Bad news on my TC33D

[John_Mc]

An update, and a little more background: I do have a Woods backhoe (bought useda few years after I bought the tractor). It was never used on the 3 Pt Hitch. I bought a Woods 4 point quick attach backhoe subframe and had it installed. The subframe stays on the backhoe full time. I'm almost certain that the break was loader related, not backhoe or 3 Pt hitch related.

The backhoe has not been used in probably 10 or 12 years, and was used very lightly when it was used. The subframe did double duty as the place to mount by belly pan/skid plate. That subframe along with the limb risers and FOPS running along the top of the tractor kept the tractor together even though the clutch housing was completely cracked in two. Part of the crack showed corrosion, so was obviously there for some time.

I've decided to have a local tractor mechanic do the repairs, rather than the dealer. I've been happy with the service from the dealer, but their shop rate is almost double what my local friend charges. I've also been able to put in some time helping him, which may help keep the billable hours down. My plan is to eventually sell it. I’m shopping around for a new tractor as I get time.

The current situation:

 

[Yander]

Holy snikey, that is some kind of torn down! Good luck!

 

[sd455dan]

Looking Good and moving right along

Maybe some new paint as it goes back together?

Be careful it may come out so Good you will want to keep it

 

[ericm979]

Did you see anything that would have caused the loss of drive after the "pop"? Like damaged splines?

 

[ruffdog]

I see some of the break was rusted so it had been cracked for a while.

 

[arrow]

Sorry to hear about your problem I had the same issue back in the early '70s with a sato tractor just my two cents I would try to find the same tractor with a blown engine and switch engines or sell it off for parts and cut your loss it will never be the same and it's an old tractor check out the t y m Branson and coyote they are more robust tractor heavier built if you need a backhoe 3-point back hoe have a lot of issues as you have had forget the backhoe sell it off and buy a small excavator a small excavator will out work a 3-point backhoe but that is just my opinion I know I'll probably get a lot of flack from other people on this site which I hope it doesn't happen good luck best wishes and God bless

Even if you got flack, so what. You expressed your opinion and had the courage to do so.
There is no "flack" that can equal that.

 

[etpm]

If I had this happen to me I would be tempted to empty the casting of any components, clean it extremely well, and then weld or tig braze it back together. That is if the two halves seemed to fit together very well. There would still be a risk of the repair not being concentric enough. If the bell housing locates to the engine with only dowels then checking concentricity might be tough. But if the bell housing locates with a register, in other words a machined bore and a machined boss the bore fits, then checking concentricity would be easy. At least easy for any half way competent machine shop. Because there is slop between the fit of the splines on the input shaft and the splines in the friction disc I would think that .004" concentricity or less would be fine. The face of the bell housing would also need to be perpendicular to the input shaft. I don't know how close but it should be within a few thousandths. But this could be achieved with judicious use of a sharp file.
I say all the above because I am a retired machinist and still own my shop. So I have all the tools and expertise. But I have known a few folks who were not machinists or welders but still were handy and who managed to make some pretty darn good repairs.
Eric

 

[redman135]

Hello John_Mc, If you have the manual gearbox, when you go to join the tractor again engage the pto shaft and rotate the gearbox input shaft via the pto shaft. This trick works on manual gearbox masseys, so it may work on your tractor. It saves a lot of frayed temper.
Good Luck.

 

[dodge man]

That’s a shame. I think a lot of makers have gotten away from that design and gone to a frame to carry the load. I know there were some John Deere designs that were similar and people that used the end loader hard had them break in half also.

 

[I Piddle]

I got some bad news about my NH TC33D yesterday.

Two weeks ago, I was out working on the far corner of my property when I heard a POP! Engine was still running fine, but I lost all power to the wheels. Shifting into various ranges did nothing. I decide to push myself backwards enough to get the tractor to the trail intersection a short distance behind me, where it would be easier to get to to tow the tractor home. I pushed back about 2 feet, when all of the sudden, the wheels started working again. I drove it back home and called the dealer to pick it up to check it over in case something serious had happened

With the holiday weekend, deer season in full swing, and some jobs ahead of me in their line-up, they were not able to get to it until yesterday. I got a call from the service department guy, who explained that the transmission housing had cracked. I went down there today to check it out and speak to the service tech who had looked at it. He said that the backhoe subframe and the limb-risers and falling object protection I had added were the only reason the tractor was still in one piece.

He estimated that the repairs could run around $6-7000, and that was IF everything came apart and went back together easily. If they found other damage when they got in to it, it could be more. (This is using new parts. They have not yet looked for a used housing. The new housing runs about $2700, if I'm correctly remembering what they told me. That's included in the $6-7000 rough estimate.)

So now I'm faced with a dilemma: do I repair the tractor (and hope there isn't more about to go one a 20+ year old tractor), or do a go for a new one and jump up a size to what I probably should have been using all along for my work in the woods?

New tractors are pretty darn expensive these days. My TC 33D was running well otherwise.

Any guesses as to what a 2001 NH TC33D with loader would be worth if it did not have this major issue? If I thought I could get my money back out of it, I might repair it, run it for a bit, and then sell it in a year or so and get a new one then. That's assuming I could expect to get at least the repair cost back out of it when I sold. It does have some nice modifications for working in the forest, which might add value for the right buyer.

Have you contracted any welders to have it welded back together? I have a 60 HP 4 Wheel Drive tractor welded back for $1,700. They had to pull it in half weld it up and bolt it back. The guy did a fantastic job. I have no idea what caused mine to break. I have seen on some forums that the bolts weren't tightened from the factor. But those guys were just chatting about loose bolts, their tractors didn't break in half.