G5200 HST Prop Shaft Spline Failure

While driving our new-to-us G5200 around our field a few weeks ago there began a terrible screeching noise and the tractor stopped dead. Fearing the worst (an HST problem) I shut her down and towed her back to the garage, making sure to keep the rear wheels off the ground.

After some inspection and disassembly, here is what I found:

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Prop shaft and Lovejoy coupling splines are toast.

The good news is that after a call to Messick's I found out that the parts are available and are not too expensive. Will update this when the new parts arrive.

Ordered all the parts Sunday night with regular shipping.
They were on the front step when I got home Tuesday night.
My hat's off to Messick's. Huzzah!

The parts went in with minimal language and everything is working right. Huge relief.

Nice! Now you'll know what to do in another 25 years when you have to do it again.;)

Thanks - that's funny. I had the same thought when I got it all back together on Sunday. Luckily, the mower deck shaft splines look fine, so I'm going to put some fresh blades on it, do a little preventive patch welding, shoot it with some paint and then wait for the grass to grow so I can try it out. I really like this machine and can't wait to hook the Cyclone Rake up to it, but that's another item way down on the to-do list. With any luck it will completely replace the Craftsman so I can unload that maintenance hog.