5420 4WD Broken rear wheel dish

[Harry in Ky]

Does anyone out there have any knowledge of wheel dish/lug bolt problems with this or any similar model tractors? This tractor was purchased used about six months ago. It's used mainly for pulling a manure spreader, and some occasional work with a batwing mower. Not very heavy pulling. When the tractor was delivered it was noted that both rear wheel dishes, lug bolts and the associated spacer rings looked as though they had been recently replaced. Certainly weren't as old as the rims and the outer bolts. One wheel has recently failed, having torn the boltholes out and pretty much destroyed the dish. On the other side there are two bolts with the heads broken off, and evidence that the dish has been moving on the bolts because there are shiny spots on the dish near the mating surface with the outer spacer ring. I haven't started taking anything apart yet, as the tractor is not in an ideal location to be jacked up and fooled with at the moment.
I plan to contact the local dealer tomorrow to line out some new parts and quiz them a bit on sales history -- possible updates/improvements, or maybe any warnings about lug bolt torque specs and/or check frequency? Just wondering if this is an isolated incident, maybe just a result of neglect, or maybe there's more to it. Looking at the wheel that's still in place, it looks to me that the bolt holes are somewhat larger than the bolt diameter to begin with, plus the bolts appear in the parts diagram to be full thread making the O.D. a bit smaller than they could be. This alone could be partly to blame.

 

[RickB]

Loose hardware. Every operator's manual instructs to check wheel hardware. Most folks don't bother.

 

[boggen]

Loose hardware. Every operator's manual instructs to check wheel hardware. Most folks don't bother.

ditto.

granted i am no pro mechanic, it is just that stuff does and will come loose. and have found enough bolts / nuts that have came loose on equipment on general full checkups of the machine.

from looking at jdparts.com the disc, and then outter rim... are made to be adjusted to get a few different widths. to deal with "row crops" and making sure rear tires do not run down on crops in the fields.

i would question metal grade used for bolts. and if correct sized used and/or improper torqued.

 

[beenthere]

I'd look to see if the rims are the right ones for that model. May have been swapped out for the wrong fit.

 

[Zebrafive]

I agree with Rick. It was run with the wheels loose. That egg shapes the holes, ruins the wheel dish and snaps bolts. I would check loader mounts if it has a loader and ROPS mount bolts. It takes several tightenings for the bolts to take a "set"