My poor wife

woodlandfarms · May 22, 2011

She is having a crappy week. On tuesday she is sick, so I cook her something nice but it messes up the stove. So next day she hits the clean button (the one that turns the oven into a hotbox). Well, basically, the stove catches on fire. Mice had moved in and out but left a home that went up in flames. So she calls, and says can she buy a new stove. Off she goes, to get the stove. On the way home the truck breaks down. Radiator rusted out. Nothing like being the person causing the logjam on the 5. So today, she decides to weed wack. Well, after telling her to be careful around the house she wacks off the phone and internet line. So I say "look, your karma is bad, lets just have you move some dirt." So she takes the 1850 and goes to move some dirt. 10 minutes later she returns with the wheel spacer. I am thinking what the heck... She says the wheel fell off. I got to the tractor and sure enough all the lug bolts are broken off except one.

Pictures to follow in the AM. Not sure how she did this. Right now I am thinking that the inside tire was never mounted right. Got loose and torquece the lug bolts.... I hope napa has them otherwise it is going to be a long week waiting for parts.

General Lee · May 22, 2011

Man O Man thats just some bad luck right there. All of it.

90cummins · May 22, 2011

Sounds like your wife is a KEEPER!!

groundcover · May 22, 2011

Or a hard to KEEPER ! :laughing:

Kyle_in_Tex · May 22, 2011

Might as well replace that water pump and thermostat while you have the radiator out. Did the truck engine get fried?

Gizmo2 · May 22, 2011

Talk about a high maintenance women!

J_J · May 22, 2011

At least she tried. Some of the women do nothing but whine and complain. Now don't get me wrong, there are lots of very good women out there that get the job done.

jimmyj · May 22, 2011

Poor woman. Go get her a lotto ticket, she's due some good luck.

Bob999 · May 22, 2011

woodlandfarms said:
I got to the tractor and sure enough all the lug bolts are broken off except one.

Pictures to follow in the AM. Not sure how she did this. Right now I am thinking that the inside tire was never mounted right. Got loose and torquece the lug bolts.... I hope napa has them otherwise it is going to be a long week waiting for parts.

On my 1845 I have had a continuing problem with broken studs. The 1845 uses a 3"+ stud that mounts both the inside wheel and the second wheel adapter. The studs are 7/16" and are the weak point in the wheel mounting system. A small bump, when brushing a tree trunk for example, stresses the studs and causes them to break.

I have been unsuccessful in finding a source other than PT for the studs used on the 1845.

woodlandfarms · May 23, 2011

Bob, mine are 1/2" 3.25 Fine Thread. I have checked the internet and cannot find a source. Hate the thought of calling PT on this one. I also have to figure out how to get the broken ones out. Seems like the have loctite on them.. Ug.

Oh, and the wife took her tale of woe to the neighbor. He brought up his dozer and leveled the dirt in about 15 minutes...

Bob999 · May 23, 2011

woodlandfarms said:
Bob, mine are 1/2" 3.25 Fine Thread. I have checked the internet and cannot find a source. Hate the thought of calling PT on this one. I also have to figure out how to get the broken ones out. Seems like the have loctite on them.. Ug.

Oh, and the wife took her tale of woe to the neighbor. He brought up his dozer and leveled the dirt in about 15 minutes...

Use an easy out. Very carefully drill hole in center of broken stud, starting with a small drill and gradually enlarging the hole.

In my experience these things don't happen in one use but over many hours of use. A bump on a wheel weakens or breaks one stud and then gradually the increased stresses on the remaining studs weaken and ultimately break more studs. I never actually had a wheel fall off--I always noticed a loose/woobly wheel before it actually fell off.

I recently converted to single wheels because of the continuing problems with broken studs. I found some wheels on the internet that would mount a 24 x 13 x 12 tire and would fit the PT with a 3 inch wheel adapter. It reduces the overall width a couple inches and I find that is enough to significantly reduce the bumps on tree trunks but not so much that I don't still have adequate side slope capability.

ptexer · May 23, 2011

I don't know how you put wheels on, but an air tool can apply to much force to lug nuts and weaken or even break them. I turn my air flow down when putting nuts on then torque to specs.

woodlandfarms · May 23, 2011

This is all great info. Yes, I use an air gun. Will use my torque wrench this time around.

I am complete garbage at drilling bolts out. I get how it is done, but I NEVER do it right. So I ground the studs down and am going to leave them and use the alternate stud holes. Also I need more MAP gas so I can heat up the locker on the bolts.

Which brings me to my final story. So I am moaning that I can't use the tractor all day. And will have to wait for PT to come through with the bolts as I cannot find them on the internet, and then BAM. I realize I can just bolt on one tire..

I am such an idiot. I won't run on the slopes until I get the dualies back but will run on singles for that wheel

Also, in looking at the damage, I think that there was some dirt behind the flange and the tire was never properly tightened down (Either by me or by another person). The flopping around must have torqued the heck out of it.

Bob999 · May 23, 2011

woodlandfarms said:
This is all great info. Yes, I use an air gun. Will use my torque wrench this time around.

I am complete garbage at drilling bolts out. I get how it is done, but I NEVER do it right. So I ground the studs down and am going to leave them and use the alternate stud holes. Also I need more MAP gas so I can heat up the locker on the bolts.

Which brings me to my final story. So I am moaning that I can't use the tractor all day. And will have to wait for PT to come through with the bolts as I cannot find them on the internet, and then BAM. I realize I can just bolt on one tire..

I am such an idiot. I won't run on the slopes until I get the dualies back but will run on singles for that wheel

Also, in looking at the damage, I think that there was some dirt behind the flange and the tire was never properly tightened down (Either by me or by another person). The flopping around must have torqued the heck out of it.

You are fortunate to have alternate stud holes available--my 1845 does not. The availability of alternate holes, along with my experience, suggests that broken studs are a fairly common occurance with the PT dual wheel design.

When I have had broken studs in the past I have found problems on other wheels when I inspected them. Hopefully you won't but you might want to check. Over the years I have had my PT I have purchased about 40 studs--they were $6 each when I started and I think $7 each the last time I purchased them.

MossRoad · May 23, 2011

Have you ever considered drilling everything out and then tapping for a larger, standard sized stud?

I had a friend with a mud bogger truck back in the 80's that was constantly snapping studs, so he went up to a larger size. That never happened again. But he then started spinning the centers out of the rims! :laughing:

American Bulldog · May 23, 2011

woodlandfarms said:
Bob, mine are 1/2" 3.25 Fine Thread. I have checked the internet and cannot find a source. Hate the thought of calling PT on this one. I also have to figure out how to get the broken ones out. Seems like the have loctite on them.. Ug.

Oh, and the wife took her tale of woe to the neighbor. He brought up his dozer and leveled the dirt in about 15 minutes...

Maybe McMaster Carr has something that will work for wheel bolts. Sorry about the run of bad luck.

Bob999 · May 23, 2011

MossRoad said:
Have you ever considered drilling everything out and then tapping for a larger, standard sized stud?

I had a friend with a mud bogger truck back in the 80's that was constantly snapping studs, so he went up to a larger size. That never happened again. But he then started spinning the centers out of the rims! :laughing:

1. I don't have the confidence that I could drill and tap without problems; and
2. There has to be a weakest link somewhere and it could certainly be worse than studs.

woodlandfarms · May 23, 2011

Same here, I couldn't drill straight even with a drill press. And how I would get the hub to the press.....

These are the 1st to snap on me ever and I have beat the tar out of this machine. I do think it was related to an installation issue.

Finally Spoke to PT to order new studs. They said that my machine has a "newer" design featuring a 1/2" stud instead of 7/16. And my studs go through both tires. PT was not surprised per-se but they said they have seen a drop in broken bolts since this design.

When I have a steadier hand I will drill out the broken bolts.

Carl