2010 X748 Snow thrower clicking under heavy snow load.

[studenthousing]

I have 2010 X748 all time 4WD with the 2 stage 47" snow blower. When under heavy snow load I hear a clicking or clunking sound. Although it sounds like it is up front, It is really hard to tell where the sound is from because of the cab. I do not get the sound from the 52" power broom or the borrowed 51" older power broom. I am thinking it is coming from the plastic thrower fan because there seems to be a lot of back and forth play when it is not running. The shear bolts are ok and tight, It works flawlessly otherwise. I did not think to check the play prior to the noise. I am looking for Suggestions. Possibly someone to check their blower fan for play, or to see if anyone else has had this issue. JD dealer is 2 hours away and not helpful. I don't seem to have any play in the forward shaft or gearbox. The tractor has just over 200 hours, and the PRO hydraulic fluid seems clear and no metal. I also started to notice during the last project what I would call a gear whine when any PTO attachment is operating. And the forward and reverse speeds do not seem to be as fast they were, and is nowhere close in speeds to our 2008 X748 with 1000+ hours and the 2W 4W shifter. If I posted this in the wrong area I apologize.
Thank you all in advance!

 

[Richard001]

Hi, Sorry to hear that you may or may not have an issue with your thrower. I take it that the thrower is a two stage.
Look in the blower section to see if there is any shiny metal showing were perhaps the thrower is contacting the metal housing.

Richard

 

[beenthere]

I believe JD identifies the thrower to be the single stage, and the blower to be the two-stage. IIRC

Looking at the illustrations, the 46 is a thrower, and the 47 is a blower (two-stage).

Problem may be the eccentric locking collar is not correctly positioned. It is on the drive shaft..

OP may be able to clear up which is which for model no.

Eccentric collar is key #6, and there are two. They keep the parts from shifting back and forth on the shaft when running. Important...

 

[Deere Dude]

I had an older 47" for my 2009 x740 and I remember the chain was loose or at least needed lubrication. It should be easy to check.

 

[arlen4720]

The stiff wire bracket that you hang the pto shaft on can sometimes touch the pto shaft when thing flex up there.
Also, the auger can slide over if the locking collar is loose, and get close to the skid shoes. Then if things flex under load, then the auger can touch the shoes.
Finally, if the chain is loose it will make some racket.
I have experienced all 3 scenarios.

 

[leonz]

Sorry, but I forgot to answer this earlier.

I have thier RAD 47 inch (*&^%$#%^&*( blower it has the plastic three blade impeller with a belt drive and the slop is from the worm and spur gear set up. If it had a gear to gear drive set up the there would be no slop.

Your roller chain sounds like it needs to be replaced as the rollers will always wear down first and make lots of noise as the roller will wear around the pin, wearing down the pin and from side to side before the side links show any wear.

if you can move the roller at all its time to purchase a new chain quickly.


If I could put a single stage on this thing(LA115) I would but my 10 and 20 year old toro snow pups work better and for less money.

 

[studenthousing]

I finally was able to get time off from work to look at the 47" 2 stage snowblower. I purchased the JD service manual for accessories to go by... Well I thought it was the correct manual, It was not for the 47" snowblower I bought from the local dealer. It does not show any chain only a gearbox and how to repair that. My snowblower has a chain and it was very loose, loose enough to jump links. I removed the upstop and adjusted the chain according to the owners manual and also added grease to the chain and sprockets. It seems quieter now however It only "clunked" under a heavy load and our 1 foot of snow is gone. Leonz, based on your response I have ordered a new chain (Ordered both sprockets and the the bearings too) There is still a lot of play in that stupid plastic 3 blade impeller, so that is also on my order. It seems there was a serial number production change where the older blower uses a metal impeller at 4 X the part cost. I do my own fairly long driveway along with almost 2 miles of sidewalks for my job. Because of a previous back injury I absolutely will never shovel snow, so I really can't be without this attachment (between myself and the company I work for there are 2 tractors so there is a backup for the tractor itself). I also have the 51" 52" broom and the 47" plow. This year I purchased the Little Buck Loader for moving stone, dirt, mulch, and of course snow in our lots. Some corporate brainchild at John Deere discontinued the manufacturing of the 45 Loader accessory. I will keep everyone posted of the repair status. Thank you all of leads to the noise problem. Thank you all again for your responses.

 

[beenthere]

sh
Did you find and adjust the eccentric locking collars per reply #3 ??

 

[radios1]

if it uses a slip clutch torque limiter, that would make a clicking sound!.. I had an old snowblower with one.. it does away with the need for shear pins, and their replacement in freezing cold weather!..

 

[studenthousing]

Thank you for responding. I will not know if the loose chain repair I performed was the problem or not until it snows enough to use the snowthrower again. It is a shaft drive to 2 chain sprockets and a chain, then shear pins on the blower and both augers.

This youtube video from someone else explains exactly what was wrong...
John Deere 47 inch Snowblower Chain Adjustment - YouTube