Combines R72 engine output PTO shaft

We had one do this - found no balance drillings in the sheave - thus suspected it was the problem - replaced and no problem since. We did replace with latest n's. 71370583 71370165 as coupling and flex plate. The rear PTO shaft has been updated down through the years. last R72 models had shaft 71376945, pulley 71376947 and 71376948 brg carrier. We had to do some modification but customer wanted latest,greatest etc. Still think the sheave was the problem as this is the only unit we had problems with. Back axles in RWA we have had no problem with - 2wd units are not as heavy - if it makes one feel any better a large farmer close to our dealership was driving his new Green Machine from the first field to the next- the rear axle snapped (RWA) and the driver ended up at the bottom of a ravine (gulley) after several flips. He was shaken but ok. Speaders are a fact that brgs and flanges will loosen - thus the advent of hydraulic spreaders. We do install round flanges instead of trianglular and install rubber flap to keep material from building up and deteriorating brg seals. Failed gears are rare here as are feeder shafts although they have occured. Newer large shafts and sprockets to match went in at '98 year model me thinks. Best o luck.

About the rear axle failures - going to a different color may cause you more headaches. Seems like the red and green machines have more than their fair share of final drive failures, which are nearly unheard of in the Gleaner world. I'd much rather have a rear axle break than a final drive. Deere has also been having trouble with their wheels cracking_breaking and we won't even mention the spontaneous combustion problem they have. What were the circumstances surrounding the axle failure during transportIJ Grain in the binIJ Was it bouncing badly going down the roadIJ We refuse to road our machine with any more than about 1_4 full grain tank. Be sure to turn the accumulator on when transporting - takes the bounce out and that could lead to a lot of stress on the rear axle.

Re spreader bearings, use triple lip seal bearings and torch holes in the bracket to allow easy blow out. Paint, paste or hang something in that area to remind one to clean it. Do not preasure wash in that area or she is a goner. Good luck

Design of PTO pulley and inner bearing race retaining system has not changed in 30 plus years. This has proven to be rock solid design but a couple things must be observed. First the torque of retaining nut from day one. The retaining nut holds the pulley and inner race of bearing crimped into a solid assembly. A failed bearing will rarely get to the point of hurting the shaft if retaining nut was holding things tight. What I have seen on these sorts of drive retaining systems over the years is if the bearing was able to spin on shaft (perfectly good bearing or failing bearing) it will erode away shoulder of shaft and shoulder of pulley hub. Common mistake would be to not notice the material missing from pulley hub. With the material missing you can torque the pulley up properly but the washer under nut will bottom out prior to putting pulley and inner race of bearing under compression resulting in repeat failure. Other thing to watch with self aligning bearings (rounded outer race) is they must pivot fairly easily in bearing holder. If they don't pivot and self align they will have very short life. I would suggest you remove nut and washer to be sure washer is not bottoming out. Torque should be 220ftlbs. Sometime in '98 they changed up the hardware to match right side of mainshaft where torque was increased to 450ftlbs. We torque these sorts of drive retaining systems at predelivery and have basically zero trouble. We have never failed rear axle since N6 era and only one or two spindles. I'd suggest that a horable jolt to rear end at one time or another started your failure hear. There are rear axle nylon pads parts shown in parts book that may be added to machines if running in such conditions that rear axle is under undo stresses. dido on moonshines suggestions on vertical shaft triple lip bearings ect. Gears will last extremely well if setup properly with minimum backlash and bearing stays in good shape. Direct drive hydralic drive spreader been trouble free. Setup roll gears with minimum backlash. At least as much as bearing flange holes will allow. We haven't had any great amount of trouble with these but have noticed some gears were likely overhardened and some under hardened. Make sure cast hubs that hold gears has never been loose on shaft for it will allow poor tooth contact. Do the elevator floor mod for that will dramatically reduce feeder plugging and reverser operation. I think that is 9_10 of what caused feeder shaft problems. Of course floor mod won't fix a poor feeding header if that is why a guy is using reverser. Hope you find something of help to you in that short story.