Bruce's Journal

[thistlebloom]

I was in town sitting at a stoplight one day, at the front of the line in the left turn lane.
The road perpendicular to me had light traffic. All of a sudden, from the left, here comes this huge wheel rolling fast through the intersection!
Right behind it came the logging truck it must have belonged to. The next instant I heard a loud boom. I think it must have jumped the curb and hit a vehicle in the parking lot.
I felt like I had been protected from harm by one of Gods angels.
The light turned and traffic flowed. I checked the news but there was nothing about it, so thankfully nobody must have got injured.

My brother lost a wheel off his truck twice, different times, same truck.
He thinks maybe he over tightened the lugs. Fortunately he can fix anything, and has all the tools to deal with it.

 

[Ridgetop]

Sometimes I think going back to horse and buggy days might be a good thing. On the other hand, you would have to work a lot harder to get stuff done with a mule and harness. I guess checking the bolts is not so bad.

Glad you were not hurt!

 

[CntryBoy777]

I've never had a tractor, so am fairly ignorant about such....is there a reason that lock washers aren't used?...just thinking it would keep them from backing out....or are they snapping off?....

 

[Bruce]

They are backing out. They aren't even tapered, just "regular" hex head bolts that go through a flat washer and the wheel (with holes that allow some slop) then screw into a plate on the axle. Not even any nuts on the back. I don't know why they backed out ... again ... but you can be sure that torque wrench will be used to check every couple of weeks when I'm using the tractor in the future.

Any idea when you might get it fixed?

Don't know but not holding my breath. I have to call the dealer in the morning when they open. The last time they had to order the bolts, had never heard of it happening, no reason to stock wheel bolts. This time I need 6 bolts, a new wheel and I'm pretty sure the plate the bolts thread into that is bolted to the axle. No way I can do any of that myself. Oh yeah, and refill the fluid in the wheel. Oh my aching wallet!

Definitely a hit to the planned tasks. I'm getting a delivery tomorrow morning. Since I have a tractor with forks I got cheaper shipping, no need for a lift gate. I was thinking I would have to break it down on the truck and lift the pieces down. But I figure with one real bolt torqued to 94 ft lbs and 2 bolts just a tiny bit smaller than the real bolts through bolted I should be able to drive it the 100' round trip to the truck and onto the dealer's trailer whenever they can come. I was able to put in the through bolts in alternating holes so the wheel is held on with 3 bolts in a triangle pattern. It was drivable with one loose bolt and one VERY loose bolt ... that fell out so I think I'm good for VERY light and only necessary duty.

Contents of the shipment?

• Two 36" pallet forks so I can get my wood racks all the way back to the frame with nothing sticking out the front. I've had to put a 2x6 on the flat between the rack and frame which puts the weight that much farther forward.
• A canopy for the tractor so I can mow the field in some quantity of shade.

The plan was to level out that stone area, split the wood (getting REALLY REALLY late for that!) fill the racks and place them on the stone. Then mow the field. I will not be surprised if all that is now put off 2 weeks

 

[CntryBoy777]

Too bad ya can't get a rim from a junkyard....but ya may can get a used one from the dealer....maybe..... .....a telescoptic magnet can help ya find the bolts in the grass....I have had success many times with one....

 

[Bruce]

Doesn't matter if I find the bolts or not, the threads are totally flattened from working against the metal of the wheel as they back out.

 

[drstratton]

When it rains it pours...really bizarre to have those bolts work loose like that! Hope it all comes together and you can get back on track faster than you think!

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

After reading about your trouble with your tractor, I checked the wheel bolts and nuts on mine. All were tight except for the wheel on which I had the flat. They needed tightening! I will try periodically to check my wheels as well.

 

[Bruce]

You actually have bolts long enough to have nuts on the back? That sounds like a GOOD design. I found another bolt by the tractor when I took it of the jack stand. That means I kinda sorta had 3 bolts in the wheel while working Saturday.

Called the dealer, they are going to send someone tomorrow to pick it up. I feel sorry for the guy, we are expecting a fair amount of rain tomorrow from Isaias.

At least a week to get parts, I don't expect to see it back for 2 weeks. And if it is like the last time they had to come get it due to the hydraulic line in the backhoe boom breaking, it will disappear when I'm not looking and come back the same way. They just dropped it off and left, I didn't know it was there until I went outside some unknown amount of time later.

 

[Bruce]

Canopy and shorter pallet forks received. I checked the wheel bolts after I got the parts to the barn and the tractor
positioned for pickup. The one remaining bolt had loosened some as had one of the others. But that one was too long and didn't have a lock nut. I re-tightened the regular bolt and replaced the long bolt with a shorter one with a lock nut. I couldn't do that yesterday with the wheel a bit askew as I couldn't get the shorter bolt through the hole. Should be good for driving up onto then off a trailer tomorrow. I took off the 3pt hardware and quick hitch, figured they didn't need any extra stuff hanging off back of the tractor.