wihakowiSteve
Bronze Member
I just posted this in another thread and hate to double post and apologize in advance.
My TC35 goes to the shop tomorrow!
I was under it on Friday, loosening up the parking brake linkage and saw something weird on the paint. It hadn't really been used since it had the tranny fix back in November (thank you mild New England winter) so the underside was very clean from the washdown in the shop. Thought I saw a little paint crack or crinkle but it turned out to be a CRACK IN THE BELL-HOUSING! It begins just above where the driveshaft passes by and is about 3" long and looks to be spreading. Also looks like another crack is forming on the other side!! Did I freak???
Well, after I freaked and settled down, I called the largest local welding place and their guy came out and said that he really wouldn't be comfortable thinking that any weld he did would hold up. He said that the cracks were virtually new - no rust or corrosion and that they could only have happened if some catastrophic thing had happened to the tractor. Upon looking it over, he commented that it sure didn't look abused and that it was clear that it hadn't rolled, been dropped or roughed up.
During his inspection looking further at the engine/tranny junction he said, hey it looks like someone has recently split this engine. I replied that it had been in the shop in November for the tranny fix and he said, Aha! As if some light had gone off in his head.
He said that other than misuse or a major incident, the only two ways he had ever seen anything like that happen was 1) a backhoe attached to a tractor (noted profusely in threads on this forum) and 2) a tractor that was stressed by being improperly supported while split OR a mechanic not having pefect alignment while re-assembling the back and front and using the bolts to "pull" it back together thus creating a stress that can crack things.
I called my dealer and explained things to them, fully expecting to get the old "it couldn't have been us" routine. The first question was "had I added a backhoe?" and I put that one to rest. After being told how "new" the cracks are and hearing the welders thoughts about the split, they said they'd pick it up and take a look!
The dealer certainly hasn't admitted anything and I am not sure where this will go but it is scary. I have since had two other experienced tractor owner/operators take a look and they concur that they are very new cracks, just getting started and could easily point to the split job as a cause.
Any other stories or experiences with cracks either related or unrelated to the tranny fix and splitting the tractor?
Any thoughts on whether the only fix is to tear it down and replace the bell-housing?
Any guess or bets on what the dealer will determine and how they will deal with it??
Anyway, I've had better weekends!! It could have been the earthquake we had but that didn't happen until Saturday morn!!
Steve
My TC35 goes to the shop tomorrow!
I was under it on Friday, loosening up the parking brake linkage and saw something weird on the paint. It hadn't really been used since it had the tranny fix back in November (thank you mild New England winter) so the underside was very clean from the washdown in the shop. Thought I saw a little paint crack or crinkle but it turned out to be a CRACK IN THE BELL-HOUSING! It begins just above where the driveshaft passes by and is about 3" long and looks to be spreading. Also looks like another crack is forming on the other side!! Did I freak???
Well, after I freaked and settled down, I called the largest local welding place and their guy came out and said that he really wouldn't be comfortable thinking that any weld he did would hold up. He said that the cracks were virtually new - no rust or corrosion and that they could only have happened if some catastrophic thing had happened to the tractor. Upon looking it over, he commented that it sure didn't look abused and that it was clear that it hadn't rolled, been dropped or roughed up.
During his inspection looking further at the engine/tranny junction he said, hey it looks like someone has recently split this engine. I replied that it had been in the shop in November for the tranny fix and he said, Aha! As if some light had gone off in his head.
He said that other than misuse or a major incident, the only two ways he had ever seen anything like that happen was 1) a backhoe attached to a tractor (noted profusely in threads on this forum) and 2) a tractor that was stressed by being improperly supported while split OR a mechanic not having pefect alignment while re-assembling the back and front and using the bolts to "pull" it back together thus creating a stress that can crack things.
I called my dealer and explained things to them, fully expecting to get the old "it couldn't have been us" routine. The first question was "had I added a backhoe?" and I put that one to rest. After being told how "new" the cracks are and hearing the welders thoughts about the split, they said they'd pick it up and take a look!
The dealer certainly hasn't admitted anything and I am not sure where this will go but it is scary. I have since had two other experienced tractor owner/operators take a look and they concur that they are very new cracks, just getting started and could easily point to the split job as a cause.
Any other stories or experiences with cracks either related or unrelated to the tranny fix and splitting the tractor?
Any thoughts on whether the only fix is to tear it down and replace the bell-housing?
Any guess or bets on what the dealer will determine and how they will deal with it??
Anyway, I've had better weekends!! It could have been the earthquake we had but that didn't happen until Saturday morn!!
Steve
