KAMA 554 Front Drive Repair

[3RRL]

Some of you know how I have used my Kama 554 in land preparation for my new log home, garage and barn. I have just over 420 hours on the meter, but more actual hours than that since the meter was not working for a couple months when I first got it. From estimates I got for all the dirt work, the Kama 554 has paid for itself already more than double (conservatively even more than that?). That is not to count the many hours I have maintaining my 1/2 mile long dirt road and all the other projects over the last 3 years.

In the thread
Three Rivers Home and Barn Project
I mentioned breaking the front drive while working in the mud in 4 wheel drive. I was shifting vigorously from forward to reverse to get the mud moved off my road, trying to get out of the heavy rain storm. In addition, I had a loader full of mud for added traction (about 2500 lbs at least) which is a definite NO-NO for 4wd systems. I had been warned several times that damage might occur to the front drive but I ignored the warnings ... and that's exactly what happened.

Anyway, here is the start of the thread for the repairs.

 

[3RRL]

I will include many photos since this project is quite involved. However not so bad that one should steer away from it. It is very doable, even for an old hack like myself at my rural campsite.

Upon dis-assembly, I saw that the tie rod ends, the swivel ball shaft was worn too. Probably due tot he same reason ... exposure to heavy loads in the front end loader bucket and also to climbing over rocks and obstacles. That places a great amount of stress on the steering linkage. After jacking up the front up with the bucket and securely blocking it with big wood, I proceeded to drain and split the front wheel drive assemblies. There are drains in each front wheel drive and also on under the differential . I also had to drain the entire front differential casing to get rid of the steel chips in there. I still have to wash it all out with Kerosene before re-assembling.

 

[3RRL]

Since I actually did the dis-assembly back in December, I might accidentally skip a step or two, so if you have questions, please ask.
I also wanted to add that I did have the Kama operation and parts manual to work with, but there were no instruction on how to do this exactly. So I had to "feel" my way through the dis-assembly as I went along and using only those tools I had at my rural camp.



The other thing I did was order all the parts before I even started the dis-assembly by looking at the parts manual. I ordered every component for both sides, gears, shafts, bearings , spacers, seals, "o" rings etc. everything I thought was associated with the front drive even the front differential drives and shafts which you'll see in these photos. I ordered them through my good friend Scott (flyhiflylo) and he added them to the existing order for Loretta's tractor (284 Jinma). He quoted me an outstanding price for all the components and on top of that, told me it would be NO CHARGE from his Kama representative. How's THAT for a good service deal?
Thanks Scott!!!

 

[3RRL]

I could feel when I did the damage. The tractor lurched and missed a beat as the front drive felt like it had busted a tooth while operating. Of course I was a half mile from camp and in the rain and not quite done with my chores. I decided (against better judgment of course) to continue working the road so my contractors could get up it the next day.

Well I kept grinding those gears in the front end to shmush even more. It did no good to take it out of 4 wheel drive after it broke, because then the front wheels locked up. So I put it back in 4 wheel drive, finished the road work and drove it back to camp. Brutal!!
Every once in a while the right front wheel would stop turning but the tractor just pushed it as it skidded forward. Then I'd stop and back up to loosen the jam and go forward again. I had to do this several time before I got back to camp. All this time KNWOWING my front drive would be toast. That is why I say I tortured the tractor beyond all reasonable doubt. I butchered it.

Now, here are some pictures showing some of the wear and breaks.



I kept working my way back but so far the large ring gear and miter gear seemed OK. They are hardened. Finally, the vertical shaft which transmits power from the front drive shaft to the large ring gear was galled.

 

[Flyhiflylo]

Yeah! free is good!

 

[3RRL]

Yeah, for sure Scott!

It's the miter gears that are shot. I'm sure the broken teeth started rubbing around the shaft and started galling it. The large ring gear and it's mating miter gear were OK, but when I pulled off the top of the wheel drive, this is what I saw.



Those are the right side where the wheel locked up. Those gear teeth are completely ground off. However, when I pooped off the left side, evidence of the same thing happening, except the teeth were not completely gone yet. Looks like they (the Chinese) might have made these "soft" on purpose to minimize damage in the drive train in the front? They are the smallest and least expensive to replace.
This is the left front drive.

 

[bluechip]

Rob, I cant compete with Scotts pricing, but if there is anything you find anything you missed, there is a good chance we have it in stock. Following the picutres so far, I'm not seeing what part broke. The front end on the KAMAs have been very tough. We have seen a couple T joint housings break and the tie rod ends seem to be the weak link in the steering.

Looks like if I make the Tulare show, I'll be in Fresno, cant get a room closer.

 

[bluechip]

OK, while I was typing, you were adding more pictures.... even my middle aged eyes can see the damage now!

 

[3RRL]

I went a little further with the dis-assembly taking off the gear from the front drive shaft and then removing the drive shaft from the front differential. Here's a shot of all the gears from just one side front drive unit.



That's about as far as I got before taking a break later that night. I will have to inspect the front differential gears too, but I'm pretty sure they are OK. In rotating the shafts, it felt pretty smooth. If they are OK, I will leave them, but in any case, I will flush out the drive shaft housing.

In a couple weeks the new parts will arrive and my good fried Larry (gugliols) is coming out for a visit. He will help me put this thing back together. We will also be working on the new (Loretta's) tractor and implements.

 

[Mike058]

This is pretty fascinating stuff. I notice snap rings are used to hold the one gear on. Any other fasteners besides nuts and bolts holding things together? The other thing I'm wondering about is if you're going to use the front wheel drive for loader work now? I mean, after seeing what's involved to repair it, do you think it's worth it?

 

[GuglioLS]

Great photos -

Those gears took quite a beating, I think they were starting to show signs of wear and finally decided to let go due to the extreme load. What do you think? Your Kama is very powerful and with those loaded tires you have excellent traction, couple that with your tough "soil" conditions (decomposed Granite) and all the hours of hard work, finally took it's toll. But hey, what are tractors for anyway? This is really not all that bad for what it's been through.

It doesn't look very hard to take apart, I sure am glad you took all those pictures, that way I'll know how to help you get it all back together.

I've got an idea how to clean up all this stuff at your camp - you got one of them 1 gallon hand pump weed sprayers? We could put some diesel or kerosene in it, pump it up a little and spray all the junk out of the nooks & crannies, would that work?

Rob - did you find a few grease fittings you think are not worth greasing because there setting in gear oil? When I replaced my wheel studs, and took apart the front drive like yours, I found 2 fittings on the front end where it would be pointless to pump in grease. Is yours the same? and will you still pump grease in anyway? Just wondering.

I love that picture of you by the fire - you look like the lonely cowboy who just lost his horse. See you a week from today!

Larry

 

[EddieWalker]

Rob,

Another interesting project. I really wonder what you'll be able to accomplish once that little distraction of building a house and shop at the same time is out of your way. Obviously it's not enough to keep you busy!!!!!

Since you're using your free time so wisely, I'll refrain from any smart ***** commments.

I am curious as to the cause of the damage. I don't think you've been using your tractor in any way that would be considered extreme or abusive. A full load of dirt is supposed to be in the bucket, and it should be able to haul that load all day long, day after day. That's why the figure into deciding what size bucket to put on the front of the tractor. Driving it in fourwheel drive is also supposed to be a good thing. It was built to be used, so using it shouldn't cause it to fail after less then 500 hours. Heck, it's not even broken in yet.

Larry mentions your soil. I wonder if that might be the cause of the excessive wear and failure. Are you diferentials locked? Is your soil so good that it's like driving on pavement?

There are a very large number of tractors out there that have thousands and thousands of hours on them doing what you were doing with your tractor, without the front axle failing like yours did. Something was either put together wrong, or the axle is flawed in it's design.

The reason I bring all this up is that you are going to have the same situation when you get it done. What will keep it from happening again? Using it less will still put the same strain on it, just take longer to achieve the same results. It might even be worse if you take twice as many trips to move the same amount of material.

Eddie

 

[3RRL]

This is pretty fascinating stuff. I notice snap rings are used to hold the one gear on. Any other fasteners besides nuts and bolts holding things together? The other thing I'm wondering about is if you're going to use the front wheel drive for loader work now? I mean, after seeing what's involved to repair it, do you think it's worth it?

Only nuts bolts and the snap rings to keep things spaced as far as I could determine. Every fit was pretty tight so the gears had to be tapped off the splines. The other thing is the housings and covers all had at least one or two dowel pins for alignment in addition to the bolts holding them together.

I will probably continue to use 4wdr since a lot of my property is wilderness and soft(er) surfaces. However, I will try to use it sparingly when doing loader work and when I don't really need it.

 

[3RRL]

Great photos -

Those gears took quite a beating, I think they were starting to show signs of wear and finally decided to let go due to the extreme load. What do you think? Your Kama is very powerful and with those loaded tires you have excellent traction, couple that with your tough "soil" conditions (decomposed Granite) and all the hours of hard work, finally took it's toll. But hey, what are tractors for anyway? This is really not all that bad for what it's been through.

It doesn't look very hard to take apart, I sure am glad you took all those pictures, that way I'll know how to help you get it all back together.

I've got an idea how to clean up all this stuff at your camp - you got one of them 1 gallon hand pump weed sprayers? We could put some diesel or kerosene in it, pump it up a little and spray all the junk out of the nooks & crannies, would that work?

Rob - did you find a few grease fittings you think are not worth greasing because there setting in gear oil? When I replaced my wheel studs, and took apart the front drive like yours, I found 2 fittings on the front end where it would be pointless to pump in grease. Is yours the same? and will you still pump grease in anyway? Just wondering.

I love that picture of you by the fire - you look like the lonely cowboy who just lost his horse. See you a week from today!

Larry

So you like that lonely Cowboy picture huh?
Larry, I hope you bring your laptop and your air card so we can view these photos once we're up there. I've already forgotten what goes where.
That's a great idea about the sprayer to clean everything out. We can do that, except we may have to use diesel instead of kerosene. Then we can use the dirty stuff to start the fire.

I did find the grease fitting you were talking about and I remembered your post about them. However, after analyzing mine, at least, I found the one fitting on the outside of the hub greases a bearing which is isolated from the gear oil. It is a bearing behind the large ring gear. I'm not so sure gear oil would find it's way up that high or back behind it? So I will continue to lube that one.

The other one was on top of the drive and lubricated the 2 miter gears which are from the drive shaft to the wheel shaft. I'm thinking the drive shaft miter gear runs in oil and would splash lube up to that miter gear but again, the bearing behind (on top) of it might need that lube? Now that one does drip down into the gear oil, but the problem would be to get the gear oil up to that spot to be positive it gets lubed. You can look at it when you get up here, but I think I'll continue to lube them. Certainly wouldn't hurt?

One thing that bugs me is the shaft in the wheel drive is vertical and held in with needle bearings. They are not cased and fell out. I can see an assembly problem there. I would have used cased and raced needle bearings. Now we have to stuff them all in there again...even the new bearing.

I'll be picking you up in one week from today!!!

 

[shvl73]

Rob,
I always enjoy your projects. No fear, get it done! I'll admit to being a bit envious, you have skill and patience that I don't have.

 

[3RRL]

Rob,

Another interesting project. I really wonder what you'll be able to accomplish once that little distraction of building a house and shop at the same time is out of your way. Obviously it's not enough to keep you busy!!!!!

Since you're using your free time so wisely, I'll refrain from any smart ***** commments.

I am curious as to the cause of the damage. I don't think you've been using your tractor in any way that would be considered extreme or abusive. A full load of dirt is supposed to be in the bucket, and it should be able to haul that load all day long, day after day. That's why the figure into deciding what size bucket to put on the front of the tractor. Driving it in fourwheel drive is also supposed to be a good thing. It was built to be used, so using it shouldn't cause it to fail after less then 500 hours. Heck, it's not even broken in yet.

Larry mentions your soil. I wonder if that might be the cause of the excessive wear and failure. Are you diferentials locked? Is your soil so good that it's like driving on pavement?

There are a very large number of tractors out there that have thousands and thousands of hours on them doing what you were doing with your tractor, without the front axle failing like yours did. Something was either put together wrong, or the axle is flawed in it's design.

The reason I bring all this up is that you are going to have the same situation when you get it done. What will keep it from happening again? Using it less will still put the same strain on it, just take longer to achieve the same results. It might even be worse if you take twice as many trips to move the same amount of material.

Eddie

Yes Eddie, it looks like I have nothing but projects!!!
I am also working on a hydraulic winch right now but have not posted about it yet. It is on the back burner for the time being. Before that will be the project of putting this one back together and then assembling all the implements and Loretta's new tractor.

Your point about the front drive wearing out is very well taken. The 4wd industrial tractors I was vaguely familiar with are built quite a bit better than my Kama. I think most CUT or even Ag tractors like mine are not really designed for heavy dirt engagement (relative to industrial use) with the front end loader, but mostly for pulling stuff. I work almost exclusively on dirt, although some of my road is hard in the Summer. Differential lock capability is only for the rear wheels.

At home in China, I presume all they do is plow rice fields? With that in mind, I use my tractor differently. The other thing I've learned is that although sold as 4wd, the front drive is really supposed to be a "forward assist" and thus makes the front drive a weak spot when loaded fully in 4wd. I remember reading in most all the other forums that loader work is not recommended using 4wd, not just for the Chinese tractors. I had been warned about this and now I know why.

The loader I have is an American Koyker loader 195. I think it's rated at 2500lbs lift, but the bucket can hold in excess of 1/2 yard and the loader is better constructed than the Chines tractor IMHO. I'm not so sure what a full bucket of mud would weigh then, but this kind of use has definitely worn out those gears as you can see.

I hope this will not happen again, but I will say I got my money's worth and I am still happy with the tractor. Although it takes time and effort to change the gears out, they are very inexpensive and fairly easy to do. I would imagine pulling heavy loads while in 4wd without a big load in the bucket would lead to much better gear life. With that in mind, I am hoping for the best.

 

[3RRL]

Rob,
I always enjoy your projects. No fear, get it done! I'll admit to being a bit envious, you have skill and patience that I don't have.

Torrin,
Really, I have no choice in the matter.
But I am fortunate to have a little background in mechanics and metal working too.
You have no idea how scared I was when this happened. And then doing what after it broke knowing it would make it worse. That tractor has played such a big part in everything I've done at my rural property and I really need it back running again, so I've just got to do it.
Thanks for your vote of confidence!

 

[3RRL]

Rob, I cant compete with Scotts pricing, but if there is anything you find anything you missed, there is a good chance we have it in stock. Following the picutres so far, I'm not seeing what part broke. The front end on the KAMAs have been very tough. We have seen a couple T joint housings break and the tie rod ends seem to be the weak link in the steering.

Looks like if I make the Tulare show, I'll be in Fresno, cant get a room closer.

Holy mackerel Chip,
I completely missed your replys! Sorry about that.
Yes, you know I wll contact you for anything else I need. You are my main source for stateside parts and service ... very good service from all you've done for me too.
Thank you.

Sorry about having to stay in Fresno.
Did you try getting a room in Three Rivers? It by far closer and a straight shot to the Fair. You have my phone number right? Send me a PM or email with your cell so I can contact you when you get to CA. It will be great to meet up. In any event, what booth will you be at?

 

[EddieWalker]

Rob,

I didn't realize that your loader was afermarket and not something that your tractor was designed to have. It makes more sense to me now that I think about that part of it.

I think that with your background, skill and attention to detail, you will rebuild it as good, if not better then it was originally designed. With it failing at less then 500 hours, I worry that this might happen again. I'd do the same thing, but I'd also be thinking about a replacement axle in the back of your mind. Just like now, you won't know it's coming until it happens. If this is something that has a 500 hour lifespan, then it might be worthwhile going to a different axle.

Eddie

 

[Flyhiflylo]

Rob, how long have you been a member of this forum? Lots of info on here. I like the photo gallery. I always click on the photo tab to see the latest pics the members post.