12-05-2017, 09:44 AM
Well I think I resolved the dust collection issue - I did two things that I found on the web. 1) moved the chip breaker closer to the cutterhead - it is now very close; 2) removed a piece of foam that was applied to the underside of the dust hood cover. Unfortunately I made the classic mistake of experimental design - changed two variables at once so I'm not sure which solved the problem - maybe both?
I'm down to one problem - the squeal. This noise comes and goes - typically you can't hear it when first started, and after a short running time you can hear it. Then it comes and goes. I loosened the belt tension a bit and that didn't help. The Byrd instructions indicate to tap the gear box when installing to seat the motor side bearing. In my case I was able to simply slide the cutter head assembly into place - it moved very easily into place and I was able to easily slide it in and out. Right now I'm thinking the bearing may be spinning on its outer race - when I installed the head I did put a little shaft retainer on the bearing/housing because of this ease of assembly. I think the most likely issue is the bearing. The bearing I'm using came with the head and I can't remember if the bearing on the straight knive cutterhead was as much of a sloppy fit.
So what do you think - I can disassemble and try to get more shaft retainer (is that the same as bearing retainer?) on the housing. This would also tell me if the bearing is still as loose in its housing. I can use the OEM bearing (by the way these two bearings are marked the same). I can ignore the noise - likely going to be a longer term problem. Any other suggestions?
Thanks
I'm down to one problem - the squeal. This noise comes and goes - typically you can't hear it when first started, and after a short running time you can hear it. Then it comes and goes. I loosened the belt tension a bit and that didn't help. The Byrd instructions indicate to tap the gear box when installing to seat the motor side bearing. In my case I was able to simply slide the cutter head assembly into place - it moved very easily into place and I was able to easily slide it in and out. Right now I'm thinking the bearing may be spinning on its outer race - when I installed the head I did put a little shaft retainer on the bearing/housing because of this ease of assembly. I think the most likely issue is the bearing. The bearing I'm using came with the head and I can't remember if the bearing on the straight knive cutterhead was as much of a sloppy fit.
So what do you think - I can disassemble and try to get more shaft retainer (is that the same as bearing retainer?) on the housing. This would also tell me if the bearing is still as loose in its housing. I can use the OEM bearing (by the way these two bearings are marked the same). I can ignore the noise - likely going to be a longer term problem. Any other suggestions?
Thanks
Rick