DK45 crippled in the woods

[dave1949]

Here is a picture of the trail I was working on:
View attachment 385585

And in this picture, you can see the tree that defeated me (a maple; the bole is now standing/leaning off to the left and the remaining stump [I sawed off the leaner in revenge!] is just behind the dog):
View attachment 385586

I have only about 20 meters to go to reach a road on a neighboring property...but you can bet I'll be working more gingerly, and with my fingers crossed,... for the first little while, anyway. I hope to have it all put back together in a week or two, depending on how long it takes to get the parts in.

I want to reiterate how helpful it was to have found the blow-up parts listing on MIE's web site. The whole mechanism isn't all that complicated, but there are quite a number of gaskets, shims, etc., so it is nice to have a diagram and be able to keep track of it all (so there aren't any pesky left-over parts after its all back together!). It looks like it will take a lot of gear oil to replenish the front axle; I'll have to check the manual and see if it lists the fluid capacity for that.

I'm a bit more hopeful about the cost of this, too. Maybe the mechanic will only be getting the price of a new set of wheels and tires for his truck rather than a whole new truck!

Bob

I've been doing some armchair diagnosis of this failure. :laughing: The trail doesn't look that rough, so I have other suspicions.

Were you trying to push out the tree with the FEL bucket? If so, you are probably in 4wd and pushing and lifting with the FEL while trying to go forward. That would put quite a bit down pressure on the front wheels making it more difficult for the tire to spin in place. If the tire can't break free, or it takes a lot of force for it to break free--the wheel does jerky creeps now and then maybe, then the entire front drive line is under a lot of stress and nothing is giving.

A gear tractor would probably lug down and stall in that situation if the clutch isn't pushed in. I have no idea what happens in a hydrostatic.

 

[MotorSeven]

Dave, a hyrdo should hit a relief valve or even stall before anything breaks....{should}........but just like a gear tractor we can still break stuff.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Dave, I was pushing on a maple tree. Most of the time, I can push a tree over then start pulling up on the root ball. This one got hung up in a neighboring tree and didn't want to come down. While I can visualize how anchoring both front wheels with lots of extra weight/down force could cause gears to strip, the axle to shear or the tractor to stall, I'm at a loss as to why this would cause the bevel gear case to crack in half. Neverthless, I'd be the last to blame the tractor (I see no evidence of defective parts here); I push it pretty hard when I'm in the woods and can only kick myself (and open my wallet!) when I push past some limit.

 

[Coyote machine]

For those out there that don't know what you mean I'd like to interpret that for You if it's OK. Folks he said "FORCE IT". :laughing:

Forcing it is what got him where he was on the trail- broken down.:confused2:
Have you looked to see if the housing looks stress cracked or cracked from an impact, say with a rock or similar?

 

[dave1949]

Dave, I was pushing on a maple tree. Most of the time, I can push a tree over then start pulling up on the root ball. This one got hung up in a neighboring tree and didn't want to come down. While I can visualize how anchoring both front wheels with lots of extra weight/down force could cause gears to strip, the axle to shear or the tractor to stall, I'm at a loss as to why this would cause the bevel gear case to crack in half. Neverthless, I'd be the last to blame the tractor (I see no evidence of defective parts here); I push it pretty hard when I'm in the woods and can only kick myself (and open my wallet!) when I push past some limit.

Oh, I'm sure I've done worse. :laughing:

Just saying that is a really high-stress moment. Hard to say if the casting cracked first, or as a result of the parts inside having enough play to put some bind, twist or prying motion on it?

Another poster mentioned having lost both front wheels. Maybe that is a Kioti weak spot, whereas New Hollands tend to break in half around the bell-housing transmission area.

 

[k0ua]

I have pushed a lot of trees over with mine... ain't broke yet

 

[dave1949]

I have pushed a lot of trees over with mine... ain't broke yet

Let's hope that "yet" is not the operative word in that statement. :laughing: My blue tractor ain't broke yet either.

When tractors of any color fail, I try to learn what can be learned from other's misfortunes. That's something that makes TBN such a valuable site. So, don't get your Kioti hackles up. Grrrr

 

[k0ua]

Let's hope that "yet" is not the operative word in that statement. :laughing: My blue tractor ain't broke yet either.

When tractors of any color fail, I try to learn what can be learned from other's misfortunes. That's something that makes TBN such a valuable site. So, don't get your Kioti hackles up. Grrrr

No hackles Dave, just statement. I pushed over a bunch of trees, with the two previous Kubota's too.! Just bigger ones with the Kioti! I do try to use common sense with the pushing though.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I've pushed over a lot of trees, too. The ones in fields are a lot easier since I can approach from different angles and have more options as far as avoiding getting them hung up in other vegetation. Back on my trails, I sometimes wonder if I will need to get the chainsaw just to get the tractor back home again (like when it slips sideways down between two trees that are too big to push over!).
I didn't see any obvious external/impact damage on the bevel gear casing, but it is always possible that the internal stuff broke first; the mechanic suggested the casing broke first and the separation caused the bevel shaft to shear, but I couldn't really differentiate the sources of the clunks I heard.

 

[Rhinohio]

I did briefly think about trying to skid out steering with the brakes, but the trail is really rough, twisty and seriously tilted in places and I don't think my tractor skill is up to that effort...also, I didn't want to risk doing even more damage.

You did the right thing... I would have fixed it where it broke.

Mike