now you know this is that string trimmer that I have really been happy I bought
it's it's actually been you know worth probably two or three times the price I
pay for it I've used it that much but it does have a weak link and that is the
bearing up under here there's a shaft that goes down through this and there's
a bearing under here that is a very cheap bearing and the grease seal came
off of it so so it's totally exposed to moisture and grass and dirt and I knew I
would have to replace it it just wasn't convenient at the time
and now it is so I want to take this apart and pull that bearing and there
might even be two bearings in there if there is of course I'll replace them
both but uh I also found out something else may I raise this up oh yeah I
stained I stained and polyurethane my workbench I'm trying to get rid of that
Donald Trump stain you know because it's orange and just use it up on stuff I
don't care about well you're supposed to be able to raise this up and down by
pressing this in and then you raise it up and it gives you access to replace
these strings well when this gets packed full of grass like it is now you can't
raise this up so what I have learned if you're cutting really tall stuff to move
this up into its highest setting so this covers this so long so this part covers
that and the grass can't get wrapped around it the man when you get it cut
down to a you know normal height then you lower this all the way down and then
you cut it even lower but I didn't do that so I gotta take this apart I got
take it apart anyway one bolt it all comes apart and the thing that holds the
bearing in is a snap ring up here and let's say I got
one screw here that needs to come out these are I guess underneath that
plastic shroud I do believe that I have a tensioner pulley there that I'll need
to loosen up take the belt off so let me let me get an apartment we got here okay
that come off one bolt and then there's a little plastic tab that steps sticks
down in there I had to get a screwdriver under it and pop it up and then one two
three on each side
the one back there is a 5/16 and this is I think it's a 38 it is it's 3/8 up here
and what I the belt comes right off I can't let this go so I'm gonna lift this
up and set it down on the ground because I won't be needing it for a while all
right now here's the bearing that I know I need to replace this is the one where
the grease seal came completely off and actually there is a little bit of grease
in there but it would not be long that would be nothing but rust and the thing
is without a grease seal in it you can't keep the grease in there you can't keep
the dirt out and can't get the water out so this little split ring right here
there's a hole here and a hole here
see how it comes out a little bit but I have some split ring pliers that will
fit in these holes and I'll be able to pull that ring off now I'm hoping this
whole shaft will drop down through because on this side there's got to be
another bearing somewhere and it would be kind of cool if this split ring held
the shaft in that way it would be making just a little easier for me to get to
that other bearing so I'm hoping there's a second bearing on the other end of the
shaft but this is the thing that rides on the ground here and I'll tell you
what this adapter good bearing that's got a good bearing in it which is uh
good to know I'll tell you what I'm thinking about this I watched a video of
a guy his name is a Vee and he takes equipment apart to see the weak links
and the the hidden built-in flaws and I believe that most equipment you buy
nowadays does have a built-in weak link and they do it on purpose and these
bearings are not something you would likely ever get a look at under normal
circumstances so they put these cheap little bearings in there with the really
faulty grease covers grease seals in the hopes that this will go out and you'll
just pitch that because to have somebody replace this it would cost you nearly as
much as a new machine would cost and you know I have I'm a suspicious sort and I
believe greed makes these companies do nefarious things like this like build a
nice piece of equipment looks good on the outside
cranks easy works great and then put these cheap Chinese crap bearings in
here that will fail faster than anything else on this machine will fail anyway
that's just my little not a rant but it's just what I've come to realize that
for every good piece of equipment there is definitely a weak link somewhere and
you can find that a weak link before it fails and fix it you know you can make
these things last forever anyway that guy a ve took away a Festool took apart
a Festool circular saw plunge cut saw and it was you know well built on the
inside except for one thing a very important bearing instead of a puttin of
bearing there they put a brass bushing which in my opinion is just designed for
something that's built to last a lifetime they design that one little
flaw in it that they know won't last the life of the entire tool so that one
brass bushing instead of being a baron would make the whole tool fail anyway
let me get this apart a little more to show you what I got okay got it out
they are 60 203 Z and I just happen to have a 60 203 Z here's what I'm gonna do
these are not terribly bad batteries and and if you can keep them greased they'll
actually be pretty good batted any batteries bearings they're Chinese kg is
Chinese but if you keep on grease there's nothing wrong with them so I'm
gonna take the grease seal off the inner face of each I'm going to go ahead and
replace that because it's got the rust on it so I've got another one and I'm
gonna take the grease seal which let me say what that is that is this here this
metal ring here will come off which is just what happened to this so actually
they're all going to look like this they'll have a grease seal on the
outward facing end no grease seal on the inward facing end and I'm going to drill
a half inch maybe 5/8 hole on the front here and then in here let me get my
pointer right here it's above this bearing and below that
the bearing on the other end so the grease fitting will be right between the
two bearings and when I pump it full of grease it'll keep them and keep the
water out and the grease in the bearings so that's what I'm going to do I think I
have just defeated the built-in design flaw hi let me get to work okay I got my
outer hole drilled hello now I have a quarter inch coarse thread grease
fitting a thirteen sixty fourths drill bit quarter-inch
coarse thread tap I'm fixing it drill through that inner housing thread it and
put my grease fitting in there I'll show you the grease pit and when I got it in
I had to do a little the Yankee engineering to get my tap in there you
know I couldn't get my t-handle wrench in there so I added a socket and an
extension in the network and then I had to pack a little piece of wood in there
so my grease fitting wouldn't fall down inside the socket but uh it's in there
now I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to make this hole bigger I don't fit I
don't think my grease gun will fit in there I'm gonna go get my grease gun and
measure the nozzle be right back all right
yeah I went out and measured and it's a 9/16 that was a half-inch hole so I
drilled it out to 5/8 which would be plenty big now I'm gonna remove the
grease seals from my bearings you know one on each side work it it will face
inside well face the grease is what it'll do the one without the grease
shield and pack it full of grease but first I got to sweep up all my drilling
so I don't want my dogs to step in this getting in their feet they're eating out
of here be right back all right new bearings are in snap rings
back on
now I'll get my grease gonna poke some grease in there and reassemble okay
we're back together that would be easy enough to get to and what I was saying
earlier you see the gap between the inner and the outer well if you first
cut with this thing raised up the grass won't get wrapped around it it won't get
in here and then go back and cut it as low as
you want so this is one way around what do they call it planned obsolescence and
you know planned obsolescence is built into a lot of expensive machinery they
they want you to replace the machine or buy expensive factory parts and these
bearings would be an example if you were to order these bearings or take this for
warranty work you know the bangs would cost you 30 bucks and then the labor to
do all this and in fact they're just two three dollar bearing they're a little
cheap bearings which they work if you can keep them greased so anyway planned
obsolescence it's built into a lot of the things we buy and if you can figure
out a way around them you can really prolong the light for some of the
machines you buy my Cub Cadet has got almost $800 on it it's 14th this is its
14th mowing season and it's almost over and they're not designed to last that
long I've you know done a few things I've put grease fittings on the bearing
manuals I've replaced the head gaskets which was the weak link they they failed
often anyway this video not about that it's just about a way around planned
obsolescence which this was it everything else is
works great has plenty of power I wish I had showed you the v-belt there's a
little cheesy but you know if it works it works and it's not hard to get to if
you need to replace it okay thanks for watching y'all Oh before
I forget you know you have a like-minded friend when he brings you an entire bag
of red rags as a gift thanks Duane that'll ask me well