BX mid PTO self destruct

[Von]

I don't know if this is the cause or not, but you should make sure that the u-joints are lined up the same on the shaft ends. I know it makes a big difference on most shafts, and would think that one that spins that fast it would really need to be balanced. Just a thought that might help.

 

[JudeK]

Trainer - sorry to hear about the damage - I am going to be putting my mower back on this afternoon for the second time in the two weeks I've owned the tractor - I'll make darn sure that I have that collar "locked", although it sounds like that might not make a difference.

Does anyone think this might be a recall issue?

 

[NYTrainer]

Von,
What Kubota does (on this model anyway) is place a small weld, effectively joining two splines together, where it would slide into the female splined shaft. The female splined shaft has one wider groove that will only accept this joined/welded spline. Bottom line - It can only go on one way, which I assume is done after it is balanced.
David

 

[Von]

David,
That makes sense. I haven't looked at the one on my mower that close to see if it made the same way. I do know that it is lined up the right way so I never looked into it anymore than that.

 

[MReeter]

Trainer,I've learned over the years that if you put a "dab" of gun grease on the splines of the power shaft and also on the the female end of the coupling,this will help the shaft to slide on the pto much easier.Also, I always spray some WD-40 on the locking collar itself,this always helps the retainer to snap right into place as soon as it is slid onto the shaft.

 

[TresCrows]

Most likely it was not fully locked--you just thought it was--that said I have looked at that collar mechanism with much skeptisim. I have had my deck on and off to many times to count. Today removed it to service deck, remove and sharpen the blades etc. I cleaned the collar area and PTO shaft as it was dirty and gummy with grease, I do this regular. I think your problem may have resulted from debris in the PTO shaft groove or collar skirt which prevented the collar ball from locking in securely. I wonder if the vibration was caused by the drive shaft working off the PTO shaft or did something else cause the deck to vibrate causing the locking collar to release--my alternate hypothesis--look for loose, damaged blades. I feel your pain. J

 

[NYTrainer]

Thought I'd share an update to my original post.
Got all the parts I needed and my BX is back as good as new! My dealer who is 180 miles away (Advantage Sales in Seacrest, NJ) sent parts next day UPS. He still has to order parts for himself to replace parts he removed from an "in the crate" BX so that I wouldn't be inconvenienced. Now that's service! I couldn't have hoped for that service from my local dealer and probably would have to wait a long time for parts (based on prior dealings with them regarding price, etc which I still haven't gotten. I'm still waiting to tell them I already bought one when they "follow up" with a phonecall. Yeah, right!)
Another thing I found interesting was that my dealer never questioned the circumstances and was truly interested in getting me back in service. I gave him a list of parts that I needed and they were at my door in two days.
A happy ending afterall.
David