Crippled my DK45...again!

[rd_macgregor]

Last summer, I managed to break the RF bevel gear case and shaft working in the woods. I got that all fixed up and working well for a couple of months, until yesterday, when I managed to do the same thing to the LF. This time, I even managed to do a bit more damage, shearing off the connecting end of the steering hydraulic cylinder and (I think) bending the threaded end of the tie rod.
My wife is considering banning me from taking my tractor into the woods anymore, but I hate to think of it as just a big, orange mower and manure mover. On the other hand, maybe I can parlay this setback into another piece of equipment, like a dozer, loader or track hoe.
I'm not keen on the cost of repairs, but the tractorless down-time will be a bigger burden, since I don't have another good way to move round bales to the horses.
The fun never ends!
Bob

 

[Threepoint]

Bob, ouch! Do you know what it was that you hit to cause that much damage?

 

[Baby Grand]

Sounds like someone needs to weld up a custom skid plate for the front end so you're trashing strap & angle iron instead of driveline components on those rocks.

 

[Coyote machine]

Wow, really! You are Dr. destructo. You have me beat, by a wide margin. I think you should go straight to tank and skip dozers.
We need pics! We'd believe you based on past experience, BUT it's TBN policy, no pics, it didn't happen.:confused3:

 

[oldpilgrim]

Are you related to Eric the Oracle by any chance?

 

[ritcheyvs]

... I think you should go straight to tank and skip dozers. ...

I think a dozer would be fine. Perhaps a D9:

 

[rd_macgregor]

I went out last night and took off the wheel. The only thing holding it all together now is the tie rod (the end of which is bent slightly), since the bevel gear case and shaft are broken and I sheared off the outboard end of the steering hydraulic cylinder. I also noticed that I put a pretty sharp dent in the steel wheel right at the rim. Thi$ repair will be even more co$tly than the la$t.

I'm not sure why this happened once, much less twice, though I have a couple of plausible theories. My latest is that I was pushing and lifting while the front wheels were turned to the side in a location where the tractor couldn't actually turn. This would put tremendous lateral stress on the bevel gear housing. Of course, this doesn't really explain why this should suddenly happen now (twice!) after 8 years of doing this kind of work...just lucky, I guess.

"No pics, it didn't happen" I wish it was that easy to undo!

I took a couple of pics, but they are on my camera at home; I'll try to remember to upload one later.
Bob

 

[k0ua]

I think a dozer would be fine. Perhaps a D9:

View attachment 394803

That's a nice looking dozer, I think several of our members could make good use of that machine.

 

[tman1020]

These tractors are so well-built have such strong capacities anymore we often find ourselves thinking they're invincible. I think that we often try something that is questionable to the tractors abilities and get away with it a few times and think that it must be okay but in reality it's just a matter of time before we break something that way. Unfortunately no matter how strong their built we can find a way to break something. Thank goodness for TBN. And good luck.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I took this pic Monday afternoon and it shows the major broken parts. I now have the tire off, so can probably get a better angle to document the damages.


Note that the only thing holding the wheel onto the tractor is the tie rod; every other connecting bit is broken!

Bob