John deere 8530 top link

[M2farming]

I recently had someone break the top link of my 8530, I would just like to know is this a common problem or is my employee in serious trouble???

 

[ctlguy]

Really depends on what they where doing and how the tractor was equipped. These could have had a cat III or cat IV center link. They are tougher than heck but things can go awray, probably a $1000-$1,500 oopsy though.

 

[Deere9986]

i know employee problems can be a headache at times(i have 19 some days) but look at the bright side atleast he was doing some work.

 

[M2farming]

The problem is the damages cost more than the work he did for the day, but hey that's farming. It's a cat iv link so he really did some stupid stuff to break it. The worst thing is he broke it while hooking up.

 

[ctlguy]

Do you use a quick hitch or just the three point arms. If the att you are using is heavy enough a hitch maybe a good investment. If it broke with a hitch then no ideas here. You can generally find decent used cast cat IV quick hitches, if you have wide and narrow att make sure you look for one that the arms can be reversed to work with both. Still expect a used one to be around a grand or so.

 

[M2farming]

I use a quick hitch. Seems to hold the implement better. I have managed to replace the one section of the top link, so the problem is now solved. Fortunately I could replace just the left hand thread section and not the whole thing. But thanks for the help, it is much appreciated. Still don't understand how it broke when it is about 2inch thick.

 

[AKfish]

If there was no damage to the center dual=threaded part of the link or damage to the right threaded section - I'd suspect a forging/casting defect with the broken section.

A Cat IV top link is substantial and breaking something that heavy duty typically involves damage to a number of "downstream or upstream" elements. You'd expect a few other components to suffer catastophic failure as well.

Doesn't sound like this is the case.... I'd look real close at the threaded shaft for metal failure.

AKfish