Lovejoy wear on my mower

[woodlandfarms]

Well, so this has been going on for a while. A few years ago I was gone all summer and the neighbor kid got the fun filled job of mowing our 40 acres. But he did not no the quirks of the PT and missed the loose and vibrating mower motor.. I came back, saw it loose, noticed the rubber was shot on the lovejoy and didn't think anyting of it. Replaced the rubber and put the motor back on. 2 years later, lovejoy rubber has failed. Replace but do not inspect.

One year later (now) lovejoy rubber has failed, looked at it hard... Well @#)(W*%^)(* ! Just ordered two new lovejoys (cause you know they have different shaft sizes thank you PT).

 

[Wagtail]

Well at the very least you can satisfy yourself that I learnt today what a Lovejoy coupling is.

I've never encountered them before but, man, I'm sure going to impress my neighbours when I drop this wee titbit of new-found knowledge into a conversation.

Ta Mate! :thumbsup:

 

[J_J]

Most lovejoy couplings fail due to misalignment or loose mounting bolts.

 

[ponytug]

And when JJ says misalignment, he means microns. You need to get out there with your dial gauge and check, and check, and check again.

If they aren't aligned, they'll get chewed up pretty darn quick.

All the best,

Peter

 

[woodlandfarms]

Yeah, I straightedge when I mount, but damage was done a while ago. just never caught it.

 

[SpringHollow]

From Northern Tool, you can order the parts individually and get the sizes you need.

Ken

 

[prs]

Well, I still am not sure just what a lovejoy is, but I don't think I own anything with one on it and by this talk, I do not want anything with one on it.

OK, I googled it and now I see what it is. I have had such flex couplers on pumps before and some motorcycles have a similar arrangement between the drive flange and wheel. I saw that Lovejoy is a company that makes a variety of these. I guess it is a good way of coupling vibration prone parts, just don't let the kids operate. LOL

prs

 

[MossRoad]

Maybe I'm just luck but I've pulled the lovejoy apart at least twice a year for 14 years and never thought about aligning it. I just bolt everything back together and it goes. With that said, though, I only use it maybe 10 hours per year... and break blade bolts about every 5 hours.