Stump shredder project

[Jim Timber]

....and I bet you would win that welding bet. ;)

Challenge him to being old and ornery - you'll kick his punk ass! :D

So I was pretty darn close on my 120 degree guess:

I haven't checked the unbulged end of the outer shaft to see if the non-twisted part of the center section will fit it yet, but that'll happen shortly.

The bushing block held on for a long time before snapping. These used to be square to one another:

Getting these apart could be tricky:

Neither retaining pin is budging at the moment. I'm going to disassemble the clutch and that'll hopefully get me to where I can put a gear puller or similar contraption on the shaft to separate them.

 

[Buckly]

Not to ask a stupid question but, what do the commercial units that are sold have that you don't? Hasn't the engineering already been figured out?

 

[foggy]

^

 

[Jim Timber]

There's several different designs in the commercial realm. I'm doing things a little differently for my own reasons. Some worked great out of the gate, some not so much.

Second failure likely due to an over-rated PTO shaft. Should've handled 60hp, I have 53 available - it's twisted like a pretzel.

 

[foggy]

Jim, I am fascinated by your talent to make this stump grinder. I think you have put together a good design and it gobbles up wood like none-other. However, as predicted, the pivot joints are somewhat of an issue. But those joints are a problem on my Woods grinder too. Hopefullly a new PTO shaft (get a Weasler or other USA brand) and one more re-design of those pivot blocks will put you back in the game.

I can guarantee you that those factory units didnt hit the ground running on their first attempt either. ;) But those companies have deeper pockets to do this stuff. :)

I really applaud your creativity and grit. :) Stiump Grinders are one of the most demanding tractor implements I can think of.

 

[Jim Timber]

This is a Weasler. Came from FF. Looks like some folks rate on 1K rpm and some on 540. Series 4 on 540 from one place is 35hp and 53 at 1K - that'd explain it if that's what mine was rated at.

 

[foggy]

This is a Weasler. Came from FF. Looks like some folks rate on 1K rpm and some on 540. Series 4 on 540 from one place is 35hp and 53 at 1K - that'd explain it if that's what mine was rated at.

Are you running the grinder on 1000 RPM? I think I would call Weasler.......although I doubt they will stand behind this. o_O

I can't say I've EVER seen a PTO shaft twisted like that.

 

[Jim Timber]

FF will stand behind it. I think both the shaft and clutch are going back. I can get series 6 with clutch built in for less than what FF charged for these. Weasler has NO info on their parts on the shelf. I had to go looking online on my phone in the isle before deciding to buy them and apparently I still found bad info.

My PTO is 540, and I was only turning around 450 rpm, but I was very close to my peak engine torque of 177lb-ft.

 

[Jim Timber]

I'm going to call these guys Monday (if they're open) and see what max allowable length on this is.

http://www.agrisupply.com/complete-pto-shaft/p/34192/

 

[foggy]

^ Yep. Who wudda thunk you'd have those PTO shaft problems?

 

[Jim Timber]

Found my receipt, and I got the clutch taken apart. I don't have a gear puller, so I'll need to scare one up tomorrow and get the clutch off the gearbox. I could make something, but I can rent one free. :D

 

[tooln]

Just pulling your chain Tooln. No offense intended. :) ....and I bet you would win that welding bet. ;)

Yea I know. Just given ya crap back.

 

[tooln]

Challenge him to being old and ornery - you'll kick his punk ass! :D

I'm thinking we are a lot closer in age them you think.

 

[Jim Timber]

I didn't know you were 80? :p (j/k Tom!) :D

 

[foggy]

I didn't know you were 80? :p (j/k Tom!) :D

Young whipper snappers got no respect......;) Gonna start sayin' "I told you so" more often when you blow up those designs. :p

 

[Jim Timber]

Fortunately it doesn't happen too often. :p :D

Fleet Farm came through like they always do - full refund. There's a reason I always get a free t-shirt at the CWC Fair (and wear it in public).

The gear puller did the trick getting the clutch off the gear box. Took a punch to get the retaining pin out of the splines, but it's all history now.

 

[Jim Timber]

New driveshaft and clutch coming from Agri Supply. They said 5-7 business days. Hopefully my neck sorts itself out by then.

 

[Jim Timber]

Should've just lopped the whole end off from the start, but I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the end of this tubing at the time. So I removed the damaged mounting plate with the plasma cutter and a couple cut-off disks:

Then ground off all the welds:

Then decided to use a piece of the 2.5" mechanical tubing the swing arm itself is made of for a clean butt joint. Only I made it long enough to get a gusset on the outside, which probably is completely unnecessary since I also welded it to the cylinder mount brackets too.

Hinge brackets v2.0 are up next.

 

[foggy]

Perhaps you should back away from calling this a stump "shredder" and stick with "grinder".....like everyone else. ;) :D

 

[Jim Timber]

Brooks called it that. :D