Nobhill
Member
This happened to me twice; same machine, same model year. First time: 6 months out of warranty, caused by the loader boom stabilizer bolts coming loose and torquing the drive train while lifting an unbalanced load. That was expensive to say the least. The part at that time was $7500 and with the labour and other parts and supplies the bill was $21k. Not impressed seeing as my dealer was aware (by means of a service bulletin) that these bolts had a tendency to loosen frequently. They even commented on a prior service work order that they had tightened them... but didn't bother to warm me of the impending consequences of not monitoring them.
Second time: about a year ago I cracked open the tranny bell housing by carrying loads with the loader and backhoe at the same time. Since the bell housing is the sole top-side front-to-rear structural member of the chassis, I cracked her open like an egg. This time I was bound and determined to fix it myself, even if it took me all winter. JD was not getting any more of my cash! It took me all winter! I split the machine in half in my shop using jacks and stands. I hired a local retired welder to repair the bell housing seeing as welding cast is not a task that the average DIY welder could tackle. It took him 35 hours over two weeks to stitch it back together (it was severed 90% around). The cost was a quarter that of the OEM part and so far it has held... although I'm a lot more conservative with its employment. For added insurance, I installed reinforcing rods top-side, front-to-back between the frame components about 6"/15 cm above the floor on both left and right sides. It took a bit of configuring to make the thing work (and I have to step over it to enter and exit) but it's not too bad.
I have photos of the machine in pieces that I can dig up if it is any use to anyone.
Second time: about a year ago I cracked open the tranny bell housing by carrying loads with the loader and backhoe at the same time. Since the bell housing is the sole top-side front-to-rear structural member of the chassis, I cracked her open like an egg. This time I was bound and determined to fix it myself, even if it took me all winter. JD was not getting any more of my cash! It took me all winter! I split the machine in half in my shop using jacks and stands. I hired a local retired welder to repair the bell housing seeing as welding cast is not a task that the average DIY welder could tackle. It took him 35 hours over two weeks to stitch it back together (it was severed 90% around). The cost was a quarter that of the OEM part and so far it has held... although I'm a lot more conservative with its employment. For added insurance, I installed reinforcing rods top-side, front-to-back between the frame components about 6"/15 cm above the floor on both left and right sides. It took a bit of configuring to make the thing work (and I have to step over it to enter and exit) but it's not too bad.
I have photos of the machine in pieces that I can dig up if it is any use to anyone.
