front wheel came off

[GaryS]

I had quite a scare this weekend with my MF 1428. I was helping a neighbor dig out from the ton of snow we got and the right front wheel buckled and came off. I was pointed in that direction so that wheel had weight on it. The bolts just stripped right out. I was able to jack it up, get new bolts at TSC and get 4 of the six back in got get the tractor back home. I think a contributing factor was that I had the front wheels filled with foam a couple years ago. Doing that added a bunch of weight and I lost a lot of traction. I'm going to have it taken to the shop to have the foam tires cut off the rims & replaced with regular tires again and have them rethread the holes that got striped. Heck, I'm going to have them check everything up front because I bet if this side failed, the other side is weakened too.

The photo shows a couple of the stripped bolts and a new one from TSC just for comparison. I was a heck of a day.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I had quite a scare this weekend with my MF 1428. I was helping a neighbor dig out from the ton of snow we got and the right front wheel buckled and came off. I was pointed in that direction so that wheel had weight on it. The bolts just stripped right out. I was able to jack it up, get new bolts at TSC and get 4 of the six back in got get the tractor back home. I think a contributing factor was that I had the front wheels filled with foam a couple years ago. Doing that added a bunch of weight and I lost a lot of traction. I'm going to have it taken to the shop to have the foam tires cut off the rims & replaced with regular tires again and have them rethread the holes that got striped. Heck, I'm going to have them check everything up front because I bet if this side failed, the other side is weakened too.

The photo shows a couple of the stripped bolts and a new one from TSC just for comparison. I was a heck of a day.

I am not familiar with your machine at all. I am wondering if the bolts may not have been tightened down when you had the filled tires put on? Does M/F say anything about not filling front tires with your particular machine? There are a lot of tractors out there that have front tires filled that haven't had problems. You could retap the the threads and try longer bolts maybe? Sorry about all of the snow out your way. I wish the snow were landing up here in our mountains for a nice heavy snow pack.

 

[PILOON]

Quote "I'm going to have them check everything up front because I bet if this side failed, the other side is weakened too. "

Not necessary to de-foam, IMHO.

Happened to me without filled tires, and only on rt side as well.
(I guessed that it has something to do with rotation and backing out the bolts)
Was result of inadequate torquing in my estimation--never happened again.
I reasoned that slight movement from bad torque allowed enough movement to actually unscrew the bolts.

I simply installed longer bolts (machine screws) and added nuts on the backside.
Have run that way for over 350 hrs without and problem.

In my case the rim holes elongated so I welded a rienforcement plate properly drilled to match drum holes.

 

[GaryS]

I am wondering if the bolts may not have been tightened down when you had the filled tires put on? Does M/F say anything about not filling front tires with your particular machine? You could retap the the threads and try longer bolts maybe? Sorry about all of the snow out your way. I wish the snow were landing up here in our mountains for a nice heavy snow pack.

I love the snow but the amount we got was almost too much for my tractor & rear blade.

After 4 years of using the tractor, I had it up at the dealer for a complete inspection over Christmas. They may not have tighten the wheel enough but I'll never really know. I used the tractor for about 6 hours when the wheel came off.

I filled the fronts with foam because I operate on fairly steep hills and wanted more weight. After filling with foam, I lost a lot of traction. Had I known just how much traction I was going to lose, I would have gone for fluid instead. I never checked to see if it was recommend or not. I assume they'll all recommend front weights instead of filling tires.

My dealer didn't install the foam, I found a local shop that did it.

I'm going to send it back to the dealer to have them retapped. I don't have taps and really want them to be done right.

While it's there, I may even ask about what he'll give me on a trade to a 35hp

 

[GaryS]

Happened to me without filled tires, and only on rt side as well.
(I guessed that it has something to do with rotation and backing out the bolts)
Was result of inadequate torquing in my estimation--never happened again.
I reasoned that slight movement from bad torque allowed enough movement to actually unscrew the bolts.

I simply installed longer bolts (machine screws) and added nuts on the backside.
Have run that way for over 350 hrs without and problem.

Very interesting. I was thinking that adding bolts was a good idea too.

I just got it back from the dealer and have a suspicion but I'll never be able to prove anything. Maybe this is a good time to buy a set of taps and DIY.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I love the snow but the amount we got was almost too much for my tractor & rear blade.

After 4 years of using the tractor, I had it up at the dealer for a complete inspection over Christmas. They may not have tighten the wheel enough but I'll never really know. I used the tractor for about 6 hours when the wheel came off.

I filled the fronts with foam because I operate on fairly steep hills and wanted more weight. After filling with foam, I lost a lot of traction. Had I known just how much traction I was going to lose, I would have gone for fluid instead. I never checked to see if it was recommend or not. I assume they'll all recommend front weights instead of filling tires.

My dealer didn't install the foam, I found a local shop that did it.

I'm going to send it back to the dealer to have them retapped. I don't have taps and really want them to be done right.

While it's there, I may even ask about what he'll give me on a trade to a 35hp

I am not clear on how you could have lost traction with filling the fronts. That is the reason for filling with foam or fluid is to gain traction. I had the fronts filled with foam on mine and it added about 168 lbs each I think. I have to be careful because with the tread it leaves marks in the lawn. If you go back to that dealer and talk with them about trading up see if they are willing to fix the threads in the hubs for you. It really sounds like that tire worked itself loose from driving.
I was just looking at another thread on here about all of the snow you folks are having.. Looks like us last year. We had about 25" in a couple of days. I shoveled a lot of snow by hand last year at my Dad's place. So I went out and bought a 72" rear blade to move snow.. NO SNOW this year to try it out on.
Edit. You said you were going to go to the dealer for retap of the threads. Sorry I should have read your reply closer.

 

[CurlyDave]

1. I bet loss of traction is due to foam keeping the tire round, instead of letting the part in contact with the ground flatten out to produce a "footprint".

2. Before you tell the dealer to "cut the old tires off" check on the cost of new rims, or new mounted tires. It might be less costly to just replace the old rims than to jack around with them.

 

[Just Bill]

Hello
I have to agree with K7LN the bolts should be at least grade 5 but 8 would be better. And it does seem odd that there is a lock washer instead of a cone on the shoulder.
If it turns out the bolts are wrong, I would be having a talk with someone.

 

[GaryS]

The bolts that came off were 7s and I bought 8s at TSC. The dealer said he can't do anything until sometime next week. I'm off to buy a metric tap set and longer bolts that I'll attach with nuts.

 

[Soundguy]

is the part that stripped in the hub? or did the bolt threads deform?

soundguy

 

[GaryS]

is the part that stripped in the hub? or did the bolt threads deform?

I got real lucky. The bolts failed completely and the hub was mostly ok. The threads on two holes were messed up but I bought a tap today and they tapped out cleanly. I wonder if this is by design - have the bolts be weaker so they fail instead of an expensive hub. I replaced all the bolts with bolts and put nuts on thew other side. I'm back in business.

thanks to all.

 

[GaryS]

oh, and I forgot to mention this. At the hardware store I told the guy I wanted 7 or better bolts. Then I noticed they all had an 8 on them and said that I was OK. He said "8 means SAE 5.5". So I need to get better bolts. Anyplace anyone can recommend that sells metric bolts & nuts?

 

[Soundguy]

Nuttin wrong with gr5 hardware for general purpose tractorin stuff.

Gr5 went out on old fords.. made near a million of them.. and a good % are still kicking.

I'd be wary of tapped out threads on the hub.. I'd deffinately nut the ones that had -any- thread damage.

soundguy

 

[banjodunn]

G'day if you have got metric bolts then go for 10.9 or better they are the equiv of a grade 8


Jon

 

[Diamondpilot]

I WOULD NOT put a heavier grade bolt in it. I would much rather have $10 worth of bolts fail that I could change in the field than a $900 hub assembly that requires full tear down of the axle to get at.

Think of the bolts that failed as a shear pin. Just like the one in a Bush Hog, Tiller, or Post Hole Digger. They are designed to fail instead of something expensive breaking.

Chris

 

[Soundguy]

It honestly sounds like he's already got hub damage. IMHO.. I'd not trust a bolt / lug stud, whatever that I had to chase out after a bolt pulled out of it... IE.. the long bolts and the nuts... IMHO.. his hub is already a gonner.. only thing that I might trust is tapping larger size threads in the hub.. etc..

soundguy

 

[Just Bill]

Hello
I don't think that lug bolts should be considered as shear pins.
They are to hold the wheel on and not fail, that is probably why there is more than 1.
Especially on any alloy wheel it is recommended that after replacement the lugs are to be retorqued after a few miles.
Its not a bad idea on any wheel.

 

[Wayne_H]

put helicoils in where the threads are damaged, put the right OEM bolts in, torque it to spec and it will be good for life. Tire bolts don't just fall off when they get bored or tired.... my guess is they were not torqued right at some point in their lives.

wayne

 

[EE_Bota]

I agree with many of the others, but with minor differences:

If the bolts you show in the picture are representative, they did not fail, they came loose. This has nothing to do with grade.

I would not go up on grade unless it is convenient, and it sounds like it is not.


The threads look like they are not torn nor broken, rather, they looked hammered down by the rim hitting them from the side.

If not for the racket of your engine, etc, you might have heard the wheel making noise each rotation.

I think it is likely that your hub is fine, but I do like the idea of the nuts on the other side of any hole that the tap would not start and run in by hand during the tapping. I would be watchful to make sure the nuts will clear everything in all cases.

The foam in the tire did not cause the problem. I agree with Dave that the lower traction is likely due to lack of conformance of the contact patch.

I would insist on new lock washers now, and each time those bolts are removed in the future.

 

[NH-Rob]

I have nevered tried it but wonder if the hub holes are junk if the hole could be drilled out and a stud pulled into the the blank hole and then a nut be used on the rim.
Rob