Hydro Top Link broke...crash

[Jrrcorp]

I hooked up my 5' snow blower and started for the house when crash, down it went. The casting around the ball that the pin goes thru where it attaches to the tractor split in two. I hope to cut that part off and weld a new piece on. Anyone have this happen to them?

 

[RobS]

Yikes, sounds expensive? What kind of tractor?

 

[Jrrcorp]

JD 4410 . I'll find out soon if it can fixed and what it will cost. I'll post a follow up to let you know and also a pic of the break.

 

[john_bud]

You mean the differential housing broke? Yikes! I've heard of that happening with 3pt hoe applications, but not a snow blower. Was there a casting fault?

jb

 

[3RRL]

Perhaps when you say "casting around the ball that the pin goes through" you mean the hydraulic cylinder end, not the holes in the back of the tractor housing, right? If that's the case, that can be welded back on and you can get them at Agri-Supply or Surplus Center and other places too.
I had the entire swivel and casting break off the rod end of the cylinder and CCM replaced it right away. It was just a bad weld.
On yours, how did it happen exactly? By just lifting the blower for transport or what?

 

[daTeacha]

I'm going to guess he means the end of the top link broke and it happened when he had the snowblower lifted and hit a pretty good bump to provide a sudden shock load to the part. Presuming that's accurate, it sounds like either a case of too much load for the link or a defective part. I would tend to favor the defective part explanation and see about getting it replaced instead of fixed.

 

[MossRoad]

Sounds like the swivel eye on the top link, right? I hope so. A new top link is under $30.00 at Rural King.

If it is the casting on the tractor where the top link attaches, YIKES! That will be expensive.

 

[slowrev]

Sounds like the swivel eye on the top link, right? I hope so. A new top link is under $30.00 at Rural King.

If it is the casting on the tractor where the top link attaches, YIKES! That will be expensive.

I thought it said Hydro top link ? A hydraulic top link, not so cheap.
Ben

 

[AndyMA]

Better than a part of the differential casing.

Andy

 

[MossRoad]

I thought it said Hydro top link ? A hydraulic top link, not so cheap.
Ben

You can get a normal top link from TSC or Rural King and cut the swivel end off. Then weld it onto the hydraulic cylinder. I had a hard time finding just the swivel eye end with the correct diameter for the pin. The ones I found need to use a bushing to get it to the correct size.

 

[Jrrcorp]

To clarify what broke, the casting on the end of the hydraulic cyclinder that houses the swivel ball at the end that attaches to the tractor is what broke. And yes, it was jarred as I got off the driveway but one side of the break was clean and the other side of the break had rust deposits. So it must of been cracked for a while before it broke. I dropped it off at the dealer this morning and he said that they could weld a new end on the cylinder. I sure hope so. I'm very carefull with my tractor and I don't abuse it. But we ask a lot of these little machines and some of the parts are bound to fail eventually.

 

[PineRidge]

Well at least it turned out to be the less painful problem. I'm sure your dealer will make your hydraulic cylinder "whole again".

 

[radman1]

New weld and it will work better than ever. I had a cat II top cylinder that I bought on a sale. Previous owner welded a 6" extension on it and used it on a rear 3 pt mounted bucket. I just cut it down to the original length and was good to go. I use it on our bigger tractors without any problems and they have much heavier equipment.

 

[Jrrcorp]

Got the new ball end socket end welded on yesterday. Now it's good as new again. The cost was $47.00. Probably a good idea to take a good look at these kinds of parts every few uses.

 

[daTeacha]

Probably so, but the rust in the break also could mean a very old crack, maybe painted over when it was new. A sudden shock like going over a rock or something caused an additional load and the failure of the already weakened part. Probably just a freak happening.