SLHawkins
Gold Member
- Joined
- Nov 23, 2007
- Messages
- 435
- Location
- Northern Virginia
- Tractor
- John Deere 5403, International Harvester 584
Back in April, I had about 75 yards left of a 20+ acre field to finish cutting when I noticed that I wasn't getting a full 20 foot cut. I then noticed that the shaft on the left wing had separated from the main gear housing. My first thought (hope) was that is was just a shear pin. Nope, the spline shaft had completely sheared off. I have no idea what originally caused this shaft to twist. But, it has been twisted since I got it from my uncle (really, it was...lol). Putting two and two together, now I have a better understanding of why the PTO on his IH1566 was broke. Whatever someone hit to cause that splined shaft to twist is what broke the PTO. I have been saying to myself that it is only a matter of time before it completely sheared though. Luckily, it did not do any damage to my tractor when it finally failed. I thought that I'd be able to take this opportunity to switch it over to 540 rpm from 1000 rpm. But, those gears are expensive and it involves a whole lot more than I can afford or feel like dealing with. Even at 540 rpm, I get a pretty good cut (I do need to sharpen the blades though). In any event, thanks to the folks at Messicks, I was able to get the part I needed and now I am ready to get back to cutting. Of course, the grass, weeds, and shrubs have regrown, so I will have to do the whole 20 plus acres again. But, with this batwing, it is only a 3 hour job It was a whole lot easier to fix than I expected. I used the press at the craft shop here on post to remove and re-install the two ring bearings. Luckily, these were not damaged. And, the plate is self sealing, so there were no o-rings or gaskets to replace. Oh, if only all repairs were this easy...:cool2:
Hawk
Hawk