D4mm1t
Member
Hello guys and gals, new member here starting off by begging the smarter members for info to see if this thing is worth the effort to repair.
I was given a Bolens G174 that has issues, the transmission input shaft is stripped at the spline boss, which I assume is also stripped, but otherwise the tractor is fully functional, they bought a new compact tractor and gave me the G174 in hopes it can be fixed and not parted out as he really loves that tractor.
For a temp fix my neighbor ground down a screw driver to form a "pin" to fit into the spring clip hole and more or less bound the two shafts together that way, that worked for one summer but it broke again last spring while mowing, I have not looked yet too see if the screw driver "pin" was sheered or something broken from localized stress.
My question is, if only the screw driver "pin" has sheered could I replace it with something harder (Super hard stainless steel) and it be happy or do I absolutely positively have to break the tractor apart and replace the transmission input shaft and spline boss.. As a comparison, I noticed that the rear wheels are only held on and torque transferred by what looks like 1 every day grade 8 bolt per wheel, pretty much the same idea my neighbor had on his ground down screw driver repair. I was also thinking I could do a bit of welding but I'm concerned the heat would ruin the seal closest to the trans then I would be forced to break the tractor apart and fix it right anyway, the economy has me super broke and for the moment I would prefer to eat than putt around on a cool looking little tractor.
On a side note, the tractor has some implements and my neighbor wants to use them on his new tractor, mostly the 3 point finish mower, I haven't seen the new tractor close up but it's green so I'm assuming its a compact John Deere with a class 1 three point, I have read the Bolens has either a class 0 or 1 and was wondering if his Bolens implements would work on his new tractor so he could save some money and not have to buy a new'ish bush hog, not too sure if the Bolens PTO shaft will fit the PTO of his new tractor either.
I will take pics of the tractor and post them later tomorrow, it sat since spring of last year and started right up today, doesn't look too bad for it's age either.
Thanks for any and all info guys..!!
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