help finding hydraulic motor coupler

[greenerdreams]

Hello,
I am building a hydraulic 3 point rotary cutter conversion and have everything figured out except the coupler from the motor to the input shaft on the cutter gearbox. Most motors in the size I need have 1" shaft with keyway. My gearbox has a 1 3/8" smooth shaft with 1/2" shear bolt. I did make a single u joint shaft from the original pto shaft but it adds considerable length to an already tight clearance and I would still need a 1" female to 1 3/8 6 spline male adapter which would add even more length to the configuration. I cannot find anyone that supplies a female to female coupler to mate the two directly so I can lose the pto shaft. The closest I can find is a 1" to 1 3/8 6spline female that I considered boring halfway and then drilling the shear bolt hole but would ideally like to find a ready to go item to save some work. Does anyone have any other ideas. Another thought was have emachineshop fab one but I know that gets expensive.
Thanks.

 

[jenkinsph]

It would seem to me that a lovejoy coupling would work in your case as long as what you need is closely coupled. You should be able to get a 1" coupling half and a 1 3/8 to make this work. Browning is a brand that comes to mind.

Make sure you use a coupling that will handle your hp at the correct driveline rpms. Here is a link to Love Joy
http://www.lovejoy-inc.com/products/jaw-type-couplings/l-type.aspx

 

[Xfaxman]

This is what is on my 7' brush hog.


On the Toolcat.


Give them a call, 417-458-4350, see if they can give you a source for the coupler.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

Try this link for Rudland on reducing couplings: Using a solid coupling like this you need to anchor both drive and driven to a common rigid mounting. Any flexible coupling will take up a lot more space but you can get them in 2 different shaft sizes also. Rudland has flex couplings also; a lot more expensive though. A high shaft speed with solid coupling may have a balance problem. I have bought Rudland couplings on Amazon. The suppliers of this stuff have a minimum order problem for us guys needing one. I use Rudland couplings for weld in bushings. They come in metric sizes also.

Ron

 

[BHD]

we have used a chain coupler basically two sprockets and a double chain, and allows for minor miss alignment. I think surplus center sells them.

and there are a few company that make weld a sprockets, where one can get various hubs, and weld them on the sprockets so Odd hubs are not that hard to come by.

http://www.ggmfg.com/

 

[greenerdreams]

thank you for the replies. they all give me good ideas to start from. I still cannot find the exact pieces I need from any of the links mainly due to the fact that the gearbox shaft is a shearpin all the lovejoy and sprocket hubs don't seem to have that available(I may have to get one drilled) I did contact tree terminator to see if they will sell their coupler which they were going to confirm if it was the correct sizing.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

If you have a relief valve in the HYD circuit wouldn't that serve as an anti stall device instead of the shear pin? Just a thought. I used a HYD motored winch once and when it maxed out the motor it just relieved itself and no movement of the cable. Leave it running on bypass like that will heat up the oil quickly as all the energy then goes to heat.

Ron

 

[Xfaxman]

thank you for the replies. they all give me good ideas to start from. I still cannot find the exact pieces I need from any of the links mainly due to the fact that the gearbox shaft is a shearpin all the lovejoy and sprocket hubs don't seem to have that available(I may have to get one drilled) I did contact tree terminator to see if they will sell their coupler which they were going to confirm if it was the correct sizing.

I measured the coupler, It is 6" long. The gearbox shaft is 1 3/8". Can't see the motor shaft.

Hope their motor shaft size is what you need.

 

[jenkinsph]

thank you for the replies. they all give me good ideas to start from. I still cannot find the exact pieces I need from any of the links mainly due to the fact that the gearbox shaft is a shearpin all the lovejoy and sprocket hubs don't seem to have that available(I may have to get one drilled) I did contact tree terminator to see if they will sell their coupler which they were going to confirm if it was the correct sizing.

Can't you drill the holes for the shear pin yourself?

 

[Farmerford]

Jenkinsph has an easy solution. And Tractor Seabee is correct that the relief valve eliminates the need for a shear pin. I had almost exactly the same problem. I used the chain coupling from Surplus Center. The hub was not long enough for a drive pin hole in the proper location to line up with the hole in the gearbox shaft, so I welded a collar of the same size onto it and drilled the collar for the drive pin (actually I drilled the hole on the line between the collar and hub, and left a gap in the welding where the hole was to be). The chain coupling sprocket and the collar will likely be a leaded steel to facilitate machining, so the weld will not be full strength due to the lead content, but mine has held up for eight years of fairly heavy use.

I think the current SC chain coupling uses a double row chain, which may have a longer hub than the single row chain coupling I got from them eight years ago.

 

[woodlandfarms]

What's the advantage of a chain couple over a lovejpy with rubber washer. What is the best application for a chain couple and what is it not so good for. Honestly just have never seen one

 

[Farmerford]

Woodland Farms:

I am no expert, but chain couplings are old and well proven and don't have plastic/rubber components that deteriorate with heat/cold/oil/ozone/uv. And they are cheap, I suppose because all three components (two sprockets and one chain) are used in so many other power transmission systems that they are made in large quantities on simple machines.

If poorly aligned and heavily loaded they do require lubrication because of the sliding motion of the chain rollers on the sprocket teeth. I oiled mine when it was new, wrapped a layer of dense felt around it to hold oil, and then wrapped all that in leather to keep the oil in and dirt out. I took the wrapping off after a few hundred hours, and there was no noticeable wear.

 

[greenerdreams]

You are all correct about not needing the shear pin. I do intend to have a check valve to allow overspeed or spin down when turning off the hydraulics. The only reason i need the pin is to make the mechanical connection to the input shaft since there is no key and I don't want to permanently weld anything to the shaft. I contacted tree terminator about their coupler and it is a 1.25" input shaft which seems to be kind of rare for a hyd motor versus the 1". I am leaning to the double sprocket/chain hubs and drilling the pin myself or having my local napa machine shop do it. Thanks for all the input it has been helpful.