So I decided to put new bearings in two Rover HD25 wheels yesterday. Turns out I should have left the old ones in place, even though they were feeling a bit gritty. The first wheel was no problem. I tapped out the bearings easily as expected. But the second one, it turns out someone in the past had glued both bearings in place using something like Loctite or a strong epoxy adhesive. Why they did this? I have no idea. I ended up taking it to a neighbour and after a lot of what amounted to bashing and flogging with a sledgehammer we finally got the bearings out. But on close inspection we were horrified to find cracks around the hub. Not surprising I guess, given how strongly glued in place those bearings were. Even though we had supported the hub as best as possible, so much force had been required to remove the bearings that it cracked the rim in two places around the hub. This is of course that old fashioned alloy crud metal that they use to make wheel rims out of, back in the 60s and 70s. Can it be welded?
I have searched online for possible replacement wheels, but the problem is the axle shaft on the machine is limited to 60mm and most aftermarket wheels today have a bore width of 60mm. So, THERE IS NO ROOM LEFT TO DO UP THE NUT.
I can get solid cushion wheels around the same 280mm diameter with a 53mm wide bore, but with 1" bearings. These will require a bush to reduce the bearing from 1" to 5/8". They may be my only option now.
If by a slim chance somebody has some original Rover HD 25 wheel rims that suit the 2.5-6 tyres, please let me know. Part numbers are Rover A01599 Female hub A01738 Male hub. Rover Colt also used the same wheels.
This had to happen right at the end of a major renovation on an old HD25 walk behind slasher. Without a wheel the whole project might as well be scrapped.
