This ole boy would break an anvil!

[prs]

Not sure just how I managed to mangle this wheel yoke on my rough cut. Was cutting multi-flora rose and autumn olive tangle to reclaim invaded field along old fence rows. Noticed drag marks in the dirt and on inspection this bent heavy steel yoke. Set me back over $50.00 to replace.

prs

 

[CalG]

Paint held up good!

 

[DT86]

I'd say you got off easy at $50.

 

[Raw Dodge]

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=464731"/> Not sure just how I managed to mangle this wheel yoke on my rough cut. Was cutting multi-flora rose and autumn olive tangle to reclaim invaded field along old fence rows. Noticed drag marks in the dirt and on inspection this bent heavy steel yoke. Set me back over $50.00 to replace. prs

The part looks fairly lightweight to keep total weight of the attachment down, although it probably still took a lot of power to bend it.With the hydraulic power and traction of a Ventrac ,it's very easy to do damage without even knowing you did it...Id like to see the sides of that castor a little beefier, but that may result in a snapped castor bearing shaft,broken bearing races,or bending the castor arms or deck itself.

 

[brucet47]

View attachment 464731

Not sure just how I managed to mangle this wheel yoke on my rough cut. Was cutting multi-flora rose and autumn olive tangle to reclaim invaded field along old fence rows. Noticed drag marks in the dirt and on inspection this bent heavy steel yoke. Set me back over $50.00 to replace.

prs

Did the wheel come off? I had a similar circumstance last Summer. In my case the bearing failed in the housing allowing the entire yoke and wheel to fall under the rough cut. Needless to say it was pretty noisy for about 5 seconds. Did not know what I had hit until I stopped and saw the damage. As I ordered parts to rebuild the bearing housing I discovered that all of the Ventrac products that use leading wheels use the same bearing frame. I assumed the tough cut bearing housing would be more robust, but it is not the case. There is only a small retaining ring that holds the whole assembly in place and if a bearing begins to wear all of the stress is placed on that ring. Once that ring fails there's nothing to hole the yoke in the housing. Now I make it a habit to raise the mower and check for any excessive play in the forward wheel assemblies prior to use.

My yoke was OK, however I notched a big gouge out of the rubber tire so my repair was a good bit more than $50. Lessons learned!

 

[Hoochy]

Seems like it might have taken a good lick while doing a tight turn if some debri prevented the assemly from pivoting around. I would beat it back into shape and keep on using it.

 

[prs]

Did the wheel come off? I had a similar circumstance last Summer. In my case the bearing failed in the housing allowing the entire yoke and wheel to fall under the rough cut. Needless to say it was pretty noisy for about 5 seconds. Did not know what I had hit until I stopped and saw the damage. As I ordered parts to rebuild the bearing housing I discovered that all of the Ventrac products that use leading wheels use the same bearing frame. I assumed the tough cut bearing housing would be more robust, but it is not the case. There is only a small retaining ring that holds the whole assembly in place and if a bearing begins to wear all of the stress is placed on that ring. Once that ring fails there's nothing to hole the yoke in the housing. Now I make it a habit to raise the mower and check for any excessive play in the forward wheel assemblies prior to use.

My yoke was OK, however I notched a big gouge out of the rubber tire so my repair was a good bit more than $50. Lessons learned!

The only damage was to the yoke itself. The wheel and all bearings are fine. I will look at the parts diagram to see that external snap ring arrangement. Thanks for the heads up.

Hoochy, that sucker was bent in just about every plane you can imagine. My ears ring loud enough already, beating that steel back into shape was not worth it to me.

prs

 

[John Joseph McVeigh]

I do not have a rough-cut mower, but I have noticed that the caster wheels on my broom and center-discharge mower deck really like to be greased very regularly. Bruce is wise to raise the mower deck and to check for any excessive play in the forward wheel assemblies prior to each use.