And it gets even worse: Update on my Bushhog 286 repairs

[RickB]

The problem with welding it is there’s is no way to weld the top of the bushing old or new to the shaft. It will never hold being welded at the bottom only.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Don't worry about welding the two together. Like RickB says it won't work. Use a chemical weld like JBWeld, put the parts together, let it set for 24 hours and go mowing.

Since JBWeld can hold cylinder liners together in a running Detroit diesel and seal frost cracked engine blocks it can easily deal with this.

 

[FTG-05]

Don't worry about welding the two together. Like RickB says it won't work. Use a chemical weld like JBWeld, put the parts together, let it set for 24 hours and go mowing.

Since JBWeld can hold cylinder liners together in a running Detroit diesel and seal frost cracked engine blocks it can easily deal with this.

This is now the plan.

:drink: for all that helped!

I'll continue to report progress. Thanks!

 

[FTG-05]

That looks VERY promising if the spline count, diameter and taper are a match.

And that brings up a - perhaps - a dumb question I had before but was embarrassed to ask:

Is a 2" 15 spline = to a 2" 15 spline?

In other words, do all 12 spline hubs fit all 12 spline shafts (the other size I've seen on the Agri-Supply site) and the same with 15 spline hubs and 15 spline shafts? The context here is bushhogs/rotary cutters.

And yes, it has a castle nut with cotter pin.

I ordered the 15 spline hub; I figured for $21 plus shipping, I couldn't be worse off than I am right now (plus I trust my firend to be correct). While I did, I ordered one of these as well:

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

And that brings up a - perhaps - a dumb question I had before but was embarrassed to ask:

Is a 2" 15 spline = to a 2" 15 spline?

In other words, do all 12 spline hubs fit all 12 spline shafts (the other size I've seen on the Agri-Supply site) and the same with 15 spline hubs and 15 spline shafts? The context here is bushhogs/rotary cutters.

And yes, it has a castle nut with cotter pin.

I ordered the 15 spline hub; I figured for $21 plus shipping, I couldn't be worse off than I am right now (plus I trust my firend to be correct). While I did, I ordered one of these as well:

Theoretically, yes. There are tolerances to be held for the male and female sides to fit together.

 

[TractorGuy]

Unless the original hub is pressed in the only way you will get it out and the new hub in centered would be to have a machine shop bore it out. By the time you paid for that you could buy two or three stump jumpers. Get any of it crooked and it will shake you off the tractor.

Good luck with it and keep us informed of the fix so we know how to if ours mess up.

I think I need to check the nut on my Howse mower but last I looked it was fine.

 

[art]

Since it won't cost anything, it certainly won't be a waste of money.

Why will it be a waste of time?

If the slip clutch isn't fixed it will be! JB weld is good but not that good! Then again a dealer near him might get excited about a bush hog trade in and allow him top dollar for the next owner to have to deal with it!

 

[FTG-05]

Unless the original hub is pressed in the only way you will get it out and the new hub in centered would be to have a machine shop bore it out. By the time you paid for that you could buy two or three stump jumpers. Get any of it crooked and it will shake you off the tractor.

Good luck with it and keep us informed of the fix so we know how to if ours mess up.

I think I need to check the nut on my Howse mower but last I looked it was fine.

I'm not finding any evidence that it's pressed in. It looked like it's welded to the 1 1/2 blade bar; which means I have to grind/cut all that metal away. Looking to find out more details from my friend when he comes over and consults over it.

The good news is that it must be possible since AS sells a replacement hub. Hopefully.

 

[radios1]

looking at the spline, it seems the problem was either the nut loosened up and allowed the hub to drop down so it only engaged the end of the spline, or this had a poor design, or rigged from the beginning. the whole spline should be engaged by the hub!..

 

[FTG-05]

looking at the spline, it seems the problem was either the nut loosened up and allowed the hub to drop down so it only engaged the end of the spline, or this had a poor design, or rigged from the beginning. the whole spline should be engaged by the hub!..

I may not have been clear about how loose this SJ and the output shaft were between the two of them.

First, there was no rotational friction and/or force between the two. You could easily spin the SJ (other than it's weight and mass) and the output shaft would stay completely still. And it's fairly easy to spin the output shaft; hardly takes any effort at all.

2nd, there was a huge gap between the top of the hub and the shaft allowing the SJ and blades to hit the cutter deck. I have to chuckle at the person who worried about the SJ and shaft being "crooked". The standard here isn't factory-fresh runout (although that's a worthy goal); the standard here is to be better than it was. And that's going to be stupid easy.

In short, it's not really a question of how this cutter worked so badly; it's a question of: How in the world did it work - at all?

Now, what caused it? Bad heat treat/material on the hub (it's almost all gone); badly maladjusted slip clutch, causing the hub splines to crack and break or as mentioned above, the castle nut not properly torqued. Or all the above.

Again, the good news is that Agri Supply sells a hub only and my friend fixing these quite often at the local farm store are indications that this isn't a new and/or rare failure mode. Hence, should be fixable.