Erde 102 Trailer maintenance

Nothing for nothing in this life.  You buy a trailer in 2004 and suddenly it needs new bearings. I'd noticed play on the LHS a while back, so decided it might be time to check the sealed bearings. It's a quick job once the nut covers are off (Erde part 2325 0003) one of mine is a new interesting shape, like Kryton's head. It took a massive amount of pummeling, then 24" stiltson (not sure that helped) and more pummeling to get it off. The other one will wait until the new bearings arrive.
Both are metal shielded. I'd have thought rubber sealed more appropriate for road use.
Inner VB C3 6202Z approx 14.85 x 35
Outer HJB 6004ZC3 approx 20x43

The LHS nut was at about 40 lb torque, RHS about 35. This site recommends 21 lb. 
https://www.westerntowing.co.uk/acatalog/How-to-Replace-Erde-Trailer-Bearings.html. Loosening and re-tightening to the same point showed about 30lb.

The LHS outer race is about as smooth as tarmac. Inner seems fine. RHS outer was a bit lumpy too.

It's back on for now and will need to be on light duty. The trailer has been <coughs> used at its limit a few times, so it's not surprising.

Update 27/8/17 
New bearings fitted. LHS is tight and spins slowly. RHS is fine. Tried swapping them left to right, but it was the same once they were torqued up, so left LHS just nipped
Getting the bearings out is challenging. I started hammering them out, but then realised that the hubs are alloy, so will crack quite easily. I then got some threaded bar and pressed them out. I didnt have a big enough socket, so a bit of square tube did the job.
















Erde fitted no name chinese C3 bearings 6202 Z / 6004 Z. The shaft machining seems to be medium tolerancing, needing c3 ie big wiggle fit. Oddly, c3 bearings are more expensive than normal fit. I've replacing with MTK normal bearings,  which are 1/2 the price. Ie €9 vs €23 for both sides. So that's why the wheel is not spinning well!

RHS

LHS


Old bearings. Top is RHS. Nice rust patches on both

Neptun Trailer maintenance

From new (2015), the left side wheel of the trailer when hitched, sitting in the car, had a bit of play. A friend had a hub fail when towing last November, which pushed me into a rush inspection today.

A castellated nut and 3.6 x 36mm cotter pin fit on a taper bearing.  The cover tapped off quite easily and snapped back with a tap. The nut was loose, so for completeness I removed the taper bearing and hub. No marks. Plenty of clean grease. Nut went back on with the original pin at 12 o/c. No play, and the nut wasn't loose enough to turn with fingers before being pinned.
Leaving the wheel on the hub was probably a mistake as it made the assembly heavy when re-assembling. Best to do the job on the ground.

Taper bearing and washer removed and put back in axle

Rear shot of seal on taper bearing. It was tightly in.




Taper bearing and nut removed

Ride-on brands

Ignoring the commercial type machines, eg Iseki and Kubota, the seem to be 2 brands in Europe (France).

These groupings were made based on photographs of the machines. In general, you can see the pattern of the basket, the protection around the deck and the seat. Controls vary, but not much.


Group 1 - American
MTD
Husqvarna
Best Green
Club Cadet
Electrolux
McCulloch
Wolf

Group 2 - Italian - GGP
Alpina
Stiga
Sabre France/SARP/Castel Garden
Univert/Sentar
Colombia


I found the GGP machines a bit plasticy and flimsy. Compare the weights. I saw a Sentar Montreal (Kawa twin) at €2590, but the bonnet is so flexible.  The never-used model in the showroom already had part of the basket seal coming away. The GTR B is a more solid machine at €2390 (B&S PB), but you'll find the Alpina AT7 version for €1900. The dealer was prepared to discount €90. You'll be better off with the Husqvarna CT138 with the B&S Intek, pressurised oil system + filter, 98cm at €2400 + del.
AT7 can tow 100kg. The larger American ones can tow 180kg, with a nose weight of 25kg.
Rear axles on them all varied between the Tuff Torq K46 or Hydrogear. Both American, both good reputation with lots of spares and repair kits.

The only other economies I found were the engines. The GGP engines are made in China I was told, but what isn't. Still reliable though. Very little on the forums, so that confirms it.
B&S do a series 3 & 4 in 2 flavours. Intek and PB (power built) It's next to impossible to get an informed explanation of the difference between Intek and PB, but a lot of GGP stuff has PB, so that tells you it's cheaper. The Kawasaki 603cc 481 is made in USA.

Alpina gear is often heavily discounted and being white, stands out a bit in the garden.

July 2017

Err. Another ride-on

The increasing number of planted items in the garden is meaning me spending more time moving 5th to reverse more often than I'm straight running. A hydrostatic box beckoned. Of course, if your going to have a hydro box, you may as well get a rear collector too, as they are also marginally narrower without the side discharge. And a bigger engine to cope with the losses in the hydro box - well, it goes without saying.
Welcome to the 3rd ride-on in 7 years. Cub Cadet CC1016 KHE. This one is ~4.5 years old and has only ever cut ~1500m2 (google maps calculates ~1100m2). There is still stacks of rubber on the tyres. The hour meter is 139 hours, but the guy told me he'd left the ignition on until the battery went flat - probably 1.5 to 2 days. If you said 80 actual hours, 20/year, that is slightly more hours than 'we' cut, but I got the impression he cuts weekly. This does tie up with the oil change intervals. He changed the oil+filter for sale as he had already bought it. He is moving house in September, but decided to sell it now. I did find an ad for his house in LBC, plus his hunting lodge.

In Feb 2013, the retail value was €4079, on offer at €3399 and the guy paid €3200. I paid €1550. He said the local dealer was sort-of a friend had offered him €1400 (if he bought a trailer from him) and he would sell it for €1800-1900 ie +30%, which seems to be the margin on new ones. My local dealer had only 1 small used ride-on for sale, and he hardly ever had ones with collectors as they are the most sought after. The other local dealer had nothing (again) and only GGF made machines (see other post on brands)


Maintenance.
I'd say it's never been to a dealer for a service as there isn't much visible grease. That and there is no service receipts. The guy is meticulous and keeps everything. He gave me the folder with manuals, spare key, receipt etc. The oil is noted as changed :-
Date        hours
12/5/13    5
1/4/14      20 oil + filter. Motul synthetic
13/7/17    139 oil + filter. Oil type? Clean. Filled to mid mark.
Oil change interval is 100 hours, 200 for the filter.
Don't screw the dip stick in to measure level.

Air filter is very clean. He said to replace it when it's black, but I'd say it's original as it's OEM.
No fuel tap
There is a voltage reg on the engine.  Will need to test it.
19Ah MTD probably original battery. Standard size 130 W, 225 L, 155 tall. Volts low compared to a 30Ah.
14/8/17 Battery still good, but swapped and sold. 'New' battery is 30Ah Yuasa 1 year old (2/5/16) from another ride-on. Terminals on the wrong side meaning the cover fits badly, but ok.
Wiring for a oil pressure gauge, but the dash has no light and no sensor on engine.


Hour meter.
Made by Delta Systems Inc. Uses a PIC16f677. Fully protected code + eeprom. User ID 7f 7f 7f 7f. Checksum 0303. 

Looking at rear of pcb, 8 pin conn at bottom, there are 5 THP not coated. Top left dat, next to the right 0V (obvious), just below clk. Bottom right +5, above to the left mclr.
Power. Rear. Top row, RHS, 0v - obvious. +12 top row LHS.
Tried 2- 10 power cycles in 5s. no reset. It counts to 800, but it's not clear if it then starts again from 0.
From the mower schematic, front of pcb, bottom row, LHS, square pin in 1. Pins count to the right to pin 4, and pin 5, 0v, is above pin 1.

Cat feeder

Iq=0.06mA, 0.37mA whne led flashes

Low battery light ~5V

~0.7A when feeder motor runs (@4.7V)

~0.16-0.21A for vibration motor

Use Casino 'tous les jour alkaline' 1.63V new, 1.615 after 2 weeks use.

Tested at 4.7V below 0C for 9 days OK.

New 2014, probably.

Li-ion batteries

Flying.
No restrictions below 100Wh.
Possibly a max of 2 per person.
Have to be in hand luggage, unless installed in the appliance in the hold.
Compulsory above 100Wh, but recommended to tape up the terminals and put in poly bag.

1 cell
3.7V nom. 4.2 charged, 3V cut-off, but 2.7V OK 
2 cell
7.4V nom. 8.4 charged, 6V cut-off, but 5.4V OK 
3 cell
11.1V nom. 12.6 charged, 9V cut-off, but 8.1V OK 

ok to constant current charge at marked capacity for 1 hour, but lower better. Cut off when current drops.

Capacities at Feb 2017

Bosch 11.1 3 cell 1.3Ah ~2008. ~1Ah.
Dell laptop 6 cell 11.3V 4700 orig. >2Ah left Charger 90W, 1 hour, so ~5A
New 'elfeland' 3.6Ah. mass too low, sound hollow. ~1Ah.

Examples. boot heater, 33 ohm each (normally 17R)
2 cell, 7.6 cut off (1.76W)
I = V/R = 7.6/33 = 0.23A each
hours run = Ah/A 
For 1.3Ah, hours = 1.3/ (.23 x 2) = 2.8h
3.8Ah = 3.8/.46 = 8.3h
2Ah = 2/.46 = ~4h, but in practice get >6 hours on pwm as the higher start voltage means a lower current draw, and in general full power not required (3/4 power ok in cold weather)

Japan 2017
Dell 12V/2Ah 17R each heater
PWM used to reduce demand. Had to re-scale software to give full power as a percentage of max - 25% - but check.
the 3/4 setting of this new max was enough

PV array low IR

PV cable went low IR. Inverter warns below 1M. Got down to 600k without shutdown.
After about 6 years in the ground a joint got water in it. 
Replaced it with one length. Just under 16m, allowing 1m at the panels.