Shear Bolt Broke On New Deck. PTO Shaft & Gear Box Holes Don't Align.

[TractorGuy]

I am truly a tractor tenderfoot, but with some machinery experience. The bolt that sheared may not be a "Shear Bolt," per se, but it is a bolt, and it did shear. I am working a slip clutch issue on a different thread based on a quote from my Frontier RC2060 manual.
My Frontier RC2060 manual has this quote:
"Slip Clutch Operational Check"
"After the implement has been stored for thirty days or more, perform the following operational check."

It goes on to describe how to loosen the bolts on the slip clutch and then to operate the PTO to make sure that the slip clutch . . . slips to protect the rest of the drive train. In my case, it does not slip (it sat for a long time prior to my ownership) and I'm in the process of figuring out how to get it free. The best advice I've gotten on this forum to free it is that while the bolts on the slip clutch are loosened, to engage the PTO back into heavy grass that would presumably cause the clutch to slip, then adjust the bolts as described in my manual and go about my mowing business.

Questions: Is it possible, that you engaged the PTO while at full-rated engine RPM, rather than engaging it at idle and then ramping up the RPM to full speed? I have heard anecdotally that such can shear bolts.

Why didn't your new mower come with a manual?

There are quite a few minor maintenance issues associated with tractoring, and you may want to consider getting familiar with them to save many trailer trips to the dealer.

In your case you should do as I had to. Remove the mower from the tractor. Remove All the clutch bolts. Tap the components apart with a hammer. Clean, reassemble, and adjust.

I check mine by loosening the bolts and turning the driveshaft piece with a 3ft screwdriver while locking the gearbox side so it can't turn. I tighten my nuts 1turn after contact and paint a line across the two halves. This serves as and indicator of if it slips when I've hit something.

 

[DutchUncle]

I have a similar problem with a John Deere rotary mower. Mine's used and the the output shaft's hole is slightly oblong from wear. I shear bolts all the time. When the bolt is installed and snugged up I can rock it back and forth. IMO that is the OP's problem, If he bought it new, JD should fix it. A shear bolt is designed to be one with the shaft almost as it were all one shaft. The shear bolt is engineered to to have a lower tensile strength than the PTO and output shaft, so it should be the first to break, saving the gearbox and your tractor. No way it should shear mowing grass, maybe if you are going too fast and the grass is really tall, and thick. And as the prior poster mentioned always engage your PTO at idle.

 

[sixdogs]

An aligning rod might take care of it. Otherwise, have you tried working a Philips screw driver with a shaft slightly smaller than the bolt into to hole to see if you can align them that way?

This is what I use to line up things that don't want to line up. `Makes lots of issues easier.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Love when threads start to degrade due to people coming in after the problem has been figured and either not reading the whole thing to know that, or arguing against the solution and calling everyone else wrong.

The dude has a slip clutch. The OP *already* verified this, though he did not realize it at the time.

The bolt was not a 'shear bolt' per say, but held the slip clutch *and* acted as a 2nd line of defense in case of slip clutch failure. It is Gr.8 as per the manual and dealer.

The holes are *not* drilled at an angle, the PTO is simply not on far enough to align the holes.

OP has it all figured out now. How he will deal with it is up to him and what works best for him.

 

[Railroadman1]

the yoke & gear shaft are miss aligned take a screw driver, punch, or slide pto shaft to tractor or away to line hole replace bolt

 

[mattoxb]

Be sure to engage the PTO at the lowest engine RPM possible. The impact load/ shear stress on that bolt when starting from a dead stop at too high RPM's can be much higher than from blade contact with a solid object at operating speed. I have an LX5 that likes to eat the same bolt if not careful when engaging the PTO. The slip clutch operates within spec. and I am using the specified "shear bolt" as so named in the operator's manual. Ease the PTO clutch in, do not engage all at once. I'm sure everyone knows this. Just trying to be helpful if there is someone who it might help.

Forgot to add one time the bolt had sheared just below the nut so the main part of the bolt stayed in for a while falling out some time later. So I believe it snapped when I engaged the PTO as I had not hit anything while operating the bush hog.

 

[pacerron]

Frontier used to be made by Woods maybe still is after Woods was taken on by an international company.
I've used a Woods RM 990 ( 7-1/2 foot) that I purchased new in 1988 for thousands of hours. I've replaced the shear pin several times ( grade 2, I don't have a slip clutch)
I suspect your grade 8 bolt has been broken awhile before the shaft totally stopped spinning. Do to the slope of the driveshaft from the tractor PTO to the mower gearbox the partially broken bolts sometimes get hung up and the shaft continues to rotate the gearbox shaft enough that it keeps cutting grass so you don't notice it. The drive shaft collar that goes on the gearbox shaft
gets some slop worn in it which elongates the hole through the shaft a bit. You just have to clean up the holes and align everything using a long tapered drift.
With the small number of hours you have on the mower something doesn't smell right. Are you sure the driveshaft you have on your mower is the correct length for your 3 point lift arms? If it is too long you could do serious damage to the tractor PTO. If it is too short the shaft won't have enough interlock.

 

[the old grind]

When the implement's clutch is freed up IMO the '8' bolt should hold up. Glad it gave way vs worse happening.

I too wondered about PTO shaft length possibly causing undue axial stress, say when fully raised. (I use top hole for top link with cutters, tillers.)

btw, I never tighten 'true' shear bolts to their component more than finger tight then use jam nuts to hold them in place. Maybe more work than a clutch when afield esp w/o spares but they can sit longer w/o service. My tiller and flail sit outside all year. (wheeled pallets await, but lacking floor-space in barn) I'm glad only the KK tiller has a slip-clutch esp 'cuz I don't use it every year. It's always what works for each.

 

[pacerron]

When the implement's clutch is freed up IMO the '8' bolt should hold up. Glad it gave way vs worse happening.

I too wondered about PTO shaft length possibly causing undue axial stress, say when fully raised. (I use top hole for top link with cutters, tillers.)

btw, I never tighten 'true' shear bolts to their component more than finger tight then use jam nuts to hold them in place. Maybe more work than a clutch when afield esp w/o spares but they can sit longer w/o service. My tiller and flail sit outside all year. (wheeled pallets await, but lacking floor-space in barn) I'm glad only the KK tiller has a slip-clutch esp 'cuz I don't use it every year. It's always what works for each.

 

[pacerron]

I use Nyloc nuts rather than jamming 2 nuts. They are usually laying on the mower after breaking off and can be used again.

 

[Cameron Smith]

From the photos, it looks like the inner or outer might have moved longitudinally. I assume you tried tapping one or the other in or out to line them up. If it didn't work, some torsional damage to the shaft is likely. $100 to pick it up? A bit steep in my opinion; I'd haul it myself if it became necessary. A grade 8 bolt seems a bit much unless there is indeed a slip clutch that needs loosening a bit.

 

[FunkeeMunkee]

<-------- OP is not a "dude".

I've owned my tractor, Jane Deere, since 2011, second owner. I have maintained & mowed multiple pieces of acreage since. Cleared my most recent property (the flat pasture that busted the bolt) using it to mow down 10 years of over grown brush (with OLD rotary cutter) and move limbs and trunks from 64 trees I cut down, dumping them in construction roll offs. I mainly used Jane for putting hay rolls out and mowing pasture. On a few occasions Jane has also moved a fair amount of dirt and pulled out vehicles that get stuck when the ground becomes a sponge. While I don't necessarily understand every thing I know about tractors and accessories... I assure you I am very thoughtful about how I operate her to minimize the necessity of having to go to the only local shop who works on these size tractors. There is no glut of shops in my area. I'd go to the Kubota dealer but they don't want to touch JD. MY boyfriend is a City Boy, so no help there. So I try to employ work smart not hard.

Ya'll may not have had the pleasure of being treated like a dummy who couldn't possibly understand "machines" or someone who's bill can be padded with extra stuff because it won't be obvious that fluff has been added. I have and it never makes me a favorite customer. That's why I joined this forum so that I could hopefully get advice to help myself where possible. My mower is new. I incorrectly assumed that it should function as intended and not have a failure so soon. Because it's new, I don't want to do anything that would void any warranty, if there is one. In the industry I work in I see many situations where a consumer attempt to remedy a situation is a perfect excuse for the contractor/manufacturer to automatically claim a warranty void - even if the consumer's attempt was benign.

The original mow deck that came with Jane (2004 - 2020) saw alot of use before I bought it and after, with minimal maintenance. Never had any failure, ever. Maybe sharpen the blades. The only reason why I replaced it was because the top of the deck rusted out and there were big holes. No weld shops willing or able to repair. It still works and I am damn tempted to hook it up tomorrow and try to get ahead of the growth we are having after all this rain. But it does throw up alot of stuff and probably isn't very safe. You think?

- No manual. I have a drawer full of nothing but manuals. I am a manual hoarder. I will look under deck tomorrow.
- I don't engage PTO at high RPMs. Isn't this a common sense thing?
- I don't mow at full speed through high grass. Again, common sense for so many reasons. I also don't mow at full throttle in C/3 through short grass. Once I am done mowing I have to work. I like plodding along.
- The bolt did not break elsewhere and then just eventually become dislodged. I have both pieces, the head and then the majority of the shaft, threads and nut (Pictures of both in my original post...), right there on the deck.
- No Clip. That I can see. What does this clip look like so I know what to look for?

 

[FunkeeMunkee]

From the photos, it looks like the inner or outer might have moved longitudinally. I assume you tried tapping one or the other in or out to line them up. If it didn't work, some torsional damage to the shaft is likely. $100 to pick it up? A bit steep in my opinion; I'd haul it myself if it became necessary. A grade 8 bolt seems a bit much unless there is indeed a slip clutch that needs loosening a bit.

Thank you for seeing what I "thought" I was seeing. I have used a "spike" to try to get some adjustment. I did get some movement but I really need the appropriate tool. Maybe I'll check Lowes Depot or Ace tomorrow. I will already be on the hunt to try to locate a bolt as well because the JD dealer didn't have one, had to order it, still isn't in, can't find a tracking number and... if you want a job done right...

Yeah, I am not paying someone to haul it. Jane Deere has her own personal flatbed trailer and a chauffeur.

 

[RustyA]

Don't be turned off by some of the responses...80% of the people here are very helpful and sharing knowledge. Sometimes it's hard to gauge the level of experience of the person asking for help so the answers assume a newbie to use equipment might be asking. Used an old rusty brush cutter for years with a bag of grade 2 shear bolts. Installed a slip clutch on my newer cutter due to electric pto shearing bolts on engagement even at idle. Once your clutch is unstuck and adjusted properly you will love it! I have not changed my grade 8 shaft bolt for 8 years since slip clutch was installed. Welcome to the forum and please let us know how it turns out for you. That's how we all keep learning.

 

[f800]

Good luck with the JD dealer in SW Florida. Unless you’re commercial , it takes minimum of 6 weeks to fix my JD 430 during the mowing season (summer). Need to mow every 6 days, the grass grows so fast. Finally had to by a back up mower…

 

[Midniteoyl]

<-------- OP is not a "dude".

Apologies.

- No manual. I have a drawer full of nothing but manuals. I am a manual hoarder. I will look under deck tomorrow.

- No Clip. That I can see. What does this clip look like so I know what to look for?

See page 23 of the manual for the Snap Ring (aka clip) on the gear box shaft. It retains the PTO shaft on the gear box shaft in case of failure, otherwise that end of the shaft would fling about and do serious damage or bodily harm. Since it seems it did it's job and retained the shaft, chances are that it was damaged as well so needs looking at, if not replacing.

Manual (which should have been in a plastic tube mounted on the mower, as shown on the cover): http://pdfstream.manualsonline.com/5/594f7ac2-b50e-4098-9c9f-49423b4a9845.pdf

 

[Tony H]

Let us know what the dealership concluded.

 

[K5lwq]

<-------- OP is not a "dude".

If that is you in your profile picture that is really cool! And folks better be careful upsetting you!

 

[stevem5215]

I subscribe to the philosophy of "the bigger the machine the bigger the hammer needed to fix it" ! lol Don't use a baby hammer when a 2lb sledge is needed.

 

[tundraman01]

I read all pages because I'm always interested in learning something I've never seen happen. My brush cutter has two blades that swing from one end of the blade. When I hit something, as too often happens, stumps and rocks, the blade gets nicked, but it swings out of the way. I thought they all were built like that; not so? Does that mean my type doesn't need a slip clutch or shear bolt?