Tractor broke in half again

[MossRoad]

Well, that makes sense at least. Let's face it... you're in mountain goat mode and that's gonna stress that center point. Pretty amazing that it just climbs up and out of wherever you put it, though, isn't it?

 

[4570Man]

How big of a hurry do they get in shipping parts? I was thinking assuming your work schedule didn't get in the way it could be fixed in a week and your piles would be burning then.

 

[MossRoad]

They usually get parts out very fast. I'm guessing he has a life other than his machine ( how sad is that?). :laughing:

 

[ponytug]

Wow! Thanks for posting the photos; I didn’t understand it, until I saw it. Originally, I thought that you had broken the pin?

I vote for the beefed up version. That web around the inner ring is pretty thin, and the exterior web support stops at the half way mark, just where it failed. I would think about a steel triangle at least an inch thick with a hardened insert or bearing pressed in. You clearly need at least 3/4 of an inch, just based on the failure site. Can you get 1 of webbing all around it? If not, you may need to go to a stronger steel alloy. My two cents would be not to weld in the insert as PT did, as that induces thermal and chemical stress, weakening the outer half, and probably predisposing it to failure. A good welder ought to be able to repair that piece and add a thicker web around the ring and out toward the front half of the tractor. If it were me, I would be looking to double the strength of the web area that broke, by thicker steel, and / or stronger alloy, or both.

I don’t see that using chains, or being on three wheels is necessarily hard on the joint, but I do see that landing on the 4th wheel with full load and speed would be hard on that point.

Just a thought, you might want to try a slightly higher current or a larger rod putting the replacement triangle on the tractor. Those welds look a little on the cold side, which means you probably don’t have all the strength that you could have. Personally, I find thick and thin welding to both be rather challenging to get all of the parameters dialed in.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Marks481]

I am ordering the new original. When it arrives i will take it down to my local machine shop and see if we can find a thicker wall item.

Please take a picture of the part and post it when you get it.

Seems to me that it could be replaced by a piece of 3/4" plate, with the hole bored directly in the plate, and as much material outside the hole as possible but not touching the rest of the assembly at extreme tilt and pivot.

 

[pmsmechanic]

To me it seems like that pivot point is taking all the twisting forces when you are coming out of the woods on three wheels. If you could transfer those forces to something else that would be ideal.

Can you make the joint so that the twisting forces are not concentrated right at that small pivot point? Can you use a chain fastened to two points on the front and rear frames to limit the twist so the chain take the forces instead of the joint?

 

[MossRoad]

So what exactly broke?

The lower center pivot between the two sections?
Which part of it broke, the ears or the eye?

Don't know how the 1850 is constructed... my 425 has two ears on the rear section and one eye on the front section. The eye is pinned between the ears with a bolt that appears to have a grease channel drilled through the center of it.

The eye appears to be similar to a 3pt hitch lower link ball end. Anyone else notice that?


Category 1 lower link ball ends are 7/8" diameter.
Category 2 lower link ball ends are 1-1/8" diameter.
Category 3 lower link ball ends are 1-7/16" diameter.
Category 4 lower link ball ends are 2" diameter.

There's weld on balls.
Tractor Parts Inc - Weld On Lift Arm Balls

There's weld on ends with the balls already in them.
Tractor Parts Inc - Lift Arm Repair Ends

Anyhow, I'd take the broken part to Tractor supply, or some other agri-supply type place and compare it to the 3pt lower arm ball joints and see if they are compatible.

 

[MossRoad]

Like these...

 

[cqaigy2]

Those certainly look pretty similar, don't they.

 

[woodlandfarms]

When the item arrives next week I will take a picture of it. Think of it as a V piece of steel with a chunk of pipe welded on the end, which it is. Actually tubing (just learned that pipe and tubing are different). Anyway, Mine is the same as yours in a way. I have one piece on the front that connects between two ears on the back. A special pin, with steel bushings, goes inbetween.

I agree. When the original arrives I am going to have something cutom made I am sure. I need to have some pictures taken from Ken and his machine to make sure if I thicken up the pipe, or use a chunk of steel around it to reinforce, that it won't run into the cylinders, which is kinda my concern now.