The clutch housing on my B6000 has split open in the flange right where it connects to the transmission. (See the attached photos--one from each side.)
My current strategy is to split the tractor apart at that point by removing all the bolts connecting the clutch housing to the transmission--including those you see in the pictures, pound the damaged flange more or less into the correct position, and then weld the joint with some reinforcing metal. Then I will bolt it all back together again.
What happened was that the tractor "popped a wheelie" due to the heavy tiller attachment and as a function of me driving it a little too hard. It essentially "broke the back" of the tractor itself, so that instead of having a straight linear mechanical integrity from front to back, the tractor now has a bit of an angle. (And by the way, yes, I do have the standard weight on the front of the tractor, but it sadly wasn't enough to prevent this from happening...)
As one of many challenges with this repair, I am ready to pull things apart, but I'm worried about both the main drive shaft and the front wheel drive shaft that both traverse through the clutch housing. I'm guessing that I need to disconnect them before I attempt to split the tractor at that point. Any guidance? I've already removed the hydraulic lines and disconnected the various brake levers so that there is no impediment to the split.
The other potential challenge is that when this first happened, I initually didn't notice the break in the housing, but I noticed that the tractor was hesitating as if something in the powertrain was not delivering power, followed up almost immediately by a burning smell and some smoke coming from the area--at which point I shut the tractor down and then subsequently discovered the break. My worry is that in process of this breakage occurring, something was damaged in one or both of these drive shafts (bent shaft, stressed berring, etc.) such that I have an even bigger problem on my hands. I need to be able to dig into the area to fully diagnose what that problem might be, but I'm interested in any thoughts on this matter as well.
My current strategy is to split the tractor apart at that point by removing all the bolts connecting the clutch housing to the transmission--including those you see in the pictures, pound the damaged flange more or less into the correct position, and then weld the joint with some reinforcing metal. Then I will bolt it all back together again.
What happened was that the tractor "popped a wheelie" due to the heavy tiller attachment and as a function of me driving it a little too hard. It essentially "broke the back" of the tractor itself, so that instead of having a straight linear mechanical integrity from front to back, the tractor now has a bit of an angle. (And by the way, yes, I do have the standard weight on the front of the tractor, but it sadly wasn't enough to prevent this from happening...)
As one of many challenges with this repair, I am ready to pull things apart, but I'm worried about both the main drive shaft and the front wheel drive shaft that both traverse through the clutch housing. I'm guessing that I need to disconnect them before I attempt to split the tractor at that point. Any guidance? I've already removed the hydraulic lines and disconnected the various brake levers so that there is no impediment to the split.
The other potential challenge is that when this first happened, I initually didn't notice the break in the housing, but I noticed that the tractor was hesitating as if something in the powertrain was not delivering power, followed up almost immediately by a burning smell and some smoke coming from the area--at which point I shut the tractor down and then subsequently discovered the break. My worry is that in process of this breakage occurring, something was damaged in one or both of these drive shafts (bent shaft, stressed berring, etc.) such that I have an even bigger problem on my hands. I need to be able to dig into the area to fully diagnose what that problem might be, but I'm interested in any thoughts on this matter as well.
