
A pillow block is a mounted bearing whose housing has a foot, so it bolts to a surface lying parallel to the shaft and supports the shaft above that surface. It is the standard way to carry a length of line shafting, a conveyor pulley or a fan shaft where the frame offers a flat mounting rail. Load is meant to pass down through the base into the frame, which is what makes the base-to-center height and the bolt hole spacing the two dimensions that decide whether a given unit will actually drop into an existing machine.
Also known as: pillow block bearings, pillow block bearing units, plummer blocks, pillow blocks
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Related guides: Pillow block bearing sizes, Bearing selection guide, Bearing lubrication basics, Cross-reference help
| Specification | What it means |
|---|---|
| Shaft size | The bore the unit takes, and the first filter when identifying a replacement from the shaft itself. |
| Base to center height | Mounting surface to shaft centerline. Must match the existing installation or the shaft sits at the wrong height. |
| Bolt hole spacing | Distance between mounting hole centers, which has to line up with the holes already in the frame. |
| Base style | Standard two-bolt, low base or tapped base — the form that suits the headroom and the bolt access available. |
| Housing duty | The weight of the housing section, normal or medium duty, which sets what shock loading it survives. |
| Locking type | Setscrew, eccentric collar, concentric collar or adapter sleeve, matching the rotation and load pattern. |
Yes. Plummer block is the term used through most of the world outside North America for the same based housing carrying a shaft above its mounting surface, and catalogs written for a global market often use the two interchangeably.
Hold the shaft at the end where position matters — typically the drive end or wherever a coupling or sprocket has to stay put — and let the other end take up the thermal growth. What matters most is that exactly one end is fixed, not which one.
Only a light one. The insert can hold modest thrust through its locking collar, but the housing is designed to pass radial load into its base. Sustained end thrust should be carried by a bearing arrangement chosen for it, not absorbed by a standard unit.
Take the shaft diameter, the height from the mounting surface to the shaft centerline, and the distance between the mounting bolt centers. Those three, with the locking style and the number of mounting bolts, are enough to identify an equivalent even when the original marking has worn away.