FEL Hydraulic Repair

[AshleyBS55]

I found the problem with my FEL. As you can see from the photo, someone put a weld, which has broken, on the shaft that runs from the pulley to the hydraulic pump. I have some questions that I hope some of you can answer.

1. How do I get the key out of the shaft? I've loosened, even taken out, the Allen screw. The key is loose, but I can't pull it out.
2. Since the weld is broken am I going to have a problem getting the large nut attached to the pulley loose?
3. I don't understand what the part with chains around it does. And does the shaft slide through it when I take it off? I can see no way to get the shaft out of the pulley if the shaft doesn't slide through the chain area.
4. Finally, can I buy a replacement for the shaft? I sure don't want to re-weld something like that. I think it's shoddy work and won't last.

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[gpreuss]

I found the problem with my FEL. As you can see from the photo, someone put a weld, which has broken, on the shaft that runs from the pulley to the hydraulic pump. I have some questions that I hope some of you can answer.

1. How do I get the key out of the shaft? I've loosened, even taken out, the Allen screw. The key is loose, but I can't pull it out.
2. Since the weld is broken am I going to have a problem getting the large nut attached to the pulley loose?
3. I don't understand what the part with chains around it does. And does the shaft slide through it when I take it off? I can see no way to get the shaft out of the pulley if the shaft doesn't slide through the chain area.
4. Finally, can I buy a replacement for the shaft? I sure don't want to re-weld something like that. I think it's shoddy work and won't last.

Thanks,
Bruce

3. The part with the chain is a coupler. Pull the chain off and you can separate the tractor PTO shaft from the pump shaft.
1. Pull off the chain, and dismount the pump. The PTO side of the coupler should slide off the shaft. You may not have to remove the chain, if you are lucky. Those keys usually will not slide out easily if the coupler half is still on the shaft.
2. This is the bad part. The pulley is actually mounted on the crankshaft. Protruding from the engine just forward of the pulley is a spline drive shaft - the front PTO. It looks as though the previous owner could not find the correct spline drive female, so he slid a pipe over the spline shaft and welded to the crankshaft. The only way to find out what you have is to pull the pump, couplers, and that shaft in the picture, if you can. With LOTS of luck, it will pull right off, and there will be a spline drive shaft inside it.
4. Then, with lots more luck, you can get a mate to the spline drive, and go from there. They are usually standard things - measure the diameter and count the teeth, and search the internet. You should also be able to get the properly sized coupler half if you end up with a different diameter drive shaft.

Let us know how you are doing, preferably with more pictures. This link gets you to a downloadable parts manual, which helps a LOT. Pages 4, 11 and 18 show, more or less, what the crankshaft & pulley are supposed to be.

http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=48655
Gil

 

[ShaunRH]

If there is weld material or damage down against the 'spline' teeth you are going to need a needle file set and a ton of patience to correct it by knocking down the 'high spots' with the files near that nut, do not dig into the spline metal at all though!

You might get lucky and the weld damage is restricted to the crankshaft pulley 'nut' that you see. If that is the case, I'd replace that nut as a welded nut is weaker than one that hasn't been exposed to that kind of heat. I'd hate for you to do all that work fixing in and have that nut crack and break for some reason.

It also looks like that lower bracket might come off, and if so, it would increase your access to the shaft if you feel comfortable taking it off (and give you and opportunity to clean and repaint it!) Also time to check the chain, test and maintain the pump, etc. If you're gonna have to tear into something, might as well not have to come back for anything if you're already there, right?

GP seems to have the skinny down pat on the shaft assembly itself. So my stuff here is just cleanup advice... take it for the low value it's worth!

 

[Tx Jim]

If there is weld material or damage down against the 'spline' teeth you are going to need a needle file set and a ton of patience to correct it by knocking down the 'high spots' with the files near that nut, do not dig into the spline metal at all though!

Shaun
You see more in the photo than I. Where are any "splines"? I'll bet the shaft by the nut is round not splined.

 

[Tx Jim]

AshleyBS55
If that was my tractor I re-weld it and put it back to work.
As previously stated the double roller chain is just a coupler to join the 2 sprockets together. There is a coupler link that can be removed to separate the chain and free the sprockets. Why do you want to loosen the nut as it's function is to hold the crankshaft fan belt sheave in place? What tractor are you trying to repair?