I bent over and exposed a crack

[IthacaJeff 151]

WH'ers

Puttin' the mower deck on the other day and lo' and behold, there it was. A crack

in the transmission mounting plate on my 416-8. Lower left side (looking FRONT to

BACK) plate has a 1.5" crack radiating from left to right. I don't know how long

its been there, heck, perhaps when I bought the thing a couple of years ago.

Sorry, don't have a picture, but will get one if necessary. Here are my questions.

1. How do I fix it, particularly without having to dismantle the entire tractor? (Is

this possible?)

2. How do I fix it "temporarily" to stop any further damage, but I can do without

a welder or taking much down time on my only mower?

3. What should I NOT do to make the problem worse? I'm assuming no heavy

pulling, no attachments to the rear axle attach-a-matic. Anything else?

Thoughts?

Jeff in Enfield, NY

[SAM58 30]

:thumbs:

would be nice to see it...

[rmaynard 14,950]

Had the same problem. Common on these tractors. I had a piece of 1/4" steel cut, drilled, and welded to the plate.

[IthacaJeff 151]

Bob,

Your solution looks, of course, to be the proper way to fix the problem. Any

solution NOT requiring stripping down to the chassis?

Jeff

[B-8074 19]

Can you post a pic of the crack?

[rmaynard 14,950]

Bob,

Your solution looks, of course, to be the proper way to fix the problem. Any

solution NOT requiring stripping down to the chassis?

Jeff

You could remove one bolt at a time and insert some big-a$$ washers.

If you look at the inside of the plate, it is probably already reinforced with two bars welded on at the factory.

All you want to do is prevent the bolt heads from pulling through, so some big thick washers will probably help until such time as you could add the plate.

[squonk 39,134]

If you don't want to stack washers, McMaster-Carr has some super-whoopie extra thick washers.

[Anglo Traction 759]

Jeff, We need a picture!,

One thing to note, if your packing with thick Washers, don't forget to obtain new longer bolts. I think they are Grade 5 in U.S standards. Many tractors use longer ones in the bottom than the top. Either way, increase the bolt length by the extra Washer thickness to ensure adequate thread engagement into the Cast Iron Tranny.

I would still look to get the crack welded though.

[fabricator2009 48]

Depending on where the crack is, you can drill a 1/16" hole on each end of the crack to keep it from getting worse.