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brianf

The butterfly effect and the musings of a WH owner

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brianf

I'm sure many of you will get some joy out of my little tale. Where do I start?

I've had a 1267 for about 7 years after it was given to me by a relative. It was in ok shape but I managed to get it running well.

A few years back I purchased a single stage thrower off of Ebay and was immediately in love because I have a gravel driveway and single stage means the rocks fly instead of shear pins.

While clearing the first big snow storm of 2009 (I live in NH), I managed to separate the rotary bits from the linear bits in the engine. A loud bang followed by silence except the blower and everything else slowly spinning to a halt told me I had a few internal engine issues. I tore it down just after Christmas to find the connecting rod thrown through the bottom of the cylinder skirt. I know you want pictures, so here you go:

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I travel a lot for work, so this was a drawn-out rebuild. I managed to get all the parts I needed and the cylinder repaired (the break was below the bottom ring line) in March. It wasn't until around late July that I finally got the engine bolted all together and she ran like a top. It wasn't until late September that I finally got everything bolted together on the tractor and in running condition.

One key piece here is that I had a heck of a time getting the bushing off of the crankshaft (the part the pto rides on). I had to get it cherry red while hooked to a gear puller to get it off. When I reassembled it, I had to heat it up and then get it quickly on. Before I could get it pushed all the way back it cooled off and wouldn't budge. I didn't want to heat too much and melt the main seal. Fortunately it was lined up with the end of the crankshaft so I just adjusted the drive pulley out about 1/4" so everything snugged up. This also helped align the blower belt with the PTO so I figured it was a bonus. This was my butterfly.

I use the tractor every year to pull my kids around in a trailer for trick-or-treating. While using it this year, I noticed some unpleasant noises coming from the read end and made a mental note to finally check and change the tranny fluid (I had never done it in the after inheriting the tractor 7 years ago) Also while pulling the trailer, my drive belt started to slip.

The next weekend, I replaced the belt and drained and replaced the fluid. It wasn't full of water and quite full of oil still, lucky for me. About an hour later, I was using my snowplow to do a bit of pre-winter grading and about an hour later, something major broke in the transmission. Lots of grinding and not a lot of movement ensued.

I inspected the schematics online and convinced myself that I likely broke a tooth off of one of the limited slip diff pinions. I quickly learned how the rest of the tractor came apart and tore down the transmission. At first, all seemed well, the gears were all intact and pretty clean. Until I took apart the 8-pinion diff and found every single one of them totally destroyed. In hindsight, the limited slip never worked, so I think this was brewing for years, possibly before I inherited it.

Here's what the diff looked like:

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I managed to source another diff and proceeded to replace the evaporated axle bearings and all the seals. While reassembling everything, I noticed one of the axle woodruff keys looked partially sheared. I was really in a hurry to get the tractor running ahead of the huge storm that was coming the day after Christmas, so I went ahead and inserted it and moved on. This was my buffalo.

The next day my well pump blew, so instead of mounting the tranny, I pulled 300ft of pipe in the snow to replace the pump. In the meantime, I got some new keys and replaced the bad axle key (so I thought).

After mounting everything all up (did I mention I stripped and repainted the tranny during this rebuild?) she ran like a champ. The posi-traction was simply amazing.

Last week I came home from a trip and had to clean up after the 16" of snow dumped on us. All was great for a while, but then I went to back up and it rocked back then then stopped like it popped out of gear. Only it wasn't. And I was in the middle of the street. A long way from the garage.

The way it gave up, I was sure I lost a key somewhere in the system. I diagnosed it a bit and decided that it must have been one of the internal ones holding the gears since: 1) even wide open and no clutch, there was no gear mashing, and 2) it didn't even attempt to move at all, figuring the limited slip would overcome an axle key shear.

Back in the garage, I tear into her again. I have these 200lb lead weights mounted in the wheels that hide the axles and are a serious PITA to remove and install. After actually unmounting the tranny and preparing to remove the wheels, I noticed that one of the hubs had actually slipped in and sheered the key. I can't tell if the key sheered and then it slipped in or vice versa, but I was happy to know I didn't have to crack open the tranny....and I just happened to have another key sitting in the toolbox from the rebuild. Back together she goes. I happened to notice at one point that the belt from behind seemed to have an odd angle off of the tranny pulley but convinced myself that everything was good and tightened down the mounting bolts.

Back outside to finish clearing the driveway (it's 3 days after the key broke now) and suddenly I smell some rubber burning and seconds later parts of the drive belt (the new one that hasn't seen more than 4 hours of use) flying apart. I get off, look closer and the belt wasn't riding on the idler pulley, but just next to it. Damn, that explains why it had that odd angle I noticed earlier. I fixed that quickly and resumed clearing the driveway, I only had about 3 more 10 foot passes left. Mid way through the next pass, the belt suddenly broke and wrapped itself around the output shaft of the motor. Yay.

Next day, off to the auto place to get a new belt. I had quite a fun time standing in the snow in the middle of my driveway digging out that belt from around the shaft. (it's hard to push that beast with those weights anywhere by hand, and forget about it with chains) Remember earlier (back in July) when I couldn't get that bushing on all the way and had to move the drive pulley out 1/4"? Well that was just barely enough room to allow the belt to slip in between the pulley and the block. As I pulled it out of there, I immediately thought "oh I hope that main seal is ok".

Belt back on, everything is good, no oil leak, and I finish clearing the driveway happily.

Today we got another 5ish inches of snow. While clearing, I noticed that the belt was slipping a bit. Not much and for no obvious reason. As I went on, it got progressively worse until I finally couldn't back up unless I shifted into low. I pull her back into the garage to inspect the issue. Spring is good. Idler pulley is good. "Hrm, the belt is kinda shiny, hey why is there oil on the floor?" Yep, sure enough, the main seal is leaking just enough to wet the belt and make her slip.

I can't even count how many self-inflected wounds this whole saga has involved, but if there's a moral to the story: Pay very close attention to every detail and if something doesn't seem right, don't ignore it because it will come back to screw you later.

If I had checked the oil before blowing snow in 2009, I wouldn't have thrown a rod. If I had actually got the bushing on all the way, the belt wouldn't have been able to get in next to the seal. If I had replaced all the axle keys, I wouldn't have had to remove the tranny again. If I had more closely investigated the off angle belt, I wouldn't have torn up the belt. If I had stopped when the belt got torn up, it wouldn't have wrapped around the shaft, destroying the seal.

I feel better now, don't you? :thumbs:

Off to find the part number for the seal.... :banghead:

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sgtsampay

Wow. I don;t know what to say. Just wow.. What a story..

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Shuboxlover

Wow.....

We've all been there...well, not all the way there, but maybe a little.

Sounds like you should be good to go....after you get her fixed again that is :banghead:

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Operator

:banghead:

It all works out in the end.

Randy

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sorekiwi

Thats a good story. And some of it sounds like some of the things I have done too!

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racinfool40

:banghead: :thumbs: Been there before!!! :ROTF:

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massey

Thanks for the story, I've also had a few "that's my fault" items pass through my garage.

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farmer

Honesty-

Patience-

Determination-

All virtues,

Learning from mistakes, part of life.

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TT

Butterfly, huh? Looks more like the "law of Murphy" to me. :thumbs:

You better buy a back-up tractor...... maybe even two or three. :banghead:

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Kelly

Very well written, I've been there, we all have, too big of a hurry and pay later.

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smoreau

Butterfly, huh? Looks more like the "law of Murphy" to me. :hide:

You better buy a back-up tractor...... maybe even two or three. :banghead:

:hide: i think TT is corect in that one. great story and I know I have been there before! :ROTF: :thumbs:

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Docwheelhorse

How many times did I tell you to buy a John Deere.... but NO... you keep playing with the Wheel Horses :banghead:

It will all work out in the end

Tony

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brianf

"You better buy a back-up tractor...... maybe even two or three."

The thought has crossed my mind more than once as I ponder how to push a dead one uphill to the garage...

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chesbaycruiser

Brian,

Great post! It's heartwarming to see I'm not the only one who sometimes posts a long, rambling (in a good way!), narrative tale. Yours was very well-told!

Isn't it amazing how clear the issues and oversights are to see in hindsight? It's happened to me LOTS of times!

Kudos,

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rickv1957

Very nice story,been there!

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6wheeler

Isn't it strange that we never have time to do it right, But we always have time to do it again... Good story, and like everyone else said. Been there done that. Why can't these things just break in the garage? :banghead: :thumbs:

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stevasaurus

What a great story Brian...I agree with TT...Murphy's Law. :banghead: BTW, I am going through that with my 702. :thumbs:

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VinsRJ

I would have gone mental and pushed it off a cliff. You are a bigger man than me :banghead:

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can whlvr

the good side of the story is u were able to fix it ,ya it took a few tries but u will get her right

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brianf

Apparently this confessional was not only cathartic, but righted my karma or something. I went to replace the seal tonight prepared to do battle. The bushing came off with only a puller and no heat. The seal had actually been pushed all the way inside the casing by the belt, but came out relatively easily. I was even able to get the bushing back on (all the way back this time) with minimal fuss. :banghead:

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118lfd

It reminds me of what my dad always said when I was growing up "Why is there never enough time to do it right the first time but always enough time to do it again"

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massey

It reminds me of what my dad always said when I was growing up "Why is there never enough time to do it right the first time but always enough time to do it again"

My buddy says "any job worth doing, is worth doing twice"

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Buzz

What a great story Brian...I agree with TT...Murphy's Law. :ROTF: BTW, I am going through that with my 702. :hide:

In some of my experiences, Murphy was an optimist........... :banghead: :thumbs:

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zieg72

On the bright side you would be considered an expert on your 1267...

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boovuc

Brian,

Your calmness in explaining the details of your plight speaks volumes of the type personality you have. I wish I had your patients. :banghead:

If this was happening to me?

1. I would have invented several new words that would have made George Carlin blush!

2. The county Mental Health folks would have already recieved several calls for a man burning his tractor on his driveway while shooting it!

3. My relatives would have had me commited since I would have immediately been on CraigsList looking for a replacement tractor.

Keep your head up, Pooky! It can only get better! :thumbs:

BooVuc

Mill Hall, PA

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