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Rockshaft snap rings failed

14K views 29 replies 15 participants last post by  HydroHarold 
#1 ·
I was recently mowing with my rotary cutter and noticed a clanking sound. I stopped the machine and noticed that one of the snap rings was missing on the rockshaft that controls the lift arms on the 3PH. The missing snap ring allowed slack from side to side that was causing the clanking sound. An O-Ring also had come out of place because of the slack. I pushed the O-ring back in place and installed a new snap ring. There seems to still be a small amount of slack but i think that is normal. My question is could this have affected anything else internally? it seems to work fine. What is the purpose of the O-ring? I could never figure out what actually engages the Rockshaft that makes it rotate and lift.

thanks
 
#2 ·
Are we talking about a 1 series tractor?
 
#5 ·
The rockshaft snap ring groove on my 1026R is about 1/8" from the end of the rockshaft, judging from your #2 picture it appears that the lift arm is not on the rockshaft all the way and the snap ring is not seated in the snap ring groove. Compare the right side lift arm to the left side and you should see the difference.
 
#7 ·
There was another thread about this problem...can't find it right now however.
 
#8 · (Edited)
That would of been mine, I agree the #2 picture doesn't look correct. You can't compare sides they are both different one side has two snap ring grooves in case you decide to add the mechanical lift for a mmm.
 
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#11 ·
Here's a picture I had posted in another thread that may help.

This is the left side of the rockshaft. There are two sets of grooves for the snap ring. The inner groove (where the snap ring is currently installed) is used when you do not have a mechanical lift installed. The outer groove is where the snap ring locks when you have a mechanical lift kit installed.



Here is the thread : http://www.greentractortalk.com/for...y-tractors-scut/13713-more-deck-problems.html
Here's my actual reply: http://www.greentractortalk.com/for...ut/13713-more-deck-problems-3.html#post132914

While the thread was about deck height adjustment, we had gotten side-tracked a bit with a possible snap ring issue late in the thread. On my tractor, there is absolutely no side to side movement of the rockshaft arms (no side to side sliding slop). As I don't have a mechanical lift, I cannot say whether side to side sliding of the rockshaft arms is normal. I actually doubt it is normal and would have to agree that the snap ring is not seating correctly. Could there be some foreign material lodged between one of the rockshaft arm joints that is preventing a tight fit?
 
#12 ·
I had problems with my snap rings after the dealer installed my new rockshaft in January. Had to make 4 trips to the dealer (about 140 miles round trip) before they got it right. I had them install my 60" mmm this summer with the mechanical lift and low and behold snap ring came off again. I All I can say is these things are a pain in the a** and I hope you the best of luck with yours.
 
#14 ·
Don't want to hijack the thread but all he did was ask if he should order a new rockshaft. He said he would bring this problem up to deere also. I just ended up putting the snap ring back on and all is good. I think it is a cheesy design how these scut lift arms are held on but I did notice the kubotas are the same way so who knows.
 
#16 ·
Just a few notes about snap rings. There is a square side and a rounded side to them. You want to install them with the square sided shoulder to the outside so the ring has a better "bite." The other thing I'd like to mention is to make sure they aren't bent, but still flat and perfectly round as they are when new. If they aren't, they'll have a tendency to want to come off because they are deformed. Proper installation tools like snap ring pliers of the correct size will prevent damage when removing or installing them.

Snap rings have been used for a long time with great amounts of success. A root cause failure analysis would hopefully find the real reason of failure. Perhaps it was a bad ring or an improperly machined groove on the rockshaft.
 
#17 ·
Just a few notes about snap rings. There is a square side and a rounded side to them. You want to install them with the square sided shoulder to the outside so the ring has a better "bite." The other thing I'd like to mention is to make sure they aren't bent, but still flat and perfectly round as they are when new. If they aren't, they'll have a tendency to want to come off because they are deformed. Proper installation tools like snap ring pliers of the correct size will prevent damage when removing or installing them.

Snap rings have been used for a long time with great amounts of success. A root cause failure analysis would hopefully find the real reason of failure. Perhaps it was a bad ring or an improperly machined groove on the rockshaft.
I can't say I knew that or maybe I just didn't remember it. Thanks:thumbup1gif:
IMO, You're lookin pretty smart today. :lol:
 
#19 ·
Since this was first posted back in Jan, 14, Deere has said there maybe an issue with the snap ring groove not being deep enough.
Here are the dimensions Measure diameter of snap ring groove. If snap ring groove diameter exceeds 28.6 mm machine groove down to 28.6 mm.
And I would also replace the snap ring. Also make sure you are getting an OEM JD snap ring, not one that "matches" out of a box.
 
#20 ·
I assume a thin file or dremel tool should be used? Obviously no one is going to remove the shaft and chuck it in a lathe.
 
#21 ·
I had the exact same problem with my 1026R. The left external snap ring came off twice. I was like the groove machine on the spline shaft was not quite deep enough or there was a slight chamfer on the groove allowing the ring to come off when there was pressure pushing it. I cured the problem by installing the hydraulic lift cylinder and doing away with the miserable lift linkage that I had. That wasn't the reason I installed the cylinder, but it cured the problem.:good2:

I agree with the others. The snap ring on the right side is not in the groove.
 
#24 ·
Snap ring failure

This just happened to my 1023e while using the rear mount snow blower. I didn't notice anything wrong until it would only pick up half of the blower, at that point I found the upper arm hanging off and the shaft pushed over a couple inches. I used a pry bar to slide it back over, had to re-seat the O-ring and then line the arm back up on the right spline. This allowed me to get the blower off the ground and put it away until I could get a new ring.
I put the new ring on tonight but I'm not feeling like it will stay on long because the grove is not deep enough at all in my opinion. I would love to make the groove deeper without removing the shaft from the machine, any ideas on doing that would be great. One suggestion I received was to tack weld the ring in a couple spots, another was to tap the hole in the center of the shaft and bolt a washer against it so the ring can't slide off. Thoughts?
I picked up a couple extra rings just in case and I'll keep an eye on it.
 
#25 ·
This just happened to my 1023e while using the rear mount snow blower. I didn't notice anything wrong until it would only pick up half of the blower, at that point I found the upper arm hanging off and the shaft pushed over a couple inches. I used a pry bar to slide it back over, had to re-seat the O-ring and then line the arm back up on the right spline. This allowed me to get the blower off the ground and put it away until I could get a new ring.
I put the new ring on tonight but I'm not feeling like it will stay on long because the grove is not deep enough at all in my opinion. I would love to make the groove deeper without removing the shaft from the machine, any ideas on doing that would be great. One suggestion I received was to tack weld the ring in a couple spots, another was to tap the hole in the center of the shaft and bolt a washer against it so the ring can't slide off. Thoughts?
I picked up a couple extra rings just in case and I'll keep an eye on it.
Welding on the rockshaft would be a no go for me but tapping the hole sounds like a good choice. I say that because I have a 3 point lift 60" mmm on my 1025r.
 
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#29 ·
Rock shaft coming of Spline again

Hello gentelman,
has anyone had the rock shaft linkage on the spline side of the gear box come off? All it has holding it on is a snap ring. Sent my 1026R in for yearly service and to fix rockshaft linkage. I had my box blade on when it came off, this was back in May , now its a month later I was bush hogging with my bush hog on cause of the long service time return, grass was too high to use belly mower, 2 hours into cutting the same rockshaft linkage is off again dealer is picking up monday to fix the same thing they repaired last month. :banghead:

Has anyone out there experienced this issue on the 1026R ? Each time I had a different implement on ,so im wondering if im doing something wrong or its a defective spline or gearbox?
Why is there only a single snap ring holding this shaft on and not a bolt and washer in the end of shaft to keep linkage on in cause of snap ring coming off and allowing shaft to completely slide off of spline.

Regards ,
mdgilbreath

1026R with FEL with tooth bar, 54" deck mower quick detach, 48" frontier bush hog and same brand and size box blade, 25 gallon sprayer on a 3 point hitch rig with a 2" receiver bar
 
#30 ·
I had the same issue though not multiple times. Make sure the dealer REPLACES the entire rockshaft with a new issue part. Some of these had defectively machined lock ring grooves. JD IS aware of these... Good luck!:good2:
 
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