Bent mid PTO for snowblower

[asgard]

They mustbe dumping all these bad shafts in Canada. Kidding.

It is strange because it was the universal that failed on mine, dealer said that same - never seen it before.

I was fortunate mine broke at the mid-point, not the engine side, that let the complete shaft spin-off with only a small amount of chipping and gouging to the snowblower quick attach.
Good luck with the new one.

 

[Blackmajicwoman]

Brand new member, but long time Kubota owner. After a search yielded this thread, I had to join to get some info. Ive been having a recurring issue with my BX2750 snow blower set up for some time. The first time it happened near scared the crap out of me! During a routine snow storm in 2014, I was blowing about 6 of typical New England snow when I started to hear a foreign noise coming front below near the front section of the mid PTO shaft, and in an instant all **** broke loose...well not quite literally, but the forward end of the mid PTO shaft separated from the rear male section that is integral to the quick hitch. I luckily disengage the mid PTO before the uncontrolled spinning shaft caused any damage to the tractor. After bringing it in the garage and inspected the damage, the front universal joint of the mid PTO shaft appeared to fall apart. Ok, no problem!

The spare universal joint was shipped by Messicks within a few days. I pressed the new joint in successfully and installed the mid PTO shaft back on the tractor. Started it up and ran the mid PTO with no apparent issue...problem fixed!

Next snowstorm I was all too happy to get out there to clear the drive, when all of a sudden...yup, same thing occurred. So I guess I didnt really fix the problem, and only merely repaired the mid PTO shaft. Luckily I had purchased an additional differential joint, as the issue resulted in the same front differential blowing apart. So something else had to be causing this failure.

I repaired the mid PTO shaft with the spare differential, and did a much closer inspection to the entire mid PTO driveline. I determined it was not the differential failing. What I found was that the shaft that runs through the quick hitch hitch was loose and could move forward and aft through both pillow block bearings. Seems as all (4) set screws that are suppose to hold that shaft in place were loose. Thus, the amount of spline engaged into its mate kept getting less and less until it was not enough and spun right out. I will note that during initial install a year prior, those set screws were torqued to spec and I used blue loctite. So I reset the shaft, reset the set screws, re-applied blue loctite, and re-torqued and also lubricated all fittings again. I ran the blower for 15 minutes or so in the garage, shut it down and re-inspected all joints and connections to be SAT. Been using the machine and BX2750 with no issues.

Fast forward to this season...installed and inspected all components that make up the BX2750 to my BX1500. The third time clearing the driveway this winter and not even 50 feet into my fist pass and guess what? Aside from the resulting mid PTO shaft and differential blowing apart, the quick hitch pillow block set screws came lose.

I went through the same drill again to reset, re-apply, re-torque.... I placed yet another order to Messicks for a few more differential spares, as well as a new mid PTO shaft (the original has gotten pretty beat up when it’s flapping around uncontrollably during the failure mode).

So asking if anyone might have had a similar issue, and if you truly resolved the issue. Perhaps I need to go through the process loctite and re-torquing every season? Tap bigger set screws? Replace the pillow blocks? Im open to any and all comments and suggestions. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[RCW]

Welcome to OTT!

I have a BX2750D blower on a BX2360 tractor. Had it from new through 8 winter seasons.

Just a couple versions newer than yours. Never had a problem similar (fingers crossed...).

What is the model # of the front/quick hitch?...the actual mount the blower connects to....

Did you get the blower and front hitch with the tractor from new/used, or put the front hitch and/or blower together with the tractor at different times?

What is the length of the mid-PTO shaft held by the pillow bearings?

I think there's 2 or 3 different lengths of those shafts, as well as 2(maybe ?) lengths of the shaft that connects to the tractor PTO.

There is also a difference in the way the mid-shaft is supposed to be held in the pillow bearings, depending the particular shaft length.

Just wondering if something is mis-matched.

 

[RCW]

If you go to:



Agree to legal, put in your BX1500 tractor model. Then, click OPTIONS, and you'll find implements for the tractor. Looks like this. I notice some serial number breaks.....

My tractor uses the BX2751 front hitch, and the BX2753 shaft. Yours looks like the BX2752 or BX2752A shaft.

I noted in my manual that the flanges are mounted differently for the shorter BX2752 versus the longer BX2753....something to check...

This is the shorter BX2752..

The BX2753.

 

[Blackmajicwoman]

Thanks for the reply...good point on making sure there is no mid-match as Im not ruling anything out. I am 99% sure everything is match correctly, as it always seems to be a rule of thumb dealing with the BX1500. When I bought the BX2750C used in 2013, the dealer verified with Kubota it was compatible with the BX1500, as well as the specified mid PTO drive kit...but that doesn’t necessarily mean everything is matched.

Here’s my equipment:
BX1500D (2004) - bought new
BX2711 (2004) - bought new
BX2012 (2013) - bought new
BX2750C (unknown, bought used - maybe 2005ish)

mid PTO shaft length yoke tip to yoke tip: 34 1/8”

In both failure instances, the set screws became loose causing the output shaft to shift forward, there in lies the issue. But clearly there is a difference in the output shaft length...I’ll check next time I’m in the garage and when the new mid PTO shaft comes in how much clearance I have between the output shaft and the mid PTO shaft...off the top of my head, I definitely have the pillow block style vice the flange system bearings. That being said means I have the longer output shaft length and should help instead of be more of an issue.

Appreciate your insight and will certainly check on those parts you pointed out.

 

[Blackmajicwoman]

Thank you all for feedback. Sometimes it’s the simple or obvious things that you miss when trying to diagnose a complex issue. While awaiting replacement parts from Messicks, I found the input shaft to indeed be loose, as 3 of 4 set screws in the pillow block bearings loose... but why and how?

After inspection of the mid PTO shaft, found a bend on the order of about 5 degrees on the engine side of the PTO which is consistent to the location of the “PTO shaft” access hole in my skid plate, which is about 30 inch back from the input shaft engagement. I am guessing as the shaft separated from the front input shaft due to input shaft shifting forward, the mid PTO shaft was left uncontrollably whipping around the heavy gauge steel skid plate access hole with plenty of force to induce a bend in the shaft. Going to take a leap of faith and assume I bent the shaft the first time this failure occurred in 2014, as I am going to attribute that failure on me for not initially applying loctite or torquing the 4 set screws properly on the pillow block bearings. So as suggested, I am going to imagine this was enough of a yield to the shaft that caused excessive vibration to cause the set screws to loosen enough to shift the input shaft forward.

I will report back once I get the replacement parts in and everything re-installed PROPERLY! On another note, as I have some spare 1.5 inch OD / 0.188 inch wall DOM steel tubing that I will attempt to fabricate a “spare” shaft after I cut off the yokes from the bent shaft. Bad idea??

I will keep you posted and thanks for the insight!

 

[Dave_eng]

! On another note, as I have some spare 1.5 inch OD / 0.188 inch wall DOM steel tubing that I will attempt to fabricate a “spare” shaft after I cut off the yokes from the bent shaft. Bad idea??

I will keep you posted and thanks for the insight!

In case you are not aware of this requirement in driveshaft design and manufacturer, do some searching on "indexing."

This is especially important with mid pto's because of the speed they turn compared to the typical 540 rpm rear pto.

Indexing

Angle and phasing


Dave

 

[UpNorthMI]

I get a little jealous about those cab tractors with front snow blowers, after reading this thread a rear 3pt snow blower seems a pretty simple set up!

 

[Blackmajicwoman]

Jealous of all the cab tractors as well...next Kubota for sure! On a serious note, I hear the rear 3ph blowers perform very well, although my neck were start to hurt after a while!

 

[BAP]

Hey Folks, new member here. This seems like a group to piggyback a snow blower question on:
I've got a 2013 BX2370, and want to add a snow blower. Found a used BX5450, which came with a B2714C subframe and PTO (which I can't use, so will be listing). Purchased BX2751 quick attach and BX2753 MID PTO kit. Everything should fit together... However, it seems the PTO from the quick attach to the snow blower is too long. Can any of you measure the snow blower (female) end of the PTO and let me know the length? Much appreciated. (BTW - lots of good info here, very helpful when I was looking for the tractor and parts.)

You really should start your own thread to get the best answers

 

[Alumel&Chromel]

Well, today was a real highlight moment.
After a fall of 6 inches of light snow, I decided to blow it using my twice used new front blower. All went well at the start and it did a good job, however, as I approached the 25-minute mark and blowing just 6 inches of snow the universal coupling at the PTO drive end let go, snapped and sent the shaft flying.
Well. it flew into the cross member, then left the snowblower coupling.
It is a horrific noise and then you think what happened as you drive over the shaft lying now behind you.
Snow blower is fine, all shear pins intact rotates easily by hand, PTO splines are ok on both blower and tractor.
So the damage is to one universal coupling, one of the cups is completely missing, the other is sheared off. Tube, is bent with a good sized dent.
Anyone else had any issue with this blower? It has operated for about 1 hour, installed by the dealer.

My PTO Shaft exploded the first time I used it in the same way. It looks like the clip on the universal joint popped off allowing it to fall apart. It’s slightly bent and with a new u-joint 70060-02335 it might work again, the U-joint listed at $75. I believe the tractor and implement are out of warranty. Has anyone had a repeat of the shaft failure? Any better solutions?

 

[DustyRusty]

If the driveshaft has any bend in it, no matter how slight, in my opinion, it is trash and should be disposed of. You can go to a driveline shop and have them fabricate a new driveshaft for you, and it will most likely be less than buying a new one from Kubota.