What do you say happened here?

[codewritinfool]

That is the way hardened steel breaks! Brittly! SNAP! [emoji20]

John Kuthe...

Yep, one time out in the middle of nowhere I needed to tow a car and only had a section of chain that was too short but attached securely to his truck. My brother had another section of chain, also short, but we securely attached it to the car. We looked for a bolt to tie the two together but the best we could find in the truck bed junk was a master lock, so we used that to connect the chains together.

As soon as he started pulling the car, the lock shattered.

[Dave1290]

Could be a combination of many things.  Too hard or too soft but I'm pretty sure it Rockwell tested ok prior to machining.  Age???  Stress over the years comes into play but you also jacked it up so my first thought is ya hit something hard enough to cause the break.  Perhaps a hairline somewhere but torque can also be your enemy as you well know.  My thought?  Ya clubbed something BIG time but then again it could have just let go.  Steel's funny stuff so get to work!    32 years in it soooo yup...  I've seen a thing or two...  lol   Have fun and wear your jock!  Every picture tells a story so yup, expect one!  hahaha   

 

BTW, I haven't talked to that dude with the farm machinery junkyard about the plate you wanted.  He went to Florida for the winter and his son was clueless.  Can check if you still need/want it so lemme know!

 

[Coytee]

13 hours ago, JJkizak said:

My take is if there was a shear pin in that shaft it would be breaking about once a week, every time you hit a rock. My grandfather had a six foot blade attachment mounted on the back of his tractor operated by the power take off and every time he mowed the pasture he would break the shaft on a rock. Many, many many times. Then he retired. Got rid of the mower. The rocks won.

 

I get it...but know this is new to me and i've only used it (as in cutting anything and most of it was grass though I DID knock down some sapplings)

 

My total "cutting" time on this is about 2 hours.  I could see snapping a shear pin but snapping the shaft strikes me as a bit violent.

 

If it WAS the sapplings I ran over, then the good news is, I've already circled the perimeter of the farm once so most of them should now be gone and I can cut grass clippings henceforth.

 

 

[Coytee]

8 hours ago, Dave1290 said:

BTW, I haven't talked to that dude with the farm machinery junkyard about the plate you wanted.  He went to Florida for the winter and his son was clueless.  Can check if you still need/want it so lemme know!

 

That plate might be the issue (not sure but not ruling anything out yet)

 

Took to a local fabricator and he custom fit it.  Supposedly he near walks on water in the local fabrication business...  (shrugs shoulders)

 

None the less, I'm keeping open mind that maybe the multiplier wasn't perfectly centered on the shaft.  They have a process of mounting.  Mount plate.  Mount multiplier TO the plate BUT keep bolts loose.  Snug bolts down, START PTO (which surprised me) and WITH pto running, tighten all bolts.  My understanding is by running pto while tightening helps to center everything.

 

 

[WillyBob]

There are those wear marks on the shaft ....

I can understand how things "center up" when they are loosely assembled.  We used to use that technique for adjusting some long flat belts. The pulleys had a very slight crown. The belt would  sorta adjust itself, if you let it.

... you might be surprised how many parts an R/C helicopter doesn't NEED to fly.  It either balances/centers or leaves... quickly.  My main rotors were running 6000rpm.  Looking a bit like one of those Chinese wire puzzles until you spun it up.