loose wheel bolts on NH boomer

   / loose wheel bolts on NH boomer #1  

jimg

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2003
Messages
2,030
I know theres a thread about this or perhaps it was mentioned in passing b/c I remember it. However I sure cant find it anymore. At any rate I wound up ruining a front wheel & bolts on my 24 b/c the bolts loosened during operation. (Why/how does that happen anyway????) I knew this was a problem but didnt know it would turn up so soon (only have 14 hrs on my machine). I did check tightness at about 8 or so and all was happy. After looking at the owners manual the first wheel bolt check isnt until 50hrs. It seems that I need to check them more often but am unsure just what the interval should be. Clearly 50hrs is too long. Possibly this is a problem only seen on new machines and once the bolts are torqued a couple times things settle down??? I plan to check w/ my dealer on Mon to get the company line....which I thought was in the manual...oh well. At least I caught the problem before things got to the point of an accident. In fact the wheel wasnt badly damaged but enough to required a new one and bolts too. Your input would be greatly appreciated.

As an aside what other items should I be looking at more often than the book recommends???? jimg
 
   / loose wheel bolts on NH boomer #2  
jimg,
This has happened to a number of Boomer owners here. I was lucky and noticed the wheel wobbling before it got too late. I took my lug bolts out and used some threadlock on them and re-installed. You're not the first to have one come off, someone else had to have a hub replaced in the recent past.
 
   / loose wheel bolts on NH boomer
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Hi Jerry,
Yes, I recall seeing posts discussing this but just cant seem to find them.

I sure would like to understand the root cause of this problem. In my case nothing actually came off. The hub just got loose and wallowed out a couple bolt holes. Also since the bolts were loose the threads got ground up by the wobbling wheel. Thankfully the replacement parts arent expensive. I just wished I understood exactly what the check interval should be and why this happens in the first place. None of the other wheels had a problem and as I said I did check at around 8hrs. Oh well.....
 
   / loose wheel bolts on NH boomer #4  
I don't understand the root cause, but my JD manual says to check the wheel bolt torque frequently (daily?) for the first 50 hours. It seems that cars don't have this problem - whats the diff? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
   / loose wheel bolts on NH boomer #5  
Bolts on my Kubota wheels worked loose after the first few hours. No problems since. I do check them now, I think the manual stated the need for checking those bolts.. every 35 hours? Or maybe 50? I'll have to look at my manual when I find it again. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
   / loose wheel bolts on NH boomer #6  
On my way to a job I cut cross-country and saw a semi truck parked in a substation.
When I got closer I saw he had lost BOTH of his drive tires and wheels on the left front drive axle.
He had a pretty good let down.
It was hub pilot wheels and the studs where still on axle.
I don't know how far he drove to find this place to park along a State route or where the tires went.
I wouldn't want to hit one of them even in a p/u let alone one of the tincan cars.
 
   / loose wheel bolts on NH boomer #7  
John Deere does not bolt the back wheels on like Kubota,Kubota has the stud that goes through the hub and has a nut and a lockwasher on the backside.
The John Deere 4000/4010 series the bolts just screw into the hub and do not go through the back side,thus they are not able to put a nut and lockwasher on the inside of the hub.
I had a loose wheel bolt problem a couple years back.
My 1st winter of ownership I had R-4 tires and was using the backblade to do some major dirt removal,the R-4 tires had a fair amount of slippage,no loose wheel bolt problems at all.
The next summer I bought new R-1 tires and rims and installed them my self.The R-4 tires did not offer the amount of traction I needed.
Later on the tractor goes back to the dealer to have a small hydro leak repaired that was caused by the dealer who had worked on my tractor earlier.
Late fall I continue working on my landscaping project that I had started the previous winter,the only difference is this year I have R-1 tires and rims where as the previous year I had R-4 tires.
Before I know it the wheel bolts are starting to loosen on the tractor,I have to torque them frequently,because they keep wanting to back out.
The tractor goes back to the dealer to have a 4 in 1 loader installed,I tell them about the loose wheel bolt problem.
The dealer calls me back and says the axles and wheel centers need replaced,the bolt holes are damaged.I say okay..........they tell me John Deere is not going to cover the expense because I installed the R-1 tires myself,I tell them to tell John Deere that they were the last ones to install the wheels because the dealer had them off to fix the hydraulic leak.
They get back with me and John Deere has agreed to install new wheel centers and axle and hubs.
The tractor is delivered to my home with the new loader and wheel centers,I go back to work on my excavating project which requires lots of heavy cutting the soil with the backblade and about 2 HOURS ,that is right 2 hours the same day the tractor is returned from the dealer the wheel bolts are coming loose again.I call the dealer and they do not know what to say or do,the John Deere rep more or less washed his hands of this ordeal.I am on my own. I finished up with my project and have not had anymore problems.
Here is my hypothesis:
1. The 1st winter doing this excavating work the R-4 tires slipped more than the R-1 tires do thus reducing the amount of torque transferred to the axle bolts and wheel centers.
2. The second year doing the same job the R-1 tires offered me so much more traction and able to move larger amount of dirt with the blade,the wheel bolts were getting a lot more torque than with the R-4 tires.
3. I feel that if the rear wheels had been designed to bolt on and have a nut and lock washer on the backside like the Kubotas this problem would not occur.
I have not had any problems just mowing and tilling,general tractor work.But anytime I have the backblade on the tractor and I am moving lots of dirt,heavy pulling with blade is when I experience the wheel bolts coming loose.
The project I was doing was asking a lot out of the tractor,people who came to my house thought I had been using a bulldozer for the amount of dirt I had moved.
I put the tractor to the extreme test and found the flaw.

One more note, the dealer that done the repair work was in Ohio and is not the dealer in WVa(my favorite dealer) I originally bought the tractor from.

I have the old axles and wheel centers and I will be darned if I can see anything wrong with them.
 
   / loose wheel bolts on NH boomer #8  
<font color="blue">3. I feel that if the rear wheels had been designed to bolt on and have a nut and lock washer on the backside like the Kubotas this problem would not occur.
</font>

I dunno. I've owned a few VW's that used wheel bolts into a threaded hub instead of lug nuts and studs and those things never loosened up, even when driving on lots of bumpy gravel roads. And the wheel bolt torque was only 75 lbs on 4 bolts as opposed to the 115 lbs and 6 bolts on many CUTs.
 
   / loose wheel bolts on NH boomer
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Thanx very much for all of the replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk about it. I have an email off to the dealer for more info. When he replies Ill pass along that info.

Beyond the wheel bolts is there anything else I should be checking in shorter intervals than those published? I check fluids everytime I take the tractor out and grease according to instructions.
jimg
 
 
Top