3pt not working, not sure what I broke

[CH4Ohio]

We're on glacial till, so all rocks. Without down force on the auger it just spins around heating up the rocks until they turn back into lava.

Got it. Sounds like you need a much smaller drill and sticks of dynamite!

Good luck with the repairs. Thanks for the follow-up info.

 

[sal2910]

I did the same thing with a B2910 10+ years ago. Hard clay and some rocks. Auger screwed in faster than I could hit the clutch pedal, large bang and oil leaking. Same failure to the rockshaft casting and debris chipped a tooth on one of the gears. An expensive lesson for me, and I think your battle analysis is spot on with the reason it broke and best not let the rear end/wheels move at all if I ever suspected a similar kind of situation. I had to hire some guys to come in and finish digging the post holes and they used a hydraulic auger that was slow and steady and best of all they could reverse it. I sold the 3 pt auger and will rent a hydraulic auger if I ever need to drill holes again as it is a much better tool for the job IMO.

 

[Username Taken]

Is there any more clever way to wipe all the small bits of shrapnel out of the bottom of the cases other than a paper towel and elbow grease? I used a magnet to pickup the steel bits, but some of it came off the aluminum casting.

When we used to tear stuff up on an engine (shock) we'd pour two or three gallons of mineral spirits in it and then drain it. Repeat if necessary.

You could try diesel fuel first. Or maybe first and last. But mineral spirits works better.

 

[BeezFun]

I sold the 3 pt auger and will rent a hydraulic auger if I ever need to drill holes again as it is a much better tool for the job IMO.

Same here, I rented a skid steer and finished up with that. It still has a tough time getting through the rocks but at least it doesn't tear anything up.

 

[BeezFun]

When we used to tear stuff up on an engine (shock) we'd pour two or three gallons of mineral spirits in it and then drain it. Repeat if necessary.

You could try diesel fuel first. Or maybe first and last. But mineral spirits works better.

That's a good idea because it's easy to flush the fluid out the side of the case, I've got the wheel gear case off so the fluid will just run on the ground.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Found one more thing I found, something penetrated the side of the differential case and made two holes into the gear case area. Here's a photo. I cleaned up the edges of the holes, I'm just going to leave it as is. Those two cases share oil anyway, so I don't think the holes will hurt anything. I looked at the price of replacing that case, wow. I'd spend more than the tractor is worth trying to make everything perfect again. The shrapnel from the holes was lying on the bottom of the case, hopefully things didn't migrate around too much in the oil.

Round those holes out. Cracks love corners.

 

[NCL4701]

Just found this thread and read the whole thing. Very much appreciate your posting all of the details of causation, damage, and repairs. I have been debating the extra cost of a loader mounted low flow hydraulic PHD run off the 3rd function I already have v a cheaper PTO PHD (which I’m much more familiar with and is by far most common in this area). Am aware the PHD on loader is preferable due to down pressure and reversability. Never seen or heard of this type problem with the PTO PHD. Another reason to go with either the hydraulic low flow for the tractor or rent a skid steer with PHD. Cost saving on the PTO PHD could easily get eaten up plus a lot more with this type damage. So, thank you.

 

[BeezFun]

Just found this thread and read the whole thing. Very much appreciate your posting all of the details of causation, damage, and repairs. I have been debating the extra cost of a loader mounted low flow hydraulic PHD run off the 3rd function I already have v a cheaper PTO PHD (which I’m much more familiar with and is by far most common in this area). Am aware the PHD on loader is preferable due to down pressure and reversability. Never seen or heard of this type problem with the PTO PHD. Another reason to go with either the hydraulic low flow for the tractor or rent a skid steer with PHD. Cost saving on the PTO PHD could easily get eaten up plus a lot more with this type damage. So, thank you.

After seeing how small the internal parts for a 3pt are, I'd never use it for a post hole digger again unless you're sure the soil is rock free and root free so there won't be any shock loading. I can rent a skid steer with an auger for $350 a day. I have a post pounder that I use instead of an auger for fence posts, that works much better. But sometimes I need concrete on the bottom of the hole to prevent wind uplift so I need an auger for those.

 

[BeezFun]

Got the parts from Messick, put it back together far enough to test the 3pt. Seems to work properly, it can lift my sorry ass. So far I'm into this for $500 in parts and $100 for fluid. I won't be able to test the clutch until I get it back together in the next day or two.

Here's the control valve with the broken pieces retrieved from the bottom of the case. Had to buy the new valve and the spool as an assembly, they don't sell them separately. That was $350, the most expensive part. Had to put the old one in the oven for an hour to get it hot enough to get all the plug screws out of it. Should have ordered new ones, would have been a lot easier.