List of Upgrades to Vermeer SC252

[stumper63]

Yes, no problem to unlock on side or the other, just have to reach inside a bit, you get used to it. USE the DUALS!

Stumper63

 

[Justinboots]

Hello to all!

I've been soaking in the wisdom from the site to make my SC252 better and better. I'm currently attempting the upgrade of the hydraulic pulley and am having difficulty removing the pump pulley. I see it has a keyway and I removed the two bolts from the sheave. I understand that I need to get the pulley to go back before the compression function of the sheave will release. How on earth do you get that pulley to move off the sheave? I've tried a large pipe with an ID larger than the OD of the sheave and banged it moderately with a hammer, but no luck. I don't want to damage the pulley or the pump. Any advice?

Thanks to all for your wisdom

 

[timberrrrrr]

Hello to all!

I've been soaking in the wisdom from the site to make my SC252 better and better. I'm currently attempting the upgrade of the hydraulic pulley and am having difficulty removing the pump pulley. I see it has a keyway and I removed the two bolts from the sheave. I understand that I need to get the pulley to go back before the compression function of the sheave will release. How on earth do you get that pulley to move off the sheave? I've tried a large pipe with an ID larger than the OD of the sheave and banged it moderately with a hammer, but no luck. I don't want to damage the pulley or the pump. Any advice?

Thanks to all for your wisdom

After you take the two bolts out, screw them into the other two holes in the Bushing you took them out of. As you screw these down, alternately a couple of turns at a time, you will notice that the bushing is pushing itself out of the pulley. After you bottom out the bolts, if the bushing is not all of the way out of the pulley, you may need to get a small pulley puller at your local auto parts store to finish it off.

Good luck!

 

[Justinboots]

After you take the two bolts out, screw them into the other two holes in the Bushing you took them out of. As you screw these down, alternately a couple of turns at a time, you will notice that the bushing is pushing itself out of the pulley. After you bottom out the bolts, if the bushing is not all of the way out of the pulley, you may need to get a small pulley puller at your local auto parts store to finish it off.

Good luck!

Thank you ! I will give this a try.

 

[timberrrrrr]

40 hp Kohler

Well just finished the upgrades to my 252 . . .

Jackshaft upgraded to 1 1/2"
Heavier duty bearings installed on Jackshaft
Sheaves on Jackshaft to motor changed to 3 belt 5/8"
Hydraulic sheave changed to 3 1/2"
40hp Kohler engine installed

Only been 3 stumps so far, but yeehaw what a difference in the performance of this little stumper!

Thanks for the help in making this happen!

 

[ApexTreeService]

How much faster would you say it cuts? 10, 20, 50%?

 

[timberrrrrr]

How much faster would you say it cuts? 10, 20, 50%?

At least 50% faster.

If you are even considering it and you use your 252 lots, it's a no brainer get the bigger engine.

 

[Arboristo]

My upgrade to 35hp Vanguard is almost ready. All there's left to fix is connecting the RPM sensor. On the model sc252 that I run the rpm sensor avoids ability to switch on clutch at higher revs than idle. If the sensor is disconnected or broken, it doesn't give a pulse to the computer and it will not be possible to turn on the cutting wheel. I'm not sure if this rpm sensor is going to work on the flywheel of the vanguard. So, considering to overrule the rpm sensor with a new wired connection.

 

[Arboristo]

Finally, my upgrade to 35HP is done. Also did the pulley conversion to 3".
I managed to fit the rpm sensor onto the Vanguard so the whole computer system, i.e. switch on safety and safety controls is still working like in original configuration. I also connected a digital hour meter onto the new engine.

Can't wait to do my first stump this week.

 

[NCgrinder]

Sheave/bushing P/N's

Gathering parts for my 252 Vanguard upgrade.
Can anyone supply P/N's for the following Sheaves/Bushings:
4"O.D. 3-groove (5/8") sheave & 1/1/2" bushing
7"O.D. 3-groove (5/8") sheave & 1 1/2 " bushing

All local sources seem to be staffed with ex-Autozone counter help...

Thanks, Stan NCgrinder

 

[ironstumper]

Well just finished the upgrades to my 252 . . .

Jackshaft upgraded to 1 1/2"
Heavier duty bearings installed on Jackshaft
Sheaves on Jackshaft to motor changed to 3 belt 5/8"
Hydraulic sheave changed to 3 1/2"
40hp Kohler engine installed

Only been 3 stumps so far, but yeehaw what a difference in the performance of this little stumper!

Thanks for the help in making this happen!

Timberrrrr, Wete you able to bolt the new motor in without modifications?

 

[ironstumper]

252 Stock Ground Speed

Anyone out there willing to do a little test? Before making the mod's on my 252 I forgot to check the ground speed in stock form. Would someone with the stock setup be willing to do it so we know in real numbers what the improvements are? All you need to do is measure how far the machine moves at full throttle for 15 seconds, then multiply by four for ft./min. It won't be far, probably about 15 feet I'm guessing.

I couldn't find any info from Vermeer that had the ground speed for the 252.

Thanks!

Stumper63

Stumper 63, My machine is stock. It went 18ft in 15 secs.......72 ft. per min.

Thanks everybody who's been sharing.

I was getting a bit disgusted with my 252's performance, would love a 60-80 hp machine. But couldn't justify the expense to my part time grinding income.

I ordered the 3" Sheave today.

Saving up the denaros for a new greenwheel at which point ,I will upgrade the jackshaft and cutter drive sheaves.....Then the motor I think it'll be the 40hp Kohler.

Thanks again everyone

 

[timberrrrrr]

Timberrrrr, Wete you able to bolt the new motor in without modifications?

No I had to modify the mounting plate by making it wider, I also had to make the tracks for it to go onto longer.

Well worth the effort and expense!

 

[ironstumper]

I got to try out the new setup today. So far just 2 modifications. The 3" hydraulic pulley mod. And new greenteeth, not even the full wheel, just the 6 main teeth that do the majority of the work. 900 series. WOW what a difference !! The ground speed is almost a full walking pace. And the chips were flying. I have been using Vermeers Pro Teeth for years, on both of my machines. I didn't think the cost of new pockets and teeth would be worth the investment. Man was I wrong, HUGE difference. One very happy boy

Can't wait to get the 40 hp Kohler on that machine now, WooHoo!!

 

[pro94lt]

Just for giggles go to E Bay or Google and type in that UPC208-24 Bearing part number and you can probably by them for about $20.00 a piece like I do.

By the way Stumper63 I finally got the rebuilt pump and motor for the big beast 252. Just waiting on a couple of valves and hoses and the Alien will finally be running.

so have these been used for the cutter wheel bearings by anyone and held up well?

 

[ApexTreeService]

so have these been used for the cutter wheel bearings by anyone and held up well?

Have never replace or greased my upper bearings. Have owned machine since 2003. Just replaced my cutter wheel bearings yesterday for the second time since owning the machine. Last time was 4 or 5 years ago. Never greased them either. First time I replaced them, bought new cast pillow block/bearing (UCP208-24 ) complete cause they were cheap. $15 now days on the net. Had to cut 1/8 steel spacer to put between block and Vermeer frame. Can't remember why I did this, but probably so cutter wheel shaft would not rub on belt housing. This time around, I reused the same cast housing, rotated (hammered) (easy) the bad bearings out, had one spare bearing insert from 4-5 years ago, bought another locally for $15. Then I just wire wheeled the cast housing where the bearing rotates into, tapped in a zerk fitting where there was not one before, and reassembled. We'll see if occasional Amsoil grease makes a difference in these. By the way easiest way to get the inner race off the cutter wheel shaft is to torch it. First if the bearing is intact, start by torching (Oxy-Acetylene metal cutting head) the roller balls out of the bearing (one minute process) so you can get the pillow block and outer race off, leaving only the inner race still pressed on the shaft. The you can have that torched off in literally two minutes. If you don't have a torch, go buy a portable unit from Harbor Freight for $80 or whatever they are. If you were to run/skim your hand along the pressed on race, that is how you want the actual flame to cut the race off. So heat the steel on the race at the end of the shaft, and start cutting with the oxygen and cut away the race until you see the shaft exposed, then move on to more of the race. So the flame will never be directed toward the shaft like this ----o (which works too, but can pit the shaft, but rather like this ____o , do this on one side (30-60 sec.) then the other side and race falls off. No damage, no grinding, no prob.

 

[marne]

Thanks for all the hints here.

So time for a small one from me.

Here is my upgrade or even waste, whatever you want to call it.

As my rusty exhaust was blown finally, I did some research as in my country Kohler parts are crazy expensive, and I didn't want to spend much money on a can that starts getting rusty on the spot again.

So I found an exhaust usually used on 27HP Kohlers installed on mud boats.
There seems to be a big comunity about this and their intention is to increase performance for getting another mph out of their boats.

So formerly this exhaust is intended to increase torque, hp and rpms on already optimized Kohler command engines (you know all the stuff with aircleaner, headwork and so on) due to its higher flow.
The gain is adviced to be around 5% ...
As my engine is stock, I don't expect anything performance wise, except of a leakproof stainless steel muffler that is still fine when upgrading the 27 to a 30HP Kohler, and years after - nothing more.

It's a direct bolt on. Sound is quiet and a bit Harley like, sounds just better than stock but not louder.
Improvement? Hard to say I think it is just imagination that the max. torque seems to be now at slightly higher rpms and it revs up again faster, I bet it's imagination.

A nice side effect is, that when I let the engine cool down after grinding and uninstall the duals, or tightening it on the trailer, the exhaust gases are not blown into my face anymore.

But who cares, it fits and works fine, if there a non noticable hp or ft/lb extra it's fine too. The downside is, this BPS is expensive.

 

[ApexTreeService]

Hey timberrrrr I was wondering how much the engine cost, and cost of other parts and if you have time part description and/or #'s. My Kohler 25 is aging and jackshaft bearings just went out so I'm considering a larger engine and Greenwheel.

 

[pro94lt]

Upgrades? ?? How about removing the drive sprocket Off the hydraulic motor? 2 set screws the keeper washer and a key anything I'm missing I've got no teeth left...

 

[ozzy42]

I'm going to be doing the pump heaven change here shortly. Can't stand how slow the machine walks. Its like Paul bearers walk,,Stephen pause,step pause,etc. Hurts my back,so no trainer. My question is this. Anyone mess around with the shelves size on the j shaft? Like changing the r and p in a car, gearing it up or down?
Just curious.