Bushhog 300 mounting bolt problem.

[Tagman]

Hello everyone! New to the forum. New tractor owner!!

I have a NH 2005 45a with a Bushhog M300 loader attached. The mounting bolts (top two) under brake pedal have problems. One is sheered off and the other seemes to have pulled the threads out. Bottom two bolts are still tight. There has been some problem keeping the front two mounting bolts on right side tight. All mounting bolts on other side are fine and tight. I will have to drill and tap before any major use, but I was wonder what caused this.

Also would there be a problem with going to from a 15/16" bolt to a 1" when I drill and tap. Also with a stronger metal bolt. Would this give more of a chance breaking/cracking the cast metal on the tractor?

Also any danger during minor use say half capacity of doing greater damage?

Thanks for any advise,
Tagman

[Soundguy]

I'd get her fixed before more bolts break out or strip out.

soundguy

[JC-jetro]

Hello everyone! New to the forum. New tractor owner!!

I have a NH 2005 45a with a Bushhog M300 loader attached. The mounting bolts (top two) under brake pedal have problems. One is sheered off and the other seemes to have pulled the threads out. Bottom two bolts are still tight. There has been some problem keeping the front two mounting bolts on right side tight. All mounting bolts on other side are fine and tight. I will have to drill and tap before any major use, but I was wonder what caused this.

Also would there be a problem with going to from a 15/16" bolt to a 1" when I drill and tap. Also with a stronger metal bolt. Would this give more of a chance breaking/cracking the cast metal on the tractor?

Also any danger during minor use say half capacity of doing greater damage?

Thanks for any advise,
Tagman

I would avoid using loader without fixing it first even with no load. The moment arm (weight of the bucket times length of the loader arm) cause quite a bit shear and torsional load on the loader mount. A bouncy/ bumpy drive and that load is multiplied several times. I wondered if there is thread insert for 15/16" in lieu of re-tap job. Can yo take out the sheared bolt form the block? I had good luck with drilling the sheared bolt and using an easy out to remove the stuck piece.

JC,

[Hooked_on_HP]

Fix it before you do more damage. When you get the broken bolt out check to see if it was bottoming out in the hole before getting any clamping force.
Bill

[Soundguy]

lefty drillbits would be my choice for drilling the old bolt out.. sometimes you get lucky and the bolt comes out with the bit before you reach for the dreaded fluted tools..

soundguy

[Tagman]

I have found out a few things yesterday. The FEL does have a support kit installed(Frame connectors). That is a good thing. The bolt that pulled the threads out was probably at least an inch too short. Only 1/2 to 3/4" of threads were in the housing. Know wander it pulled out. I will drill the other sheared bolt out ond replace. Now i will go through every bolt on the loader and make sure the length of the bolts are correct and replaced when needed. I will also make sure the bolts are of good quality and torque correctly.

All of the maintanence was done at a local dealer I will never use that dealer! Just have to drive an additional 50 miles round trip to another dealer. Very poor installation and service. Mix and match bolts, missing washers, etc.
According to my neighbor (who is not mechanically inclined) he has never taken the loader off and all service was done at the dealer.

Everyone thank you very much for the input. It has been 20 years since I have worked a tractor and I am very happy to be back on the saddle

[Soundguy]

good luck on the one that pulled the threads out.

it there was still 1.5+ inches of threads inthe casting.. you can probably just put the correct bolt in there if it only pulled out about 1/2"

soundguy