Disappointed in my Deere for the first time.

eee · Sep 30, 2004

( I can't help but wonder if it's improved or just a different supplier. I'll know next week and post what I find. ) 

Read my 1st post.. it is an improved piece /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif .The hole where the lower 3pt arm fastens to has more material around the hole and where the rollbar bolts on to the housing is grooved to accept the rollbar bolts.

ronjhall · Sep 30, 2004

Gary
You may want to consider doing both axles at the same time if the newer ones are beefed up.

To20Chris · Sep 30, 2004

Bob & Rockyridge - My preference was for cast iron - if steel were used it would be in the form of a welded up or otherwise fabricated assembly. Does anyone make tractor axle housings that way? Naturally, no one wants a poorly done casting of any material. There seems to be a perception that aluminum castings are more ductile than iron ones? Maybe I'm misinterpreting. Anyway, they aren't. Depending on the alloy, aluminum may deform before it breaks, but that would be a permanent deformation, and I doubt that would be acceptable in a 3ph mount either. An appropriate iron alloy can have very good impact resistance, and I'll wager that cast aluminum would deform or break before a good cast iron would.

Neither metal is ever used in pure form for any practical structual item, they are always alloys. For a feature of a given size, a cast iron part will most always be stronger than a cast aluminum part. You can make the same feature bigger in aluminum to compensate, but why? And that was my question - I wonder why they choose that material?

Gary_in_Indiana · Sep 30, 2004

"You may want to consider doing both axles at the same time if the newer ones are beefed up." 

That's a good point and one that I probably should have considered.

Unfortunately, the timing of returning from seeing the welder, confirming the less expensive part with the Deere dealer and getting the call offering to install it and having to rush the call back to the dealer to get it on their stock parts order didn't allow much time for such consideration. All totaled this was less than fifteen minutes from the time I walked back into my office to hanging up from my second call to the Deere dealer getting the part ordered.

The bottom line is that at this point I guess I'll put the one on and hope for the best. I'm still very much considering having the heavier steel bracket fabricated which I could put on if either lobe breaks. For what it's worth, the Deere dealer did a search of their parts records and told me they'd never ordered one of these before so I'm guessing it's a rather unusual occurence. Lucky me, huh? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

eee · Oct 1, 2004

They can have the other part overnight,while the tractor is torn down wait 24 hours for the other housing and then do it right and be done with it.

( Deere dealer did a search of their parts records and told me they'd never ordered one of these before so I'm guessing it's a rather unusual occurence. )

I would say it is a fairly frequent occurence,the reason I say that is why else would John Deere make 2 design changes in the housing on the new ones versus the originals?

Gary_in_Indiana · Oct 1, 2004

"Read my 1st post.. it is an improved piece" /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I read and very much appreciated your post. If I didn't thank you for it earlier, please let me do so now. I only wrote what I did the way I did because at this point I don't know.

Actually, what you wrote is that the piece you got was improved over the one you replaced. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Neither you nor I know which I have or which I'll get or whether or not each or either are the same as either the one you broke or the one with which it was replaced. If I'd had the part number of the one you ordered, THEN I could at least compare the two (not that it really matters much at this point).

I'm not saying the one I get won't be improved over what I broke (obviously, I hope it is). I'm only saying that we really don't know if it will be or not.

It's possible (though admittedly not necessarily likely) that before I bought this tractor (used) both the LH and RH parts had already been replaced and even if I get the same part you got it might, in fact, be the same part I already have in place.

Please know I'm not trying to give you a hard time here. I only wanted to explain why I wrote what I wrote in the way I did. In retrospect, I realize I could have noted that at the time and didn't. For that I apologiize. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

In any event, I hope you'll continue to read and contribute here on TBN. You certainly helped me here and I sincerely appreciate it. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

eee · Oct 1, 2004

............

JATO_RaT · Oct 1, 2004

Gary, it looks like it may be working out OK, thats great. I'm curious, is it going to make you a little "gun shy" now? I thought about my experience and must admit that 95% of what I did was really in all fairness to the manufactuer, my fault. I thought in order to show folks what happened I would post some pictures of the broken part, the rock and the repair. I would of course do it in the Kubota forum, but I think that for any folks who might be concerned that this is is a situation they are likely to encounter, I would like to address those concerns and if anything, eliminate them. Best wishes in your repair, I'm glad it's working outt much better then anticipated.

Gary_in_Indiana · Oct 1, 2004

(Deere dealer did a search of their parts records and told me they'd never ordered one of these before so I'm guessing it's a rather unusual occurrence.)

"I would say it is a fairly frequent occurrence. The reason I say that is why else would John Deere make 2 design changes in the housing on the new ones versus the originals?" 

Again, you make an excellent point. I just glanced through the service manual and saw that some of the work would be repeated from replacing one to replacing the other (like removing the ROPS, for example) if they were done at different times.

I'm going to ask my friend who's actually doing the work if he'd be OK with doing both while we've got it up in he air.

Do you happen to have the part number to or a picture of either or both of the pieces you ordered from Deere? I'd be curious to see if they're the same as what I get or if Deere has made any further changes. I've seen some replacement parts for trucks go through two or three incarnations over a short period of time while others stayed the same forever.

cowboydoc · Oct 1, 2004

I had a Massey Ferguson Super 90 that was built in the 60's and it had the same three point axle housing material. When it broke all I could do was find a used one to put on that cost $450 for a 40 year old part!!! That one couldn't be welded either.