2004 LT 1018 steering hex flange bearing

[sjperez]

New member at OCC and searched the forum to see if anyone had experienced this issue. It appears no one has encountered this issue when changing the hex flange bearing on their lawn tractor. The bearing on my mower seems to be welded in place from the top. I have chiseled it and used a pneumatic impact hammer with a pointed tip on it and it will not come off cleanly. How to videos on You Tube show that just tapping on the bearing from underneath should dislodge it from the frame. If I continue to chisel away at the bearing it will undoubtedly leave parts of it where it's attached to the top of the frame. Picture 2 is my bearing Picture 1 is a screen grab of a You Tube video where the person just used a pin punch by hand and tapped the bearing out of the frame. Any suggestions?

[ironman]

On all the ones I have ever worked on, the only thing that keeps the hex flange bearing from riding up the steering shaft is a lip
on the shaft that holds the bearing down in the hex hole when the shaft is completely down.
If you have pulled the shaft up and out of the way, the bearing should pop right up and out. I have never seen any stuck like yours.

[sjperez]

Originally Posted by ironman

On all the ones I have ever worked on, the only thing that keeps the hex flange bearing from riding up the steering shaft is a lip
on the shaft that holds the bearing down in the hex hole when the shaft is completely down.
If you have pulled the shaft up and out of the way, the bearing should pop right up and out. I have never seen any stuck like yours.

Thanks for your response, It seems the Cub Cadet folks ran out of the hex flange bearings and welded a 5/8 washer in three spots on the top instead. I wasn't able to remove one of the welds and disassembly to repair an old mower like this is not an option for me even though it has served me well. My drive shaft is straight with no lips and I've come up with a fix using a 3/4 inch PVC coupling along with (2) 3/4 inch by 1/2 inch bushings and a piece of 1/2 inch pipe that I had to file a bit of the inside to accommodate the shaft diameter. I tapered the coupling with my bench grinder allowing it to fit the hole on the plate above however I will need to make the hole a bit of an oval since the shaft comes in at an angle. In the pics are the possible solution and the pieces of washer (hex flange bearing) I was able to remove.

[Esteban]

Hmm. Maybe a previous owner did those " modifications ??"

[sjperez]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Hmm. Maybe a previous owner did those " modifications ??"

No, it was definitely Cub Cadet. The steering shaft is completely straight with no rim on the shaft to keep the flange bearing from moving up. The new steering repair is better and smoother than when new.