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Collection, Preservation and Display of Old Lawn Mowers

Removal of stubborn Ransomes Ajax Mk5 cylinder bearings

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I remember reading a while ago that stubborn Ransomes Ajax cylinder bearings could be removed using a pair of lorry tyre levers.  I do not have any of those so I thought of another way.

I purchased 50 M20 Square Taper Washers, being the minimum quantity that I could buy.  They have a 14 degree taper and can be found here https://www.zoro.co.uk/shop/fasteners/square-washers/m20-square-taper-w…

I used a hacksaw to saw into the central hole from the thin end of three of them and used them as packers and wedges to release the bearing assembly from the cylinder shaft.  The process is illustrated below, but please consider it is difficult to hold the first two in place while also holding a camera and photographing the process.

The fear I had of using large tyre levers is that I would need to hold the cylinder vertically to resist the reactive forces from the levers.  My way presents no safety threat as the cylinder can simply rest on a bench.

Step 1    Sit the cylinder on a bench - in my case I used a portable folding bench and located the cylinder in the open jaws so that it did not roll

Step 2    Gather your tools - one small hammer plus three tapered washers

Step 3    Position two of the washers laterally between the cylinder blade holder and the bearing assembly

Step 4    Support the two washers with suffiient overlap to leave a gap for the third tapered washer

Step 5    Insert the third tapered washer at 90 degrees to the first two and tap the third washer delicately with the hammer

Step 6    When the third washer has moved as far as you can without jamming it, release the three tapered washers

Step 7    Repeat steps 3 to 6 and the bearing should release as it is driven along the shaft

Step 8    The bearing is released and is undamaged.

 

Hope this helps someone with the same problem as me.

 

Forums

Qualcast_1965_… Wed, 12/08/2020

Thanks Wristpin, and I have lots left if anyone wants to get some without paying for 50!

Geoff Beechey Wed, 12/08/2020

Well done, a good use of something that is readily available, just have to think outside the square. 

Geoff

Mower1 Sun, 16/08/2020

Nice idea and thanks for sharing. How do you intend to remove the bearing from the cylinder housing? I have worked on a number of Ajax’s recently and came across a housing where at some point in its life someone had drilled 2 small holes at the rear of housing allowing you to tap out the bearing with a punch!

wristpin Sun, 16/08/2020

I have worked on a number of Ajax’s recently and came across a housing where at some point in its life someone had drilled 2 small holes at the rear of housing allowing you to tap out the bearing with a punch!

Holes through the back of blind housings are quite a common and effective method of beating removal.   We would sometimes find several holes drilled in the wrong places. To avoid this happening in our workshop we made crude jigs for some common machines to position the holes correctly and speed up the process.

I've still got ones for old cast iron Suffolks and some Ransomes.

Suffolk jig

 

Qualcast_1965_… Sun, 16/08/2020

Thanks Mower1

One step at a time!  I haven't yet studied the bearing assemblies now that I have removed them as I had some other things to sort out as it will soon be our 50th wedding anniversary and that gives me a deadline I cannot ignore.

Being familiar with the Qualcast models from the mid 60s to the 80s I am learning more about the Ransomes Ajax Mk5 each time I look at the parts.  Having two of them I still have one running while I sort out the one I dismantled (mainly due to a seized bearing), so I have a useful reference.

I did strip down my Qualcast Concorde E30 and photographed all of the sub-assemblies as exploded views with annotated part names and fastener details (e,g, thread type and size).  That is the approach I will take when I begin work on the rest of my small collection.

Mower1 Thu, 20/08/2020

That’s a clever idea.

I was working my way through a small job lot of Ajax’s leaving the most challenging mowers to last. The last mower of course had the drilled holes in the back of the housing making it so much easier to remove the bearing. The bearing is usually rusty/ clogged with grime ETC and stuck fast.

 

Woody Tue, 15/09/2020

Hi qualcast, that certainly does look to be a good way of removing the bearings.

once free and the covers gently removed I found a careful application of heat to the bearings housing makes the bearings easier to remove as aluminium expands quicker than steel, you just need to be careful not to go mad with the heat , not too much is needed. This avoids drilling any holes in the housing.

thanks for posting your solution