11lb Sausage Stuffer Broken!

[glen]

Clean and lube?
Sometimes old lube will cake up

[NDKoze]

craigrice That is an interesting suggestion. I’ll have to check that, but it seems unlikely because the issue was still occurring when I took the piston off of the rack the issue still occurred.

[NDKoze]

glen I regularly apply white oil and/or silicone spray, but haven’t used any lube.

I did not see any caked-up lube when I was inspecting the gear box.

Everything looked great. The gears did not appear to have any bad spots and looked good from what I could tell. It just seemed like they were binding.

[Tex_77]

If you could post some pictures that may help to diagnose the issue. Jonathon

[craigrice]

did you check the piston rod to see if it has a curve to it possibly from extra pressure being applied

[JoeB]

I vote for the piston rod. 2nd guess would be a brass bearings holding the sprag may be dry. Less ratio advantage going up than the power stroke going down.

[processhead]

Confirming the actual problem might require full disassembly, clean up and detailed inspection of the suspected parts. A bent piston screw could be ruled out with a steel ruler or other straight edge.

[JoeB]

When you disassemble you destroy the indicators of failure. Anything changed could cause a 2nd issue that compounds the initial failure. Failures are then compounded. Study first, take pics of everything, and dissemble with the knowledge to norm up what you’ve dissembled

[NDKoze]

I will check on the piston rod as I can see where that could be an issue. This seems like a likely cause since I am not seeing any indication of gear damage.

I will take some pictures too.

We were processing at my parent’s house and I left the stuffer down there since I figured I just needed a new gearbox, and I won’t be back until Easter most likely. But, I am glad that I posted here before ordering the gearbox as your suggestions seem like they might help diagnose the issue prior to having to order any parts.

So, I will check all of these great suggestions that you have made and update this post with what I find.

[Jonathon]

NDKoze Check out this part of this video, https://youtu.be/t4YLATEMDfs?t=217 you want to make sure the gears are centered on those holes before tightening everything. I also would absolutely recommend some lube if you bought it 5 years ago and haven’t done that. 5 Years could either be a lot of wear and tear or little depending on how often it gets used. It is not a machine that is going to degrade by not being used. I mean, yes, the gasket could dry up and the gears might need a little lubricant but other than that it should be good. let me know if you continue to have issues!

[NDKoze]

Jonathon I will check the alignment over Easter weekend.

I don’t really use the stuffer that much. I would say 3-4 times per year. Probably around 300-400 pounds pushed through it per year.

What type of lube should I get? Any suggestions?

[Tex_77]

NDKoze I would suggest a food grade white grease.