G1800 Driveshaft Replacement Tips

[badmaxdog]

Hi, My driveshaft on my G1800 has failed today (universal joint and yoke damaged) and I was wondering if anyone has had the pleasure of replacing one of these. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[badmaxdog]

Re: G1800 Driveshaft Replacement Tips ??

Hi, My driveshaft on my G1800 has failed today (universal joint and yoke damaged) and I was wondering if anyone has had the pleasure of replacing one of these. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.[/QUOTE

Bump to this thread.

 

[Ascott172]

I rebuilt mine with new u joints a couple months ago.

 

[Ascott172]

 

[Delmar]

Hi AScott. That pic looks familiar. I had to do a similar tear-down to replace the steering box in mine. Never had to replace the driveshaft, but at least I know how to tear the machine down to get to it. I was actually a bit surprised at how relatively easy it was to tear down and rebuild.

 

[Delmar]

Sorry, photo didn't attach to p[previous message.

 

[Ascott172]

I had to unbolt the radiator and lift it slightly to get the drive shaft out. The cool thing is every bolt was 12mm except the steering wheel.

 

[Northporter]

Remove seat and rear fenders and wheels and put jack stands under axles.
Remove the 8 (4 per side) bolts holding the transmission to the frame. Rubber mallet to move the axles backward 3/8" or so, allowing room enough to remove the drive shaft.

 

[Northporter]

You also need to remove 2 bolts holding the fuel tank to the frame. To reassemble just rubber mallet the axles forward 3/8" and re align bolt holes. About 2-3 hour job. Probably an hour job now I know.

 

[Northporter]

Images of axle supported and drive shaft removed after moving the transmission back 3/8". My fan was wobbling and loose so I removed it. I'll have to watch it to see if it gets warm back there.

 

[Northporter]

Another image of bolts removed from the frame to transmission.

 

[Cobraone]

I need to replace my water pump and thought about replacing the driveshaft at the same time, glad to know about the 12mm bolts and as we all know a good picture is worth a thousand words, my G1800 has over two thousand hours, starting to worry about that driveshaft, but overall it has been an awesome lawn tractor

 

[bjmsam]

Wow, that's some major disassembly! On my G1900S, it took about fifteen minutes to remove the drive shaft once the mower deck was off and the front wheels were up on ramps.

1. Remove Pin from rear Yoke Clamp. Some models have a Yoke Clamp with Bolt.
   
   
   
   
2. Unbolt (3 x 12mm) front triangular splined shaft plate from engine (for reference, that belt drives the generator and radiator fan).
   
   
3. Slide assembly forward and off of transmission splined shaft or rearward and off of flywheel until free at both ends. Maneuver assembly as far rearward as possible (between transmission fan blades), then over to the engine oil filter side of tractor, and finally out through the front.
   
   
   
   The rear Yoke Clamp can be pried out between the bottom of the floor panel and the top of the horizontal frame tube, which has a hole located and sized conveniently to accommodate a large screwdriver for leverage.
   
   
   The oil filter can be removed for additional clearance (so if you're also performing an oil change, then leave the filter off until the end).
   
   

Once out, I followed this approach for disassembly with a hammer, sockets, and bench vise.

The parts manual lists Assy Joint Cross 66101-13580 for my model:

According to Messick's, that has been superseded by 66091-61830:

My local dealer does not stock that part, so I ordered it and followed this approach for easy assembly.

I reinstalled the shaft by performing the same three steps in reverse and everything now works perfectly!

 

[3cDiesel]

Wow, that's some major disassembly! On my G1900S, it took about fifteen minutes to remove the drive shaft once the mower deck was off and the front wheels were up on ramps.

1. Remove Pin from rear Yoke Clamp. Some models have a Yoke Clamp with Bolt.
   
   
   
   
2. Unbolt (3 x 12mm) front triangular splined shaft plate from engine (for reference, that belt drives the generator and radiator fan).
   
   
3. Slide assembly forward and off of transmission splined shaft or rearward and off of flywheel until free at both ends. Maneuver assembly as far rearward as possible (between transmission fan blades), then over to the engine oil filter side of tractor, and finally out through the front.
   
   
   
   The rear Yoke Clamp can be pried out between the bottom of the floor panel and the top of the horizontal frame tube, which has a hole located and sized conveniently to accommodate a large screwdriver for leverage.
   
   
   The oil filter can be removed for additional clearance (so if you're also performing an oil change, then leave the filter off until the end).
   
   

Once out, I followed this approach for disassembly with a hammer, sockets, and bench vise.

The parts manual lists Assy Joint Cross 66101-13580 for my model:

According to Messick's, that has been superseded by 66091-61830:

My local dealer does not stock that part, so I ordered it and followed this approach for easy assembly.

I reinstalled the shaft by performing the same three steps in reverse and everything now works perfectly!

Thank you for this post! I just performed this on my G1800-S and it worked beautifully! I did remove the oil filter and it made all the difference. My tractor had the bolted yoke and was really the only difference from yours. My yoke was busted and the driveshaft was bent, so I purchased the complete kit and replaced it all. It took me about 15 minutes to remove the old and probably just as long to install the new driveshaft.
Again, thank you so much for this great post!