Quote:
Originally Posted by CADplans
There is a general consensus among garden tractor aficionados that adding weight to the tractor frame will have a negative effect on the bearing close to the weight.
This belief is a carry over from the big guy tractors where they can haul a ton or more of weight per wheel at times.
I feel this is a misunderstanding of what is going on with the tractor in relation to gravity.
Look at your tractor axle bearings.
Tiny little ball bearings up front where the snow blower is.
WIDE roller bearings for the rear axle.
The tractor was designed to carry most of the load at the rear!!
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IIRC, the life of a rolling element bearing is inversely proportional to the square of the radial load on it, i.e. doubling the load decreases the life by a factor of 4. Big tractor or small tractor, the lives of the bearings can be shortened with too much weight.
I would much rather wear out and replace front bearings from too much front weight than rear ones, as 1) it is pretty easy to tell when the front wheel bearings are bad, and they are easy to replace, and 2) you will have a lot harder time telling when the rear axle bearings are bad, and if they get bad enough, the axle will be damaged since it is the bearing surface. That will turn into a more expensive and time consuming repair in the long run than replacing the front wheel bearings a bit more frequently. These machines should have been designed from the outset for the weight of a front-mounted attachment. I doubt they were designed for the amount of weight I have seen some people put on the rear of the tractor.
Not to mention that all of the early gear drive tractors, possibly into the 1x4/5 series, have bronze plain bearings instead of roller bearings for the rear axle, so you'd really want to be careful with excess weight there.