GC2310 snowblower driveshaft flew off...

[DEWFPO]

Thanks for the clarification. The tractor has 67 hours on it and the snowblower probably only has about 25 hours on it. I grease all the shafts at the beginning of the summer and winter seasons but I need to get under there and check out that quick connect shaft for play. I've run into some health problems here recently and last week was the first time that my wife ran the snowblower. While I was watching (the first time I was ever watching), I noticed the 'quick connect' (front) end of the long shaft noticeably vibrating. As soon as I am able to I will check it.

I wonder now....... when the snowblower is running at full speed, and I raise it off the ground all the way up, I get a bad vibration and noise. If I lower it a little bit, then it just get the normal vibration and noise.

I wonder if there are any TSB's on the MF2360 snowblowers or Quick Connects?

DEWFPO

 

[irvingj]

Dewfpo-- I get the same increase in noise level on my GC2310 w/ 2360 blower when the blower's raised, and it's brand new. I think this is to be expected due to the increase in angles and resulting stress on the u-joints. I'm just beginning to go over all the grease fittings --and yes, the set screws on the front adapter shaft-- so I'm just beginning to get a feel for the thing.... but I sure love the way it throws snow!

 

[DEWFPO]

Dewfpo-- I get the same increase in noise level on my GC2310 w/ 2360 blower when the blower's raised, and it's brand new. I think this is to be expected due to the increase in angles and resulting stress on the u-joints. I'm just beginning to go over all the grease fittings --and yes, the set screws on the front adapter shaft-- so I'm just beginning to get a feel for the thing.... but I sure love the way it throws snow!

Well at least that part sounds normal. I still need to check the short shaft on the 'quick hitch'. Wasn't able to do it today.

DEWFPO

 

[DEWFPO]

I checked the short, splined shaft coming out of the rear of the quick connect and it does not feel loose at all. It won't move in or out and it won't rock up or down or sideways. It feels as solid as it gets. On the other hand, the front yoke on the 4' driveshaft from the mid PTO moves noticeably up/down/sideways. It only moves in/out ~1/8" along the shaft.

It seems that the yoke should fit over the quick hitches splined shaft further than it does. That would stabilize it more. There is 3 1/8 inches of splined shaft coming out of the rear of the quick hitch that is not being used. Some of it is needed when attaching the rear of that 4' shaft to the mid PTO but I haven't measured how much that is yet.

I could see how much further that splined shaft can slide into the yoke. I could then also measure the free-play distance needed when attaching the rear of that shaft to the mid pto, subtract it from the 3 1/8" of shaft not used, add in 1/2 inch or so extra for free-play and then try to get that 4' shaft lengthened so the yoke will slide further onto the shaft. That should take some of the instability and vibration out of that joint.

I'm fairly certain the distance between the mid pto shaft and the quick connect shaft does not change at all while in operation, whether the blower is up or down or operating or not so that shouldn't be a concern.

What do you guys think?

DEWFPO

 

[irvingj]

I checked the short, splined shaft coming out of the rear of the quick connect and it does not feel loose at all. It won't move in or out and it won't rock up or down or sideways. It feels as solid as it gets. On the other hand, the front yoke on the 4' driveshaft from the mid PTO moves noticeably up/down/sideways. It only moves in/out ~1/8" along the shaft.

It seems that the yoke should fit over the quick hitches splined shaft further than it does. That would stabilize it more. There is 3 1/8 inches of splined shaft coming out of the rear of the quick hitch that is not being used. Some of it is needed when attaching the rear of that 4' shaft to the mid PTO but I haven't measured how much that is yet.

I could see how much further that splined shaft can slide into the yoke. I could then also measure the free-play distance needed when attaching the rear of that shaft to the mid pto, subtract it from the 3 1/8" of shaft not used, add in 1/2 inch or so extra for free-play and then try to get that 4' shaft lengthened so the yoke will slide further onto the shaft. That should take some of the instability and vibration out of that joint.

I'm fairly certain the distance between the mid pto shaft and the quick connect shaft does not change at all while in operation, whether the blower is up or down or operating or not so that shouldn't be a concern.

What do you guys think?

DEWFPO

DEWFPO-- As for the exposed splines, I just went out and checked mine (all of 18 hrs on it now), and it appears to be the same. I did notice that in the installation manual for the quick-hitch assembly they call for 6-5/8" of splined shaft protruding from rear of quick-hitch frame, measured from the rear surface of the rear bearing mounting plate. This DOES leave, when shaft is on & connected, about 3" or so of splines visible in front of the 4' shaft.

After pulling the shaft off and looking at the entire splined end of the quick-hitch "short" shaft, it looks like the 4' shaft is sitting on about 2-1/2" of splines when installed. The "play" is necessary to be able to slide the 4' shaft toward the front of the tractor after releasing the rear quick-connect, to enable dropping the rear end of the shaft off the transmission's splined output shaft.

The 4' shaft's 1/8" of front-to-rear play is most likely the play in the rear quick-connect locking mechanism and should be considered normal. However, the up & down and side-to-side slop you mentioned on the front yoke is not. I'm not a tractor mechanic, but used to be an auto mechanic; it sure sounds like your front u-joint is history. I'd suggest you pop off the shaft and take it somewhere to have it looked at, real soon. (The front yoke of the shaft on my tractor will only just "wiggle" up & down and side-to-side.)

 

[Cucch]

DEWFPO,

Does your midshaft, the one coming out of the mount that connects to the 4' shaft, have 6 5/8" of shaft total coming out from the bearing?

IRVINGJ said in the manual the amount the midshaft sticks out should be 6 5/8", I think that's from the bearing, but not sure. For some reason I didn't get that manual. If not, that shaft is adjusted incorrectly or
may have moved since originally set with the set screws.
That could be part of the problem.

They are going to drill holes into the midshaft on mine where the set screws meet the midshaft. I think they are going to go in about 1/8". this will give the screws something to bite into and hold onto under all that torque. It should be a recall in my book.

If it is 6 5/8", not sure if that's from the front of the bearing or not, then it does sound like a u-joint problem.

Cucch

 

[DEWFPO]

The u-joint is not the problem, there is too much play between the splined shaft on the quick connect and the front yoke on the drive shaft. The yoke rocks on the splined shaft. I haven't taken the drive shaft off yet since we are still in snow season but in the next 4-6 weeks I'll take the additional measurements and let you all know.

DEWFPO

 

[Cucch]

Dewfpo,

I wouldn't wait too long... It sounds like the yoke is not on enough of the splined shaft. That splined shaft may need to be pulled out more.

It literally will take less than 3 minutes to check. If there
is that much play between the front yoke and splined shaft,
there is something wrong. There should be very little play if any. It's not that hard to fix either...

If the 4' shaft comes off during operation, you will have more damage than you think..and you won't be using the snow blower for a while.

Not to scare you, but I have seen what happens to a couple now.

Take care,
Cucch

 

[fireguy1451]

Mine did the same thing when it was new from dealer. They from what i gatther never set the set screw and off it went after 5 secs of running.

 

[Cucch]

Fireguy1451,

So what did they do to fix your problem? On mine, they were going to drill holes where the set screws met the mid shaft but could not because the midshaft is too hard. So they are going to grind flat spots on the midshaft where
the set screws meet the shaft.

Just tightning the set screws will not be enought to hold. You should check to see what they did?

Cucch