Shear Bolt Broke On New Deck. PTO Shaft & Gear Box Holes Don't Align.

[RickB]

If it's a slip-clutch driveline is the grade 8 vs grade 2 shear bolt a backup in case the clutch doesn't slip then? Clutch doesn't seem to have spared the '8' bolt any grief this time.

btw, I have the type ptsg showed on my Betstco flail mower and don't trust the slip clutch on the KK tiller. Time to rethink whether I'll use both or just the one I don't have to recheck every season.

My answer is in post #11 above. Most manufacturers use a splines or keyed connection between a slip clutch and gearbox. This one doesn't and the OP gets to deal with it.

 

[Have tractor did travel]

Thank each of you for encouragement to service slip clutch. My bush hog helped clean up a mobile home park in North Carolina about 7 years ago, then sat in Mobile doing nothing. Now it's rehabilitating pastures in Virginia, and I never serviced the slip clutch. I'll get on it tomorrow.

 

[FunkeeMunkee]

Thank you to everyone who has replied.
- The cutter is new, new, new. Not frozen, not rusted.
- The cutter has been used 6 times (went and looked at my victory photos). It did not sit for 8 months before being used. This is not a matter of one years worth of regular use and moderated workload. This is flat ground, weeds and struggling grass for a total of 20 - 30 minutes each time.
- I didn't get a manual. Nor did any of the JD professionals involved ever bother to say - "oh by the way - we chose to replace your old cutter that utilized shear bolt protection with a cutter that utilizes a slips clutch." OR " If you let it sit or use it hard - or a year has passed, the slip clutch needs maintenance". Is it unrealistic to expect a new/never used cutter with a slip clutch to be functional for at least the honeymoon period?
- The photos are labeled correctly.

It always helps when the professionals use the correct terminology. When I ordered the grade 8 bolt I was told it was a shear bolt by the parts guy. Hence the confusion when the service guy mentioned slip clutch. Today I looked much more closely. The PTO shaft and the Gearbox are shrouded in tighly fitted, shiny, slick black plastic from one end to the other so it's hard to tell what's going on when your only view is from 2 awkwardly placed access holes blocked by braces. Many of you win a chicken dinner. There is a slip clutch obscured by "all the bubble wrap".

I used a fairly rugged but thin fence spike to see if I could get any movement and to my surprise there was with some exploratory pressure. It didn't make the holes line up completely but there was certainly an improvement. I felt like if I had something a little more appropriate for the task than the spike, I might be able to get it just right. Until I just read many of your answers just now, I was going to just go pick up the Grade 8 Bolt when it came in and install it myself. Discovering that my cutter has a slip clutch, reading comments here about annual maintenance and so on, I am just going to load the whole kit and kaboodle up and have the dealer "deal" with it. I don't have the patience to try to remove all the plastic and attempt to do the require slip clutch adjustment/maintenance following some you tube channel tutorial while sitting out in the hot Florida sun (or daily thunderstorm).

I really do appreciate your advice and suggestions.

 

[ning]

If this was my equipment, I'd get a positive ID on the slip clutch before putting a grade 8 bolt back into place... and then I'd get that clutch to spin.

Given that you're taking it back to the dealer to have them do it, tell them that you want to see the slip clutch that they say is on it so that you can service it in the future.

 

[RustyA]

Perhaps the humidity caused lot rot of the slip clutch while it was sitting waiting to be sold. Might be rusted together...

 

[ruffdog]

I have seen manuals for new rotary cutters stuck to the bottom of the deck in a plastic pouch. Could it still be there?

 

[cathy liebchen]

Thank you to everyone who has replied.
- The cutter is new, new, new. Not frozen, not rusted.
- The cutter has been used 6 times (went and looked at my victory photos). It did not sit for 8 months before being used. This is not a matter of one years worth of regular use and moderated workload. This is flat ground, weeds and struggling grass for a total of 20 - 30 minutes each time.
- I didn't get a manual. Nor did any of the JD professionals involved ever bother to say - "oh by the way - we chose to replace your old cutter that utilized shear bolt protection with a cutter that utilizes a slips clutch." OR " If you let it sit or use it hard - or a year has passed, the slip clutch needs maintenance". Is it unrealistic to expect a new/never used cutter with a slip clutch to be functional for at least the honeymoon period?
- The photos are labeled correctly.

It always helps when the professionals use the correct terminology. When I ordered the grade 8 bolt I was told it was a shear bolt by the parts guy. Hence the confusion when the service guy mentioned slip clutch. Today I looked much more closely. The PTO shaft and the Gearbox are shrouded in tighly fitted, shiny, slick black plastic from one end to the other so it's hard to tell what's going on when your only view is from 2 awkwardly placed access holes blocked by braces. Many of you win a chicken dinner. There is a slip clutch obscured by "all the bubble wrap".

I used a fairly rugged but thin fence spike to see if I could get any movement and to my surprise there was with some exploratory pressure. It didn't make the holes line up completely but there was certainly an improvement. I felt like if I had something a little more appropriate for the task than the spike, I might be able to get it just right. Until I just read many of your answers just now, I was going to just go pick up the Grade 8 Bolt when it came in and install it myself. Discovering that my cutter has a slip clutch, reading comments here about annual maintenance and so on, I am just going to load the whole kit and kaboodle up and have the dealer "deal" with it. I don't have the patience to try to remove all the plastic and attempt to do the require slip clutch adjustment/maintenance following some you tube channel tutorial while sitting out in the hot Florida sun (or daily thunderstorm).

I really do appreciate your advice and suggestions.

The plastic guards are easy to remove and the slip clutch is easy to service. If you don’t have patience to do it just pay the dealer to do it

 

[Williy]

I use a punch to line up holes as its tapered and
works better than a nail, bolt etc.

willy

 

[PerroneMM]

Just slow down a little bit when you're in that tall grass it's been a while you'll be okay but a new share boat in if it's front to back that you're worried about not lining up just move the shaft a little bit it'll line up

 

[kipgary]

An aligning rod might take care of it. Otherwise, have you tried working a Philips screw driver with a shaft slightly smaller than the bolt into to hole to see if you can align them that way?