Cautionary tale. Check your Shear Bolts and get a fire extinguisher for your tractor

[canoetrpr]

Good day friends. I haven't been on here in a while. I hope that this experience I have had will save someone else the hazard.

I purchased my Meteor 75" pull type snowblower with my Kubota M7040. As luck would have it I never got to use the blower last year as we had such a mild winter. This winter, we just had a storm worth blowing and I was thrilled to go out and blow this morning.

About half way through I noticed that the blower was bogging up. There was just over a foot or so of snow. I went to lift the blower but realized that it was no longer blowing any snow. If you have ever had a PTO shear pin break on you - it was just like that. I figured that one of my dogs must have done what they often do and left a piece of firewood that they steal from the wood pile on the driveway. I look behind the cab as I normally do in such instances just to confirm what the status of the shaft is expecting that it just would not be spinning and WHOA! My shaft has been torn off into two pieces. The one attached to the tractor is spinning all over the place and not only that, the wildly spinning around tractor end of the shaft is on FIRE!!!

I stop the tractor, run in the house and grab a fire extinguisher that we bought some 7 years ago upon the recommendation of our insurance agent when she was doing an inspection. I was able to put the fire out quickly with no damage to the tractor. It was the grease on the shaft that was on fire.

As I suspected, when I took the shaft off the blower, I found that the shear bolt was still intact and some IDIOT who had put the shaft together had put a GRADE 8 bolt on for the shear bolt!!. I cannot still get the tractor end of the shaft off. I normally slides right off when the collar is pulled forward but I wonder if it may have something to the heat but it is not sliding off. I will have to go work on that another day.

I called my dealer and unfortunately the owner and service manager are out. They have been nothing by great with my tractor thus far on the couple very minor things that have come up. I'm sure they will be appalled to hear about the shear bolt. I talked to a guy at the parts counter and he was surprised to hear it and confirmed for me that the shaft comes totally assembled from the blower manufacturer and they just put it on. I'll be advising my dealer that they ought to check all the shear bolts to ensure this is avoided.

So far everything seems to be in working order. I have no idea what the shock has done to my driveline but it seems to be spinning the shaft fine.

My suggestion to my fellow tractoring friends.

1. Go out now and check any shear bolts on your implements which have not been install by you yourself. It will only take a few minutes but it will save you a lot of trouble if someone made the same mistake.
2. Purchase a fire extinguisher for your tractor. I did not have this and I don't want to know what would have occurred if I was far away from the house and this was a mower on a hot dry summer day rather than a blower. I will be getting a few right away. One for each tractor, one for each floor on the house.

[bigtiller]

I have a 10 pound Halonite extinguisher at each end of my garage but none on the mower. That's a good idea you have, I'll have to look for a spot for a small one on my 2720.

[Gordon Gould]

Thanks for the story. A good reminder of how little things can cause big trouble. I am glad you were able to keep things under control. I have thought for a while that I should have an extinguisher on the tractor but just haven't gotten around to it. I will make a point to do it now.

gg

[k0ua]

It probably didn't seem very funny at the time but a spinning shaft of death flailing around the back of the tractor is one thing, but being on fire too!
sure would have made a heck of a video, might have won some money on Americas Funniest Home Videos! Glad you "took care of business" quickly.

James K0UA

[Baby Grand]

The fire extinguisher is something I don't carry on the tractor, but really should.
Having one right when you need it, as Canoetrpr demonstrated, can really save your bacon.
I think I could rig a bracket on the ROPS that would even look somewhat sporty.

[Zebrafive]

The fire extinguisher is something I don't carry on the tractor, but really should.
Having one right when you need it, as Canoetrpr demonstrated, can really save your bacon.
I think I could rig a bracket on the ROPS that would even look somewhat sporty.

Plus one

[MtnViewRanch]

Easy and clean. 2 hose clamps and 1 fire extinguisher.

[canoetrpr]

Very clean Brian. I've got to figure out where I can put one in the cab without too much drilling.

[cheoah]

Sometimes my drivelines heat up when under a load, like the round baler, and that heavy shaft gets stuck on there. A little squirt of kroil, and just a little bit of persuasion with a pry bar and it's off. Hopefully yours is that simple.

[jimainiac]

Really glad to hear that since you were home and near a fire extinguisher things turned out okay. I think of fire extinguishers as cheap insurance policies, you get them and hope you never need them. I have them all over the place, and one with each vehicle, but here's another thought - it's important to check their gauges and replace or recharge if necessary. Example: I put a fire extinguisher on the tractor's roll bar years ago. One time while bushogging I backed under a low branch and the extinguisher got set off for a short burst. That was a surprise! The gauge now reads a little low. They say that setting them off even once breaks the seal, allowing them to leak down. The point is, this story gives me the incentive to replace that little sucker before I actually need it. I also read that the constant vibration of being on the tractor can compact the contents of the extinguisher to the point where it might not work. Don't know if that's true or not, but I figure why take a chance. I'm putting this on the top of my to-do list.