GC2310 snowblower driveshaft flew off...

[DEWFPO]

In my case, I had no problem other than I noticed excessive vibration and obvious wobble in the front slip yoke joint on the Mid-PTO driveshaft. Changing it out to the longer yoke, removed the obvious wobble and the vibration and noise that occurred at maximum lift of the snowblower while it was running.

DEWFPO

 

[UncleGordo]

I just found this thread because I was looking for some guidance in fixing my pto shaft, after having the exact same problem, 5 years after this thread was started!
I haven't checked the yoke length on my pto shaft yet, but last winter I went through the exact situation with that splined shaft loosening and moving to the point where my pto shaft came flying off a couple times before I figured out what was causing it.
I drilled some recesses in the splined shaft myself to hold the set screws and put the shaft back on and finished the winter last year with no further trouble.
Now this year on it's second trip out, my rear u-joint actually broke during use.
I'm wondering if it got damaged last year when it got flailed around before coming off.
I'm amazed that the same condition could still occur 5 years later!

 

[irvingj]

That's what makes this forum so amazing! You can still research a problem very quickly.

Yes, it sounds as though the rear u-joint may have been stressed before; let's hope so, anyway.

I still check the length of the exposed section on mine every chance I get. So far, no movement. I never did put in the new longer yoke, as the existing system seems to be holding up OK, but it's waiting & ready should I need it. Suppose I should just change it in any case, but too many other projects seem to jump in front!

 

[UncleGordo]

I'm going to continue in this same thread with my experience, I hope that's OK since it's related to the same problem.

After taking my blower mount off and inspecting it closely, I found that the rear flange bearing on the mount was broken as well as the rear pto u-joint.
I thought I had drilled some recesses into my spline shaft for the set screws to sink into, but I was obviously mistaken about that because there were no recesses and my shaft had shifted forward again close to 1 3/4"!
I went to the parts store where I usually buy these kinds of things, laid my parts out on the counter, and the lady that works behind the counter looked at the u-joint and laughed, saying "I've never seen one that small!" How humiliating!
I bought the flange bearing, the flange (my fault that it broke) and some loc-tite for $22.00. Unfortunately they didn't have my (smaller than average) u-joint so I had to go the MF dealer. The u-joint cost me $56.00!
My plan for today is to get everything back together and this time I will make sure I grind some flat spots onto the shaft so those set screws will keep that shaft from slipping forward.
My thought is that when I lift the blower is when it tends to pull on the shaft, even though the front pto shaft should slide and relieve that pulling pressure. I'm going to look more closely at that when I re-assemble.
I don't usually post much about my experience in forums but this one kind of bugs me because of the time line of when Cuch started this thread to when I had the exact same problem. I have to believe that other people in those years have had this problem, and nothing has changed in the way these parts are manufactured. All it would take is for the factory to cut a couple grooves in the splined shaft for the set screws to hold into, as well as advising whomever assembles it to throw some thread locker on them.
I would advise anyone with a 2360 snowblower to keep a very close eye on that shaft and take action if you see it has moved forward at ALL.
I was lucky to get away with the damage I had. My oil pan has a smal kink in it that luckily didn't puncture, and my hydraulic oil filter cover has some dings in it.
It could have been much worse.

 

[irvingj]

I wonder… sometimes these problems are time-specific; that is, certain years' models had problems whereas others didn't seem to suffer the same fate. Any chance that's what's going on here? Mine's an '05, one of the very last of the 2300's, I think. When was yours made? ijk

 

[UncleGordo]

I bought mine in 2011.
I had a talk with my dealer today, who ran a 2300 with the 2360 blower for quite a few years and just a year ago switched up to the latest model with a new 2360 blower.
He has never had any problems and hadn't heard of this problem either. Our only conclusion was that it might be an assembly issue, where the person doing the assembly failed to put loctite on the threads of the set screws in some cases. He didn't seem to think it should be necessary to have grooves in the shaft if the set screws are set properly and thread locked in place.
I still filed a small flat spot into my shaft where the set screws sit, just to be sure.

 

[Pixguy]

I had this same issue with two shafts flying off last year before I came on here and Irvingj helped me find the problem. Had to have a new one built but so far so good this year.

Good luck.

 

[UncleGordo]

Thanks Pixguy, I'll be testing it out today, but it's something I will be watching closely from now on.

 

[UncleGordo]

I got out and plowed my wife's walking trail today. A mile of hay field, frozen lake and a couple hundred yards over a berm through some flooded bush and everything seemed to tick along just fine, only broke one sheer bolt too!

 

[Pixguy]

Good to hear Unc.

I had another set screw loosen up that 2360 owners should check.

I heard a loud high pitched whine coming from what I thought was the connect between the QA and the blower. Hard to tell when you can't get off the seat with the MId PTO engaged. After taking stuff apart I was able to determine that it was the gear on the rear of the fan and it had slid out and was rubbing on the 8" bolt that runs across the cover. I was able to get that gear back with some persuasion reset those set screws along with some blue loctite. I've oiled that chain from the hole in the top as recommended with chain oil but never took that cover off.