Tore the 3-point pin out of the axle housing! $500 repair

[California]

When I bought the Yanmar YM240 in 2003 it was neglected with loose bolts everywhere. I reset the right side 3-point pivot pin - 'hinge" - with red (permanent) Threadlocker, noted the sloppy fit of the threads, then forgot about it. Years later the hinge pin fell out in 2017 taking out a small chunk of the axle housing. I bought and installed a new hinge pin from Hoye, this time setting it with J B Weld and using that to fill the missing chunk. That lasted 2 seasons using the backhoe to pull stumps, then the pin ripped out taking a larger chunk of the axle housing. 3-point backhoes are hard on tractors!

I inquired about a replacement axle housing assembly, complete, because I don't have the pullers or press to tear down the assembly. I was told $350 for a bare housing plus new seals etc. Or If I wanted the complete axle assembly, $350, then near $350 for truck shipping because, I was told, it was too heavy for UPS. Then another $350 to ship back my broken assembly or else a $300 core charge. So a $1,000 project. I balked at that.

Due to the cost I was facing, I decided to install a pin with deeper threads. The stock pin and its genuine replacement didn't go all the way to the bottom, so maybe threading in that extra 3/8" would prevent it from coming loose again. So I bought a pin intended for an implement and cut it to the length that would bottom in the hole. This pin has SAE threads which are a few thousandths larger OD. I got a bottoming tap, and set this longer pin in J B Weld, plus a lump of QuikSteel to fill the missing chunk. (J B Weld is to runny to fill a void).

Then ... Thinking about this some more I decided it would never work. I didn't put in service.

I called a Craigslist tractor salvage yard in Portland a thousand miles north of me and bought a YM240 right axle assembly. Since I don't have a hub puller or a big press, it was simpler to replace the entire axle assembly intact. This one was $350 for the complete assembly (plus $85 for FedEx) and no return shipping or core charge needed. The label when it arrived showed the complete assembly was only 37 lbs.

Installation was simple. I bought a HF crane ($100 with coupon) after I had been told the axle was so heavy it couldn't go by UPS, but then I didn't need it for the axle. The crane was a big help with the 100+ lb tire and especially for intricately snaking the 100+ lb ROPS back into its very tight fit. Aside from rasseling heavy objects, installing the axle assembly complete as a single module was simple. Note the PTO assembly has to come out to detach the inner end of the axle.

It's all back together, and I went and dug out a stump. Good for another couple of decades. This is the first serious repair this tractor has needed in 15+ years, not counting the aftermarket loader's hose etc.

The clean axle housing photo is the one I took off, showing the pin and filler I had installed on it then never used. Anybody need a replacement axle shaft or hub?

 

[Teachu2]

Good save!

 

[sd455dan]

Excellent Job!

And already back to work :thumbsup:

 

[Oldpath05]

Is that last picture the housing you fixed with JB weld? So you went from a $1000,00 repair down to $435.00 plus some minor shop expenses, excellent work and the crane is something that can be used for all sorts stuff. I'm not getting why that 37 lb housing is to heavy for UPS, and what's with a core charge on a broken housing that dont make sense to me. Great job thanks for posting the pictures.

 

[clemsonfor]

Is that last picture the housing you fixed with JB weld? So you went from a $1000,00 repair down to $435.00 plus some minor shop expenses, excellent work and the crane is something that can be used for all sorts stuff. I'm not getting why that 37 lb housing is to heavy for UPS, and what's with a core charge on a broken housing that dont make sense to me. Great job thanks for posting the pictures.

Maybe they were crating it ??

They want the rest of it for all those internal parts I guess like the hub etc, if you want it cheaper you send yours back cause there good parts on it still with the inner axle stub. Their price was their price, these are rare parts these days.


Anyways great write up California. Good work. Very professional and thanks for taking the pics and writing it up. No doubt your experience in this job will help others trying to complete many other jobs that will require some of the same procedures you had to do.

 

[California]

Is that last picture the housing you fixed with J B weld? ... I'm not getting why that 37 lb housing is to heavy for UPS, and what's with a core charge on a broken housing

Yes, the last photo is the broken complete assembly that I had repaired in the past with a new pin and J B Weld, that had run two years before it broke again. I hoped that threading a longer pin in deeper and again cementing it with J B Weld ($30 project) might hold up. But after I did this second repair, I decided this wasn't realistic for the stresses a backhoe causes. So I took that repaired-twice axle assembly off (before using it) and installed its twin from the second salvage yard.

This second vendor didn't want a core back while the first guy did. The external axle hub generally sells used for $100, I suppose the axle is similar, and there are a half dozen other salable components - so a core has some value.

As for the $350 truck broker freight quote (for 250 lbs on a pallet), vs 37 lbs actual, - the first guy eyeballed the axle on his salvage tractor and simply guessed wrong on what it weighs. Second guy said it's pretty sure to be under 70 lbs so lets FedEx it.

 

[California]

... thanks for taking the pics and writing it up. No doubt your experience in this job will help others trying to complete many other jobs that will require some of the same procedures

Thanks. In posting that, I'm hoping to give back some of the help I have received from this forum over the years.

 

[Jtullis13]

Great write up California and thanks for the pictures too!! Stinks you had to go through all that work, but at least you have it up and running again. The crane you are speaking of and show in the pictures, around here we call those things "Cherry Pickers". Anyways nicely done!

 

[clemsonfor]

Great write up California and thanks for the pictures too!! Stinks you had to go through all that work, but at least you have it up and running again. The crane you are speaking of and show in the pictures, around here we call those things "Cherry Pickers". Anyways nicely done!

Cherry picker a here too.

Untill I saw his pic I was envisioning the one you bolt down to a truck bed or like a trailer.

 

[duanew1]

I am sure it would be better to support both ends of that pin by adding a bracket and a longer pin. That would have been something to try early on, but now you have it fixed.