Miller Stump Grinder

[GreatWhitehunter]

I recently acquired a Miller M50E PTO stump grinder, it's one heck of a machine at just under 1K lbs. I'm encountering some issues on the pto side of things.
The Miller product line was sold to Arbor Wolf a few years back. I contacted Arbor Wolf with some questions but was told the M50E was produced before they bought the company and gave me the phone info of the previous owner and inventor. Unfortunately I haven't been able to reach him.

So the issue is that the slip clutch appears to have been modified to not slip and also resides on the tractor side of the pto spline. So while I can easily find a slip clutch they all seem to be made for the implement side only. There's really no room for the clutch in the tractor side either without a small extender. The cutting head side has the yoke welded to the hub so putting the clutch there also seems to make little sense. There's no info on the clutch itself but the shaft has what appears to be a Weasler 35 Series slip sleeve on it. It appears just to be a greasable sleeve that attached the round shaft to square. I've attached some pics below show the clutch and sleeve. So should I just purchase the female square drive side of the shaft with a slip clutch and adapter? Or do I figure a way to get the slip clutch further down the shaft? The cutting head is direct drive so I'm not sure the clutch placement as big an issue as with a gearbox.



Any ideas you guy have are greatly appreciated.

Matt

 

[flyerdan]

How has the clutch been modified? It seems that it would be easiest to undo what ever they did to it, disassemble it and cut the end opposite the yoke (I assume that is the side that goes into the tractor pto spline) and weld in a spacer however long is needed to clear whatever is in the way now.
Can't understand why someone would fix a clutch so it won't slip, unless it wouldn't stop slipping. It looks like undoing the five bolts holding the outer ring on should let the whole thing come apart, unless I'm missing something.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

It looks to need the springs and plates to the clutch to make it functional again. I too am unsure why you'd want to stop the clutch from slipping.
The otherside has what they're calling a slip sleeve, I can't find any info on what exactly it does. I was thinking I could pick up a small pto extender which would get the clutch out past the obstacles.

***I was able to find a pic of another m50e for sale and it appears that the slip clutch does not have springs and is supposed to be on the tractor side.



Matt

 

[topbuilder]

It looks like the "spring" tension is created by the flange on top. It looks complete to me. It looks like the disk is the only think separating the two yokes. It might make more sense to you if you take it apart.
Not sure it makes a difference which end the clutch is on. Will it fit on the implement end?

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

It looks like the "spring" tension is created by the flange on top. It looks complete to me. It looks like the disk is the only think separating the two yokes. It might make more sense to you if you take it apart.
Not sure it makes a difference which end the clutch is on. Will it fit on the implement end?

I think taking it apart to look at the discs is the right idea, I've just never seen a slip clutch without springs. As far as which end the clutch is on, I haven't been able to find a clutch that didn't specify it go on the implement side. I'm sure I could figure a way to install it on the grinding wheel side but it would likely need welding or multiple cv joints. The clearance on the back of my tractor is an issue but I'm going to pick up a small pto extender tomorrow at TSC and that should move the clutch out far enough away to resolve it.

Matt

 

[topbuilder]

Riko UK - Stump grinder M50 - YouTube

After watching this, I see why the clutch is at the tractor side. If the weight of that clutch is all on your tractors PTO shaft, and you are extending it out further... That's a no go IMO.

 

[flyerdan]

Looking at similar ones on google images, it could be that someone has removed the springs and put shorter bolts in, but that brings us back to why. Some longer bolts and springs, maybe new friction discs should fix it up to original.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

It turns out that the slip clutch is as designed, I ended up flipping the bolts over which gave me just enough clearance to get the clutch on the shaft without hitting anything. The next hurdle was the hydraulic fittings. The unit came with 1/2 pioneer fittings but it has a different style which TSC didn't have so I'll have to see what I can source locally.

Matt

 

[topbuilder]

So the slip clutch goes on the pto shaft of the tractor?

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

So the slip clutch goes on the pto shaft of the tractor?

Yes

Matt