Breaking front driving shaft on Jimna 284

[chermsen]

I have a Jimna 284 that I purchased new about a year and a half ago. I had the dealer put wider tires on the front and rear to help with stability. I recently had the left front wheel suddely fall off after a cruching noise. Turns out what the parts list calls the "Driving Shaft" broke. This is basically a plate with a splined shaft that couples the wheel hub to the turning gears. I just finishing replacing the left front today and was using the tractor, picking up full buckets of sand, when bang, the other side broke in exactly the same fashion. Has anyone had similar experiences? Does anyone think the wider and much heavier tires and rims may be the problem? I'd sure like to figure out why these keep breaking before I go broke. Thanks

[Ranch_Hand_Supp]

If the front tires don't slip ...... they will pop/break a axle.

Are you using proper counter weight ???.... sand has some weight to it. Makes the rear light ( no traction).

Don't know what tread design you have..... wider could mean more traction?


Ronald
Ranch Hand Supply

[Rich Waugh]

There is a prevalent notion that the Chinese don't bother engineering their goods, they just slap them together and send them out. I don't believe this for one minute.

When you change the wheels and tires on a vehicle to something much larger, you are greatly increasing the leverage they have on the components to which they are attached, in this case the axles and gear train. No big surprise then, when something gives way under high load stress, which full buckets of sand (particularly wet sand) are.

For greater stability you move the factory wheels to their outermost positions, then you carefully counterweight the rear of the tractor for doing FEL work and don't use the 4WD if you don't absolutely need it. If you must use 4WD, you do so very carefully and smoothly and never in a situation where the tires cannot slip somewhat to relieve shock loads.

This doesn't apply just to tractors - I'm a relative novice when it comes to tractors, but I spent decades driving 4WD vehicles of almost every other type and saw the same thing happen on trucks, Jeeps, etc. Guys would have to have those monster tires and wheels and promptly twist axles off when they tried to muscle them.

[erj]

I agree with Rich. I don't know where you are at, but I'm surprised that the Dealer who sold you the 284 would put those tires on without a word of warning/caution.
RonJ

[Sweden-Art]

Hi.
Changing to wider tires, did it affect the center to center point between the wheels? (wider stance) Ratio between front and rear tires is correct?

When operating a wheel loader front loader. You level the bucket with the ground and drive in to the pile, while in the pile you curl/lift the bucket small steps at the same time you give the Wheel loader more throttle, this will distribute the down force to front wheels/axle to give more traction.
Wheel loader axles are designed to handle this stress, i dont know if tractor front axels are designed to be operated like this (i dont own a tractor yet) How do you guys pick up dirt in a pile?

When doing loader work in 4WD you must assure you that the ground surface allows the tires to "slip". Driving in a dirt pile on asphalt with 4WD i would consider a no no. There is no differential between front and rear wheels.

Sorry for my english

[Iron Horse]

Originally Posted by chermsen

Does anyone think the much heavier tires and rims may be the problem? I'd sure like to figure out why these keep breaking before I go broke. Thanks

This is what is referred to as unsprung weight , it is sitting directly on the ground . The axles are not carrying the weight . As stated , try and reverse out of the pile in two wheel drive as the front tyres have a lot of traction with the weight of the sand in the bucket . They are also likely to be not round with the weight which changes the diff ratio so that it no longer matches the rear diff . When the drive train "winds up" because of the mismatch , something will need to slip to unload the "wind up" or breakage is imminent .

[Diamondpilot]

100% yes, the bigger tires did the damage. Also if the tires are not the same size it will break things using 4 wheel drive.

Chris

[Sweden-Art]

Originally Posted by chermsen

I have a Jimna 284 that I purchased new about a year and a half ago. I had the dealer put wider tires on the front and rear to help with stability. I recently had the left front wheel suddely fall off after a cruching noise. Turns out what the parts list calls the "Driving Shaft" broke. This is basically a plate with a splined shaft that couples the wheel hub to the turning gears. I just finishing replacing the left front today and was using the tractor, picking up full buckets of sand, when bang, the other side broke in exactly the same fashion. Has anyone had similar experiences? Does anyone think the wider and much heavier tires and rims may be the problem? I'd sure like to figure out why these keep breaking before I go broke. Thanks

Do you have any pictures?

[chermsen]

Thanks guys. Great answers. It appears I'm doing a number of things wrong. I live in the mountains in Colorado and as such, I always leave the tractor in 4-wheel drive as I generally need the traction. I'm not ever traveling on concrete or blacktop but always dirt. I've been using my tractor to try and dig into the side of the hill to widen my driveway, reversing and then dumping the dirt on a pile, all in 4-wheel drive. As I mentioned, by doing so, I've now broken the drive axle on both front sides. I'm going to try and get an original set of tires and rims (I unfortunately sold my old set when I got the new set), as well as try and keep the tractor in 2-wheel drive, especially when I'm reversing with a full bucket. I'll also increase engine RPM when picking up the load.

This is the first time I've used the "Forum" and I'm sure going to use it down the road. Thanks for taking the time to respond. You guys are all great, many thanks.

[Diamondpilot]

Remember, its a loader. Not a DIGGER! You will be money ahead to have a guy come over with a mini excavator or a regular backhoe and have him dig it out for you. You can then use your tractor to move the material around and finish it off.

As for the bigger tires think of it this way. Say you have the original tires on and the distance from the ground to the axle is 14". Now with your bigger tires they are 20" Now compare this to using a wrench that is 14" long versus one that is 20" long to remove a stubborn bolt. The 20" wrench allows you to apply much more torque. If the tires are wider and get a better bite its the same as using the 14" wrench and having Pee Wee Herman try it then Hulk Hogan. Guess who's getting that stuck bolt out.

Chris