Building up u-joint cap bore? (PTO shaft repair)

[blee03]

In the process of replacing a bad u-joint / cross bearing on the PTO shaft from my bush hog. I have the correct u-joint but the caps fit just a little too loose in the bore of the driveshaft. They almost go in by hand and will spin and move around once installed. (This u-joint has external clips) I’ve tried dimpling the bore where the ujoint cap sits with a pointed punch, but no change, still too loose.

I was considering having my a friend of mine tack weld in the loose u-joint caps so I can get one more use out of the driveshaft before replacing the whole thing next time it needs u-joints. I rarely use this Bush hog and I’m guessing these ujoints, once replaced, will last a while.

After researching many different solutions I found this. Anyone ever done this or heard of this being done before? Or does anyone have any other solutions that might work they’d like to share?

 

[Rebeldad1]

dont over think it. if its just a fix to get by just tack weld them.

 

[pjbci]

Have you priced a replacement yoke for the one that is bad? They are usually pretty cheap aftermarket. Or tack it in place and buy a new one next time. Tacks will break first use with the slack you described but will probably hold cups in for some time.

 

[blee03]

Yeah I don’t have a welder myself so I’ve been trying to get a friend to help me with this but he’s been really busy with work so I’m trying to find other solutions.

I definitely know the right way to fix this is to replace the warn drive shaft and or yolk, which isn’t overly expensive, but I’m looking for other bush league fixes that have been used successfully in the past.

If I don’t come up with anything, I’ll most likely just replace the driveshaft and or yolk.

 

[JPRambo]

Could buy one of these and use the correct size to put in joint for the time being.

 

[blee03]

Now that’s thinking out of the box ... I got plenty of feeler gauges laying around. Not sure if I’ll be able to pull it off but might be worth a shot.

 

[al3]

Loctite makes a series of adhesives (680/660/others) some have used to "repair" bearing seats and the like. I've used 680 on a spun snowmobile crank bearing with good results.

It might be cheaper to buy a new part unless you can find the trial/single application size of Loctite. Even then a new aftermarket yoke might be less expensive......they are proud of their stuff.

Might consider using some sort of adhesive (loctite Red or the equiv) or tacking even if you go the shim stock route. I've used shims only for similar repairs and have had them walk out over time.

Good luck

 

[crazyal]

The first thing I would ask myself is if it fails what will happen? Is the bad yoke on the tractor side or attachment side? If the yoke breaks you are suddenly going to have a driveshaft flailing around. If it's connected to the tractor it'll either break your tractor or the driveshaft long before you can push the clutch in. If it's on the attachment side hopefully the slip clutch or sheer pin will give before doing too much damage. But the loose end of the sliding part of the shaft could get launched before it stops spinning. I'm all for cheap fixes but not when it could be very costly down the road.

You can try to wedge a feeler gauge in between the cap and yoke. But I wouldn't go very far before checking to make sure it's not working it's way out.

 

[5030]

Yeah I don’t have a welder myself so I’ve been trying to get a friend to help me with this but he’s been really busy with work so I’m trying to find other solutions.

I definitely know the right way to fix this is to replace the warn drive shaft and or yolk, which isn’t overly expensive, but I’m looking for other bush league fixes that have been used successfully in the past.

If I don’t come up with anything, I’ll most likely just replace the driveshaft and or yolk.

Yolk's have to do with eggs. You mean YOKE....

 

[Midniteoyl]

Now that’s thinking out of the box ... I got plenty of feeler gauges laying around. Not sure if I’ll be able to pull it off but might be worth a shot.

You can try one of the loctite 600 series 'retaining' adhesives.. We use to use them in manufacturing to hold bearing races in.

Retaining solutions

Retaining compounds reliably secure bearings, keyways and cylindrical parts into housings or onto shafts. LOCTITE® retaining compounds offer an effective and economical method to eliminate challenges such as loosening, corrosion, backlash and wearing by providing uniform stress distribution and...

www.henkel-adhesives.com

Can be found on Amazon.