost me to have to buy a new hub.  :S  Yikes!  I hate those kind of mistakes.  But ... before we get to any of that, here's the picture I took this morning:

Here she is!  So nice to see this mower with wheels holding it up instead of jack stands. 

I've said before that I sanded down the wheels and painted them.  I didn't paint the inside of the hubs, I just left them as is.

Once the paint was dried, I noticed that there were some holes in the shaft section of the wheels.  I figure these had to be for grease zerts.  I bought some grease zerts that you screw in, and noticed right away that you can't just screw a bolt into cast iron.  Those threads just spin and don't dig in and bite into it.  I was lucky and happened to have a tap the size of the zerts I got.  This also happened to be the same size as the hole in the first wheel.  I tapped it, and the zert screwed in no problem.  This was easy.  1 wheel down.

The first wheel after installation with a single grease zert.

The second wheel caused me a bit of a headache.  There were actually 2 holes.  It looked like the hole for the grease zert had been widened a bit.  I couldn't find a way to seat the zert in the original hole.  So, I drilled a new one.  This is where I learned that when you are going to tap something, you need to drill a hole SMALLER than the bolt size.  Yikes!  Now this wheel had 3 holes in it, and I couldn't use any of them.  No problem ... just drill another one.  This one tapped fine and a zert was installed.  Now, what to do with those open holes?  I knew if I leaved them, that rain could get down to my axle, as well as when I greased it up, grease would just shoot out of the holes.  I decided to use my good friend JB Weld.  :)  I used my long fingers to set masking tape on the inside of the axle hole on the wheel.  I then mixed the JB Weld and as I squoze it into those holes, I kept my finger in the axle shaft pressing up so that the JB weld did not push down at all into the axle shaft.  Once I was done spreading the JB Weld, I shoved a wad of newspaper down the axle shaft to make sure nothing happened while it dried.  I let this cure for 2 days and figured it was good enough to try.

The second wheel.  You can see the JB Weld sealing the 3 other holes.  This worked very well.

Last night, armed with my wheels, hubs, and grease, I decided it was time to install the wheels.  The wheels went on super easy.  I greased up the axle, and applied grease to the inside of the wheel and they both slid on with no effort.  The hubs slide on easy too.  I installed the left hub very easily.  You just press the tines in as you press the hub on and then thump a few more times with a rubber mallet till the axle pin holes line up and you're set.  Pound in that axle pin, and then drive in the key pin and  you're done.  Easy!

As I went to get the right hub, I realized that the hubs mattered what side they went on.  The hubs are designed to engage the axle when pulling forward, but when rolling backward, those tines just click on the wheel so the axle doesn't engage.  If you install them backwards, they mower would work the opposite, however, I believe the way the key pin and axle pin line up, you can't install them backwards.

All went well on the second wheel and then I pounded in the key pin.  THEN I MADE A MISTAKE!  :(  I pounded the key pin in one too many times.  As the hammer hit it, I heard a noise, and the cast iron hub had cracked.  :(  It's just a hairline crack, and the hub is still in place on the axle, but I have no idea if it's going to stay on.  This did not excite me.  Ugh!  So ... if you are doing this, DO NOT POUND THOSE KEY PINS IN TOO HARD!  I'm just going to continue using it till it breaks.  Macknair doesn't have a left hub at the time, but when he gets one in, it will be a 60 dollar part.

It's so nice to see this thing with the wheels on it.  I've been looking at a rust colored machine on jackstands for far too long.  It's awesome to see a shiny red mower with new white wheels and blue hubs.  Things are coming along nicely!

Up next I order a new gag lever hinge, and then I prep the sickle blade.  Getting exciting!!

UPDATE:  OK, so apparently I wasn't supposed to put grease zerts on the axles.  The holes there are supposed to be used twice a year to apply oil (assuming 90w gear oil).  In my mind, I saw some other grease zerts and thought the holes on the wheel had to be zert holes.  Wrong.  This answer came up because I noticed that the yoke and lift mechanism had holes in them.  I thought they were for some kind of zert, and asked the guys at Macknair if they had them.  That was when I was informed that those holes were meant to be open, and that twice a year you should oil the parts through there.  He was surprised I got a zert on the wheels.  Whoops.  I'm thinking I should be OK.  I'll post if the grease has any kind of bad effect on things.


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