Filling a divot

[Fallon]

Post-hole diggers for AG tractors and CUTs use 2" round shafts and shear bolts. Industrial PHDs (e.g. Danuser) use hex shafts and do not rely on shear bolts.

Our local rental yard switched their Grade 2 or 3 shear bolts to Grade 8 because they shear cleaner, without bending.

2" round is the standard for 3pt PHDs. 2"hex or 2 9/16" round are the standard for bigger SSQA units. They are almost always hydraulically driven & protected by relief valves. Not to mention generally stronger than the 2" round.

You need a sheer pin for the PTO powered ones. Most have a sheer pin between the PTO shaft & the gearbox. The pin holding the auger onto the gearbox may or may not be a 2nd sheer pin. I'd assume the PTO shaft would be the weak point rather than the gearbox.

My old Leinbach 3pt PHD actually had 2 pins at 90 degrees to each other an inch or 2 apart on the gearbox output shaft. Most or all the 2" round augers have had matching holes as well. My cheap 12" auger had the holes tearing out a bit despite using both pins. It wasnt bad enough to bother fixing before the PHD & auger ran off with the old tractor. But in that case I'm sure the auger pins weren't ment to be used as sheer pins, only the sheer pin on the PTO input to the gearbox.

My new hydraulic SSQA PHD is 2" hex. I have much bigger problems if that ever strips out or sheers a bolt.

 

[tree grower]

Someone used to make kits available. The rods were an assortment of diameters to accommodate building up oblong holes in trailer drawbar hitches etc. Simple to use and effective. Drop the rod in the hole and weld up the void. Pull rod out.

I haven稚 seen them available for years. Perhaps yomax4 knows of some.

I found this link. Rods like this should work.

WeldingSupply

I think I will try these. Looks like the easiest option.

 

[yomax4]

Someone used to make kits available. The rods were an assortment of diameters to accommodate building up oblong holes in trailer drawbar hitches etc. Simple to use and effective. Drop the rod in the hole and weld up the void. Pull rod out.

I haven稚 seen them available for years. Perhaps yomax4 knows of some.

I found this link. Rods like this should work.

WeldingSupply

I have a bunch of assorted carbons I have been trying to give away. Also once fix'd you can case harden the hole to give yu a little better life before oblong sets in again. There are a couple of case hardening powders out there that work well.

 

[dfkrug]

2" round is the standard for 3pt PHDs. 2"hex or 2 9/16" round are the standard for bigger SSQA units. They are almost always hydraulically driven & protected by relief valves.

I would think that ALL skidsteers had to use hydraulic PHDs, as they have no PTO. Most industrial tractors (Case 580) do not have PTOs, tho some clearly do (Kubota L45). I have not seen any PTO-driven industrial strength PHDs, for CAT2 or bigger tractors.

Regardless, there ARE hydraulic PHDs for CUTs, and the 3 I have owned (e.g. Worksaver 724H) all used the 2" round shaft.

As for welding up the side or edge of a sloppy hole in the shaft or auger, nothing fancy is required: just fill the divot with weld, and trim the shear bolt hole to a nice sharp edge with a die grinder.

 

[bdog]

Do you have a picture of it?

I am envisioning something like this:



If it is similar why would you need to dismantle the gear box or take it to a machine shop to make it accept a larger bolt? Just put the auger on, stick it in the ground a little bit to stabilize it, remove the 7/16 bolt, run a 1/2 drill bit through both the auger and shank at the same time, then run a 9/16? then a 5/8? and so on however big you want to go. Taking 1/16 at a time should be pretty easy drilling with a hand drill.

If you want to go the carbon rod route they work good too I have used them but if you tore up the 7/16 bolts you had what is going to be different going forward?

 

[Big Barn]

If you drill to increase the hole size like bdog suggested, perhaps
increase to 5/8” or even 3/4” D. But use a Grade 2 bolt first. Increase to Grade 5 and then 8 if necessary.

 

[tree grower]

Do you have a picture of it?

I am envisioning something like this:

View attachment 606115

If it is similar why would you need to dismantle the gear box or take it to a machine shop to make it accept a larger bolt? Just put the auger on, stick it in the ground a little bit to stabilize it, remove the 7/16 bolt, run a 1/2 drill bit through both the auger and shank at the same time, then run a 9/16? then a 5/8? and so on however big you want to go. Taking 1/16 at a time should be pretty easy drilling with a hand drill.

If you want to go the carbon rod route they work good too I have used them but if you tore up the 7/16 bolts you had what is going to be different going forward?

My gearbox is pumpkin-shaped. I hadn't thought of stabilizing the shaft by drilling the auger into the ground--Duh!, but that should work. If I could gradually increase the hole size to 3/4" , I could use cat 1 top link pins which are everywhere around my little farm.

 

[muddstopper]

The one thing your not considering with drilling a bigger hole. The next thing to shear might just be the shaft itself. It could break right where the hole has been drilled.