OP
sandman2234
Super Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2005
- Messages
- 6,082
- Location
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Tractor
- JD2555 and a few Allis Chalmers and now one Kubota
An update on the original posting of this implement.
Dragged the trencher out of the back forty and cleaned it up a little. Added some new bolts to places where the bolts had been bent or were rusted excessively. Since the JD 2555 is so much larger than the little Ford 1100 that it was last used on, (and built for) I modified a top link to extend the top link further out, allowing the guard to sit level. I sharpened the teeth, straightened two that were bent and tried to locate a U-joint to replace one that wasn't quite right. Not being able to locate a direct replacement U-joint, I opted to change out the whole shaft with another. A bushing in the gearbox end of the shaft reduced it from 1.5" to 1" diameter, and a quick run thru the bandsaw to correct the lenght was pretty much it. I purchased some grade 5 bolts to use as shear pins, but forgot to take them with me when I drove the tractor to a friends house, where the trencher was going to be used. (And actually was the last place it was used before, when I owned that house). A 5/16" grade 8 bolt was installed as a shear pin, which lasted about two feet. Since I had NEVER had a shear pin problem with the trencher, this was a complete surprise! New shear pin, softer engagement of the pto lever, and another two feet before shearing that bolt. Ran out of available 5/16" bolts, and we discussed going up a size or two. Since the shaft had a 1/2" hole in it, we discussed that, but decide that a half inch hole in a one inch shaft wouldn't leave enough "meat" in the shaft and would problably break the shaft. So we decided on a 7/16" pin. Buddy grabbed the drill, I held the shaft steady, and he drilled it 1/2", which surprised me and confused him, as he thought I said do it anyway. No biggy, so we put a 1/2" grade 5 pin in it and tried it again. 3 feet later, the shaft on the gearbox broke, as expected so we put it away for the day.
What confuses me, is why, as this thing worked great behind a 13hp Ford tractor and won't do squat behind a 70 hp tractor. I wonder if the ground speed increase behind the John Deere and keeping the engine near idle to keep ground speed slow is causing the trencher to load up, compared to the slower moving Ford that I kept the engine at pto speeds to give the gearbox and spinning wheel more speed. Whatever it is, it sure didn't act like it used to, and basically didn't do the job required of it today. Something has got to be different, but I can't figure out what.
Any thoughts?
David from jax
Dragged the trencher out of the back forty and cleaned it up a little. Added some new bolts to places where the bolts had been bent or were rusted excessively. Since the JD 2555 is so much larger than the little Ford 1100 that it was last used on, (and built for) I modified a top link to extend the top link further out, allowing the guard to sit level. I sharpened the teeth, straightened two that were bent and tried to locate a U-joint to replace one that wasn't quite right. Not being able to locate a direct replacement U-joint, I opted to change out the whole shaft with another. A bushing in the gearbox end of the shaft reduced it from 1.5" to 1" diameter, and a quick run thru the bandsaw to correct the lenght was pretty much it. I purchased some grade 5 bolts to use as shear pins, but forgot to take them with me when I drove the tractor to a friends house, where the trencher was going to be used. (And actually was the last place it was used before, when I owned that house). A 5/16" grade 8 bolt was installed as a shear pin, which lasted about two feet. Since I had NEVER had a shear pin problem with the trencher, this was a complete surprise! New shear pin, softer engagement of the pto lever, and another two feet before shearing that bolt. Ran out of available 5/16" bolts, and we discussed going up a size or two. Since the shaft had a 1/2" hole in it, we discussed that, but decide that a half inch hole in a one inch shaft wouldn't leave enough "meat" in the shaft and would problably break the shaft. So we decided on a 7/16" pin. Buddy grabbed the drill, I held the shaft steady, and he drilled it 1/2", which surprised me and confused him, as he thought I said do it anyway. No biggy, so we put a 1/2" grade 5 pin in it and tried it again. 3 feet later, the shaft on the gearbox broke, as expected so we put it away for the day.
What confuses me, is why, as this thing worked great behind a 13hp Ford tractor and won't do squat behind a 70 hp tractor. I wonder if the ground speed increase behind the John Deere and keeping the engine near idle to keep ground speed slow is causing the trencher to load up, compared to the slower moving Ford that I kept the engine at pto speeds to give the gearbox and spinning wheel more speed. Whatever it is, it sure didn't act like it used to, and basically didn't do the job required of it today. Something has got to be different, but I can't figure out what.
Any thoughts?
David from jax
.....but I would like to see a picture of the operation when it ground one out. 
