Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

I recently took my Monitor L down to refurbish and take it to a new home.
I had put it up in September of 2015 completely rebuilt in every way.
I was surprised when I took the bottom bearing out the upper and
lower parts are completely worn out. I had to file the upper race in order to
be able to get the mast pipe out thru the storm stay, it was that mushroomed.
I noticed how easy it was to file .Material was not hard like one of the worn originals
I had kept.
The ball bearing were dry and in good shape and there was no dirt to act as an
abrasive agent. There are no fields or dusty roads anywhere near to my place.

All this leads to the question of how long can one expect the bearing to last under
what were ideal conditions?

What does your race look like. Mine is the 3 piece top and bottom with the center piece holding the balls in place.

Same as yours. Top piece bolts to tower legs, bottom piece bolts to that
and center fits inside mast pipe. Has hole in center to accommodate
pullout tube and pump rod. The bottom cup was well worn as well the center
piece. At the rate of wear it looked like in a couple more years the
bearing would not be supporting the mill any more.
I checked the hardness on some older bearing pieces and they seem harder to file.
I think I got these from Dan Benjiman and wonder if it was a bad pour.
I have another new set that will be putting in the mill before I take it to the new owner.
There is no way to keep the bearing greased. I packed it when I put it together in 2015.
Was dry when I took it apart with no sign of iron filings.
Can one drill a hole in the bottom piece and install a grease zerk? That would only help
if the customer maintained the mill.

I would install a zerk anywhere it was needed. Considering the cast is not tempered, and hard as concrete.