HST "B" Plate Weld

[paccorti]

Hi everyone, been a long time. I have a 2000 TC35D. As some have mentioned in the past (Jinman?) welds sometimes do go bad on the HST B plate. It looks like mine broke today. For those who have made this repair did you have to remove the operator platform? It looks like the bolts that connect the B plate shaft to the transmission are very hard to get to. Did anyone weld this part themselves or did you buy a new part?

Thanks

Peter

[jinman]

Peter, I'm sorry to hear that you have suffered the same problem that I experienced early on with my tractor in 2002. I would have to say that I think the B-plate may be removable without lifting the operator station, but you would have to disconnect a bunch of hydraulic lines and other stuff to take the plate out from the bottom. Depending on where your plate broke, it might be welded in place, but are you going to trust just putting one weld on it and maybe have it break in another place? There are three places where the weld is weak on most of these early tractors. If I was going to weld the plate, I'd want to do all three places so I could "put this to rest."

If you do decide to lift the operator platform, you can probably weld the plate in place easily as you can see from my pictures with the platform raised. If you decide to weld the plate from the bottom, you'll run into problems because there is a fuel line running right below the plate inside the plastic loom as seen in my pictures. Taking the plate out completely means you have to loosen the outer support bracket. To do this, you have to loosen all six bolts that hold your loader mount on that side. I hope your loader is off because it really needs to be to do this job.

I've included several pictures here as help in making your decision. Let me know if I can help more. Taking the plate out from the bottom or removing enough stuff to allow you a clear shot for welding might be the easiest way to go. I know that removing the platform is no walk in the park. It's a lot of work. Good luck.

[paccorti]

Thanks Jinman,

The operator platform is one big piece? Sigh... At least I was able to get the tractor out of the snow drift and back into the barn (I'm sure you've heard about the big storm in the mid Atlantic). As you say, I really can't see welding it in place from below; there is just too much stuff in the way. Looking more closely at mine now the shaft actually broke where it connects to the transmission going from the B plate to the tranny. So no welds broke, the actual shaft broke. Hard to tell but I thought I saw some rust... I'll post a pic when I get it out. I'm inclined to buy a new part and then reinforce it with additional welds. If I'm going thru all this disassembly I sure don't want to do it again!

I guess I'll go the the barn and start taking stuff apart.

Thanks once again,

Peter

[jinman]

Peter, the platform is one piece, but you have to unbolt it from the fenders on each side. To get it up, you have to remove the two black cowling covers under the steering wheel and the plastic side consoles. Next, you have to remove the rubber mat and it has a hole in it for the hydraulic lines going up to the joystick. Since I didn't want to disconnect the hydraulic lines, I just cut the mat to get it off around the lines. The joystick plastic cowling covers the mat and it's just not a big issue that it's cut. Removal of the seat is necessary to get under the seat to disconnect the hydraulic 3PH drop rate knob attachment. Let's just say that you are about to become intimately familiar with your tractor.

I've included some more wide shots to show my platform propped up. If I were you, I'd talk to my dealer's service manager and get them to verify that the platform has to be removed. They might tell you that removing all the pedals and taking the plate out from the bottom is easier. I can tell you that getting it out from the top is easy once you get that platform up. However, the platform is holy heck to get off.

I feel sorry for you that this happened right at the beginning of a record snow storm. It's tough having your tractor fail at anytime, but you must really feel like Murphy's Law is alive and well at your house.

[paccorti]

Jinman,

Thanks for all the help. You've pointed me in the right direction which counts for a lot. I'm now officially 50% done. I have everything disassembled. I got the platform off (I cut the rubber mat too). I was able to get the outer support bracket off without removing the loader (I did have to loosen all the bolts though). This was lucky. I was going to remove the loader but I couldn't seem to trick all of the safety switches to turn the tractor on (with it all apart like it is now; range selector in neutral, PTO off, compressing the seat switch, etc). I have to say this tractor is not easy to work on. I get the sense that everything was designed to be put together from the ground up with the wheels off. Those rear platform bolts are no party behind the wheels. Lastly the bolts which attach the B plate shaft to transmission have very little room, in fact I could only back them out but could not remove them. In my opinion there is no way to replace the B plate without removing the outer support bracket and platform.

Here are some pics. If you look closely you can see that the shaft broke right around the welds (but no weld failed). Hopefully the dealer has this part in tomorrow.

Peter

[jinman]

Peter, you made tremendous progress for one day. As you said, I only had to loosen the bolts on the right loader tower, but I bypassed all my interlocks and used a pair of pliers on the input shaft to the transmission to move the tractor back and forth while removing the loader.

I'm pretty shocked to see a broken shaft on your B-plate. Looking at that plate and the glob of weld on the U-shaped adapter, I wonder if they removed that shaft at some point and bent/broke it trying to put it back in without loosening the outer bracket support? That weld has much more material than the other welds. Your shaft is only tacked on one side of the B-plate, just like mine was.

I think I'd see what a welder would charge to fix you plate. If you get it done by a welder, you will get exactly the welds you want. If you buy a new one, you'll spend lots of money and have only the factory welds. It's your choice, but I love the welds my NH dealer's welder put on my plate. I know it's done properly now.

Good luck Peter. It sure seems you are on the right track and may have your tractor going before all the snow melts. I wish I was there to help you, but I'll just keep lookin' over your shoulder here on TBN.

[paccorti]

Jinman,

Here are some pictures of the new part. Notice how much heavier the welding is - some sections are even welded on both sides. I didn't have the dealer weld anything. Best of all it's made in the USA. After working steadily from 3pm to 10pm yesterday I got the whole thing back together and I didn't even have any parts left over. Aligning the platform bolt holes with the fender holes probably took the most time.

I'm glad to have my tractor back, we got more snow today and the gusting winds (20-40mph) have completely filled in my driveway. In some place the drifts are 4' high. I'm looking at some serious seat time. After ten years I still like my tractor choice a lot. 4 link bucket is very good in the snow plus the dual power is awesome.

Peter

[jinman]

Very nice, Peter. I'm glad it's all worked out so well. The fact that you did this all in such a short time says volumes about your skill level. I too had problems aligning the fender holes to the platform and I found cross-threaded bolts going into the side consoles.

If you can believe it, it's snowing here in N. Texas this morning. I have about 1-1/2" to 2" of snow accumulated on my deck and big flakes are steadily falling. It's nothing like you have, but very unusual for us to have this much snow. I guess you know this will end up coming over you too, so having your tractor back in operation is gonna be great. This will probably be there by this weekend. Happy Valentine's Day!