A new home for a crippled Bolens G174

[NHmitch]

So I have been looking, and it looks like that part is the gear input, Iseki part# 1427-202-0010-0. I came across this site, and they actually may have the parts that you need..¼ÖÂδط¸ : ew-parts, Japanese Tractors Parts Shop : Online Shopping

The Rops are very well built on my tractor, and I could not be happier with how they installed. They are the only certified aftermarket Rops on the market, and they are made by Hercules. I hope that you have some luck finding a ROPS program. I went through NYCAMH. They were amazing, and they may be able to help you as well: New Hampshire ROPS Rebate Program
It's tough having to spend so much money to fix your tractor up, but overtime it will come together, and will give your decades of great use if you care for it, and it sounds like you take very good care of your vehicles.

I'll keep looking for you, and see what I can find....

This is my tractor when I was cutting firewood for this winter:

 

[TomSeller]

I believe the original failure of the tractor is still a mystery, it did happen while he was mowing one of his fields though.

I have not looked at the mower deck at all to be honest, it should have a sheer pin somewhere between the PTO and main drive gear of the mower I would hope, but I have never owned anything this size before so I could be wrong. It is belt driven so if something would jam the blades I think the belt would slip before any damage would occur, if the gears in the mower would jam that's another story but the mower seems to function properly, but I have only used it a few minutes at the most.

My theory is this, I noticed a noise coming from the transmission that makes me believe there is at least one damaged tooth on at least one gear and that "bad spot" may get jammed under certain circumstances and then something has to give. He mows at a good pace so the engine is probably cranking out max torque and if the transmission would somehow jam and stop all at once something has to fail, I will check every gear for damage once I break it apart to be certain but so far that is the only logical scenario I can come up with.

There has to be something that needs to be corrected if the splines failed while he was mowing and if the screwdriver repair did as well. Those Isekis are known to be tough little tractors. Even with belts on the mower, they can be so tight that not enough slipping occurs. People also put hardened bolts in as shear bolts thinking it will save them money. Shear bolts need to be soft so they protect the equipment. Slip clutches can also rust up and stop protecting as well. It looks like you are going to be able to get the tractor repaired, I would just hate to see you use his setup and damage your tractor again.

 

[TomSeller]

So I have been looking, and it looks like that part is the gear input, Iseki part# 1427-202-0010-0. I came across this site, and they actually may have the parts that you need..¼ÖÂδط¸ : ew-parts, Japanese Tractors Parts Shop : Online Shopping

Nice site, never found that one before. Know if this is the shifter boot? It looks like it but the descriptor doesn't make sense.

 

[D4mm1t]

So I have been looking, and it looks like that part is the gear input, Iseki part# 1427-202-0010-0. I came across this site, and they actually may have the parts that you need..車体関係 : ew-parts, Japanese Tractors Parts Shop : Online Shopping

The Rops are very well built on my tractor, and I could not be happier with how they installed. They are the only certified aftermarket Rops on the market, and they are made by Hercules. I hope that you have some luck finding a ROPS program. I went through NYCAMH. They were amazing, and they may be able to help you as well: New Hampshire ROPS Rebate Program
It's tough having to spend so much money to fix your tractor up, but overtime it will come together, and will give your decades of great use if you care for it, and it sounds like you take very good care of your vehicles.

I'll keep looking for you, and see what I can find....

This is my tractor when I was cutting firewood for this winter:

Mitch, all I can say about your tractor is WOW..!! It looks good, has cool toys to play with and is probably a tool you can not live without now.

How does your tractor handle your trailer fully loaded.? Could it safely handle a larger trailer you think.?

At my age a ROPS is a must, it may take me a while to get one but I have to have it.

I checked that site out and looks to be an overseas dealer, no big deal but would prefer a dealer in the US in case I have fitting issues. I plugged that part number into Google and all the sites that has that part listed seem to be overseas as well so I may have no choice but buy it from a Japanese supplier, or pay a premium from a US supplier maybe.

I had it in my head that the part I needed was one long shaft going the length of the entire transmission, I have no idea how the bearing between the two shafts handles all the stress with no support and not fail. I will have to take the top of my transmission off to get a look inside to understand how it works as I have to be missing something.

I will have to make a choice to either fix the tractor or fix my play Jeep, I believe the tractor would be cheaper and more fun to fix but that would keep me off the trails for a good part of spring if not longer..

Once I have the parts I need in my possession I may do a write up on the project with pics, it seems that my problem is very rare so my time making the write up may not be worth the effort though.

 

[D4mm1t]

There has to be something that needs to be corrected if the splines failed while he was mowing and if the screwdriver repair did as well. Those Isekis are known to be tough little tractors. Even with belts on the mower, they can be so tight that not enough slipping occurs. People also put hardened bolts in as shear bolts thinking it will save them money. Shear bolts need to be soft so they protect the equipment. Slip clutches can also rust up and stop protecting as well. It looks like you are going to be able to get the tractor repaired, I would just hate to see you use his setup and damage your tractor again.

Tom you have a very valid point, tomorrow is supposed to be close to 50 degrees so I'm going to go over that mower from top to bottom, if it has sheer bolt(s) I'll swap it/them out for ones I have on hand just to be sure, I don't think it has a slip clutch as it's sort of small but I haven't really looked at it yet.

 

[D4mm1t]

I have some updates but first want to thank everybody that has helped me out..!!

I checked the mower and drive shaft and neither has a sheer pin or a slip clutch, it's a direct connection from tractor to the gearbox on the deck. I can move the blades by hand with the PTO engaged and the belt that drives the blades is loose enough to cause slippage, it may even be too lose.

I grew tired of looking for parts so broke the tractor apart and welded the spline boss onto the input shaft of the transmission. I tried to do it with the tractor still together but there wasn't enough room for me to do a good job, I did tack the spline boss onto the transmission input shaft before I broke it apart to be sure it was straight on with the output shaft from the engine.

My main fear welding those parts together was ruining the seal around the input shaft, so once I had everything cleaned up and deep valleys ground into the spline boss I took it slow, stitched welds like I was welding on sheet metal, let it cool to touch then went another 1/8" or so, it felt like it took me forever to finish but had a good chance of saving the seal that way.

I put the tractor back together then tested my weld by doing some mowing, then graded our main driveway as well as our own in front of the house, weld so far has held and it seems the seal is fine as no gear oil is leaking out. I will attach the cultivator tomorrow and dig up some virgin KY clay for a final test, if it holds doing that I should be good to go till I can find the parts I need to fix it properly.

My neighbor wants to keep most of the attachments for his new tractor but did give me the finish mower, he said I could use any of them whenever I needed which was cool of him to offer.

 

[TomSeller]

I checked the mower and drive shaft and neither has a sheer pin or a slip clutch, it's a direct connection from tractor to the gearbox on the deck. .

That is what I thought. It could be that he loosened up the belts after the damage. I feel better about the tractor now as it sounds like this could have been the reason it was damaged.

 

[D4mm1t]

Just finished talking to my neighbor about the tractor and he said he never done anything to the mower after the tractor first broke, he also stated he never done anything to it ever, no new belt or blades in 20 years (blades show it too) so will change the gear oil in it before I use it this summer..

I still believe I have bad gear(s), while moving in 2nd, 5th or high reverse I can hear and feel if I put a hand on the transmission a rather loud rhythmic clunking noise coming from the transmission, I will avoid those gears till I can find a cheap input shaft then once I have it apart I will inspect the gears to be sure.

I dug up a good 100+ foot clay strip with the cultivator today and so far the weld is still holding, I can't think of anything else I can do to stress my weld other than what I have already done.

 

[TomSeller]

, he also stated he never done anything to it ever, no new belt or blades in 20 years (blades show it too) so will change the gear oil in it before I use it this summer..
.

OMG. He should be reported to Tractor Protective Services. A tractor is a terrible thing to waste. I am glad you rescued the old girl.

 

[D4mm1t]

OMG. He should be reported to Tractor Protective Services. A tractor is a terrible thing to waste. I am glad you rescued the old girl.

The attachments he took very poor care of, the mower looks to be in the best shape as it was used the most and kept on the tractor and out of the elements but was just as neglected as the others.

The tractor itself was well cared for though, oil changes every spring, regularly greased, neighbor told me he had the work done at the place his daughter bought his new tractor from.

If I have time tomorrow I will post pics of the blades off the mower that are worn down to almost nothing, I'm looking for replacements but haven't had much luck yet.