JD 513 eating sheer bolts

[JerryT]

I agree. Something has to be binding. One thing to look at, since you indicated that the mower was fully raised, is on my JD 4400 I can get some big angles on my PTO shaft and if the angle is to steep the u joints can bind. Try engaging the PTO drive just before it reaches ground level and disengage it if your going to raise it very much.

 

[woodyed]

Not that I have any immediate solution to your problem other than confronting your dealer, but this is an excellent arguement for buying a rotary mower/cutter with a slip clutch.

 

[TBone]

I had the exact same problem with a Bush Hog Squealer. I tried different hardnesses of bolts and it ate 'em all. I finally drilled out the flange to accept 1/2" bolts and had no more problems. I sold the cutter soon after that though.

Drilling out the flange voided the warranty (it was new) but I didn't have any choice. Bush Hog wouldn't do anything about it and it was completely useless the way it was.

TBone

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>I finally drilled out the flange to accept 1/2" bolts and had no more problems</font color=blue>
I'm not an engineer, but wouldn't doing this mean that whatever stress that was causing the recommended bolts to shear, would be transmitted to the next weakest, and probably more expensive, part of the driveline?

 

[gerard]

Gotta agree with Mike on this and wouldn't do a fix that way. I can turn my pto shaft easily (though slowly) by hand when disconnected from the pto output shaft. If you can't somethings binding where it shouldn't and the shear bolts are likley doing jsut what they are designed to. If you CAN tunr everything freely and there doesn't seem to be any binding then I can only guess that the PTO, as previously mentioned may be engaging too quickly. I don't have a live pto so mine engages as I let the clutch out. I suppose if I just popped the clutch at high rpm it could shear the bolt prior to getting the blades up to speed. You should have some idea if that seems to be the problem as you'd get a pretty big jerk/band when it engaged.

 

[RobS]

The more I think about this the more I think it has to be some sort of impact not a steady state binding of the shaft. If the shaft/gearbox/blades were binding enough to shear a bolt you probably wouldn't get it turning in the first place. Shear bolts are designed to protect the tractor from impact loads.

If you are sure you're not hitting things while mowing look very hard at the PTO engagement. Is your tractor all the way at idle during engagement? Can you ease the clutch out or is it a "push button". When I engage my PTO I can hear a dull "thunk" when the mower starts spinning but it's all at idle speed. Only after everything is moving do I slowly bring the RPMs up. Do you have a two stage clutch (if a gear trans)? I sheared a bolt once when I forgot about the two stage clutch. I pushed the clutch all the way in for some reason and must have held it there for a while. By the time I resumed the mower had coasted down quite a bit and when I let the clutch out it smacked the mower with full PTO speed.

If nothing else, reread your manuals for the correct PTO engagement procedure. If you do all that and still have problems I'd talk to the dealer /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[KGO]

You should have your dealer look up dtac solution # 54627 it reads that the factory is aware of the problem with these tractors shearing pins on 513 rotary cutters and are working on a solution for this problem. The only answer for the problem right now is to use a drive shaft with a slip clutch.

KGO

 

[rstcso]

Thanks, KGO.

I contacted the dealer and gave him the information. I asked him what "we" were going to do about it. He told me "we'd" just have to wait until JD comes up with a solution. He told me I could buy a drive line with slip clutch for $90. I'd have told him to order it right away, but why should I be out even more money to fix a problem that's not my fault?

Between having bent hydraulic lines on the loader, delivering a box blade that wasn't compatible with the iMatch (and then paying more $s for the Frontier so I could use it), and now this, my frustration level is getting pretty high. UGHH! Thanks again.

 

[joecdeere]

I think your dealer needs to wake up, this has been out and avail to him for quite a while........
Solution Number: 53287

Doc ID: WX53287

Solution Summary: Shear Bolt Fails Easily on 413/513 and LX4/LX5 Rotary Cutters

Publication Date: Jul 12 2002



Complaint or Symptom:

Shear bolt fails easily.

Problem or Situation:

Tractor PTO engages too aggressively, PTO cannot be modulated, or material being cut is too dense and heavy. This may too much stress to be placed on shear bolt causing failure. The 19M7329 repair bolt may not be strong enough when any of these conditions exist.

Solution:

Install 19M7479 Grade 8.8 bolt that has a longer shank. If application is still too heavy, a 19M8081 Grade 10.9 may be tried but care should be taken. Increasing shear strength of bolt may result in other damage to the driveline if due care is not practiced. The best solution is to install a clutch protected driveline.



413, 513, LX4, LX5



DRIVELINE, MISC, PERFORM, BROKEN, FAIL, BOLT, COMPONENT

 

[rstcso]

Thank you, joecdeere.

I contacted another JD dealer in the area. I told him the problem I was having and that I'd purchased the tractor and implements from a competitor. He told me he'd sell me the slip-clutch drive line at the option upgrade price of $80, if I gave him my old drive line. He said he'd find a use for it on a used sale someday. He even has one in stock! He also told me he'd be happy to have me as a customer on any warranty work needed. This is with full knowledge I purchased it elsewhere. Well, guess who's going to be getting all my business and any other I can drum up for them?!!!

By the way, even though I gave the dealer where I bought the tractor the dtac #, I still haven't heard from him. No surprises there.