WTB g1900/1800 front pto shaft
- Thread starter straytcat
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North Idaho Wolfman
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L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
I have not had to deal yet with worn out u-joints in that shaft, and I'm careful to keep them greased. But, I had a similar situation many years ago, working on a Wheel Horse D250, 1977, I think. It also uses tiny u-joints in the prop shaft between engine and transaxle which had been out-of-dealer stock for many years. They're tiny (like the ones in our G1800 PTO shaft), relative to most automotive applications, and metric. Tractor was originally made in Germany and then with a Renault engine, so there might have been something kicking around in Europe that would work. After about 3 years of looking, we stumbled upon an NOS shaft for a couple $100. Ka-CHING!
When I need to do that job on the G1800, my plan is to pull the u-joints and measure them. The wholesale bearing distributors (e.g., Bearing, Belt, and Chain) can look up the dimensions and often find you a replacement or a cross-reference that will fit. We might have to shim the cup seats or something like that, but...
0nce you have the measurements, it might be worthwhile to do some googling, You might luck into a cross-reference that nobody behind a counter knows about. Then post that info here!
On the other hand, sometimes (often?), parts like these are "proprietary". In other words, the manufacturer legally prevented the manufacturer from selling them in the aftermarket. Or, the dimensions are unique, and so there are no cross-references to be found. The bearings for a Wheel Horse Ride-Away transmission are an example. Were originally made by Nice Bearings, in Philadelphia (now long-gone), but they were proprietary, so they were sold only to Wheel Horse by Nice. We did eventually find a bearing that had the same ID/OD, it was just 0.100" thinner. Not a big concern in a parade vehicle... The balls in the original bearing were 0.250", and we revived a couple of bearings that weren't dead yet by polishing the races and putting new balls in.
The bearings in the RC- mower decks are all a stock number - 6205. So there are (were) 5 or 6 manufacturers that made them, and dozens of machines that use them.
-Paul
When I need to do that job on the G1800, my plan is to pull the u-joints and measure them. The wholesale bearing distributors (e.g., Bearing, Belt, and Chain) can look up the dimensions and often find you a replacement or a cross-reference that will fit. We might have to shim the cup seats or something like that, but...
0nce you have the measurements, it might be worthwhile to do some googling, You might luck into a cross-reference that nobody behind a counter knows about. Then post that info here!
On the other hand, sometimes (often?), parts like these are "proprietary". In other words, the manufacturer legally prevented the manufacturer from selling them in the aftermarket. Or, the dimensions are unique, and so there are no cross-references to be found. The bearings for a Wheel Horse Ride-Away transmission are an example. Were originally made by Nice Bearings, in Philadelphia (now long-gone), but they were proprietary, so they were sold only to Wheel Horse by Nice. We did eventually find a bearing that had the same ID/OD, it was just 0.100" thinner. Not a big concern in a parade vehicle... The balls in the original bearing were 0.250", and we revived a couple of bearings that weren't dead yet by polishing the races and putting new balls in.
The bearings in the RC- mower decks are all a stock number - 6205. So there are (were) 5 or 6 manufacturers that made them, and dozens of machines that use them.
-Paul