I broke it. Help!

thartweger · Apr 9, 2009

yo 36, id try to beat them down on the cost at that point bud. NEVER hurts to try. might be able to save 200 bucks due to your "inconvienence"

36Tango · Apr 9, 2009

I stopped up at the dealership and they got the axle tube in. It is quite a bit stouter than the original equipment. It is forged instead of cast, and the pivot points are WAAY stronger and alot more massive. Makes me think that this has occurred before!There is also far better sealing with the new unit.

Here is a pic that shows the old and the new. I have a few other pics, but this is by far the best.

36Tango · Apr 9, 2009

Here is the part that broke off. As you can see, the diameter of it is tiny compared to the replacement part.

Farmerford · Apr 9, 2009

36Tango:

Thanks for the pictures. I now understand what happened. There does not appear to be any way to strengthen the trunnion where it broke. And it is not clear (at least from the pictures) whether the crack started at the top (as simple weight would cause) or the bottom (as hitting the axle stop and putting all the weight on one front wheel would cause). Perhaps it was a combination of both over time. Regardless of the exact cause, it is clear to me that the axle is not designed for the loads experienced in rigorus (but not abusive) use.

Guess we will just have to be careful and hope for the best.

Thanks for the pictures.

Farmerford

36Tango · Apr 9, 2009

Farmerford said:
36Tango:

Thanks for the pictures. I now understand what happened. There does not appear to be any way to strengthen the trunnion where it broke. And it is not clear (at least from the pictures) whether the crack started at the top (as simple weight would cause) or the bottom (as hitting the axle stop and putting all the weight on one front wheel would cause). Perhaps it was a combination of both over time. Regardless of the exact cause, it is clear to me that the axle is not designed for the loads experienced in rigorus (but not abusive) use.

Guess we will just have to be careful and hope for the best.

Thanks for the pictures.

Farmerford

If you think that you could shed some light on it, I could UPS the parts to you, and you could then report back to other 2400 owners.

rdbrumfield · Apr 11, 2009

I'm with you Mike. There was a post a while back about how much balast, fluid and such to put on these cuts.

I don't put fluid in mine or hang a lot of weight. By putting that much of a load you are trying to pull the tractor apart in the middle and like the broken axle, when you are picking enough to lift the back, you have the weight of the tractor and the load directly on that one point in the middle of that axle. I am surprised that we don't see a lot more of them broken.
If you are working it that hard, get a bigger machine. Of course there isn't one big enough lol.