JD 3000 series front hitch for snowblower

[gbowling]

I have a newly purchased 3720 with a front snowblower. This is the first time trying to install it. I have the front brackets installed and am trying to get the drive shaft that goes from the mid-pto to the front hitch installed.

The front hitch has two bearings separated by a few inches that the spline end of the drive shaft goes through. I cannot seem to get the shaft through the bearings. Any tips on how to get this done?

By the way, installation of this shaft isn't listed in any of the manuals I have. The front hitch manual just has the front hitch hardware. The snowblower manual just has the snowblower and front shaft. There must be a manual to the front pto kit that I'm missing and can't seem to find online.

Thanks, Gary

 

[bigtiller]

It sounds like the same set-up that my 2720 has. For my first time I cleaned all the paint off of the spline end of the drive shaft and the two bearings you have and oiled them. I put the drive shaft through the bearings FIRST, then connect the drive shaft to the mid pto. And finally bolt the bearing carrier to the tractor. It's SO much easier doing it this way. Even after a couple years it is difficult getting the shaft through the bearings, so I still do it on the workbench.

 

[gbowling]

Thanks, I have figured out there are two problems. First, I realized that my drive shaft was too long even if I could get it through the bearings. Went back to the dealership and they agreed, not sure how I got the wrong shaft in my kit.. But they found a new kit and the driveshaft was about 4 inches shorter than the one I had.

So, that's a step in the right direction. But I still couldn't get it through the bearings. I finally unbolted one of the bearings and that allowed it to have enough slop to get it lined up correctly.

When I did that and got the spline all the way in, it was still just a tad too short, looks like maybe 1/4" or so. I think the lead bearing might be mounted on the wrong side (something else the dealer did) so I'm about to take it off and mount it so that it's on the "inside" of the bracket. I think that will give me just the right relief to get it on the mid pto shaft.

 

[gbowling]

Yep, that did it. I put the bearing on the inside of the box bracket that it's mounted to and left it a bit loose and the shaft went right on. Then I tightened all the bolts and it's good.

I'm beginning to realize that my dealership is pretty shoddy. At least they have parts that I can buy and do it myself from now on.

 

[topstoy]

Good info! Do you have any pictures of that area. I am thinking that I might add a snowblower to my 2520 at some time and problems like this can be frustrating. Thanks!

 

[cdavid1944]

I've got a 54" snowblower soon to be on a 2520. After reading your post I went out to my shop and unpacked the drive shaft box. There were quite a few bagged parts and a 125 page book written in 6 languages. Each language is 21 pages. The JD # for the book is LVU27485. If you bought the snowblower new from a dealer, I think you should have gotten the book. Send me a private message with your email address and I'll try to scan it and send it to you as an attachment. I don't know if this book is on JDs manual pages or not.

 

[gbowling]

Here are some pics. First pic is the front of the hitch. The 2nd is the back side of the front hitch from underneath, that's the bearing I had to remove and put on the inside (the pic shows the wrong way before I moved it). Then there is a measurement from the mid pto to the front bearing, that's what I took to the dealership with my shaft to show them it was too long.

Also another question. Is there a kit or part that would allow me to NOT have to remove the front hitch to use my mid-mount mower? That thing is heavy and a bit of a job to put on by myself each fall.

 

[cdavid1944]

Do you have the combo hitch for both the mower and snowblower? Maybe that's only for smaller tractors like my 2520.

 

[gbowling]

I don't think there is a combo hitch for my 3720, or at least not that I've found. Although there are so many different parts/kits for these things I could have easily missed it.

 

[Mechanos]

Well that's a ridiculous departure from the 55/70 series design. That design uses a short shaft mounted in the bearings of the support bracket. The mid PTO shaft connects to one side and the front shaft to the blower attaches to the other side. The short shaft in the support stays in the support when you remove it.