Green Tractor OUCH... $1800 u-joint...
 

So I was chewing the fat with Dad tonight (literally and figuratively... smoked brisket came out good) and he discovered the mystery sound that his 2210 Deere was making (it was a "click" he was trying to find). Main drive shaft U-joint let go and took out the shackle on the shaft. He and I were both thinking, well, that sucks, but no big deal before he carted it off to the Deere dealer (he prefers to only wrench on things he wants to. He has the means to do that so good for him).

Well.. After *3* hours of removing basically the entire back half of the tractor to get to the shaft ($70/hr, which I honestly think is about normal these days) the tech at the dealer found the above damage... Kicker? NON-SERVICEABLE D/S FROM DEERE, MUST BUY COMPLETE ASSY - $700!... Not only that, it took out the hydro cooling fan, shroud (the clicking he heard was the fan hitting the shroud), and tranny input shaft.

Now, all of this sucks, but here is the kicker to the groin this time... The U-joints had grease zerks but literally no way of greasing them or any mention in the owner's manual of their existence (again... 3 hour job to get to the shaft). The entire bill is going to be about $2k w/ a hydro and front axle service while its in the sick bay.

Holy censored words, Batman! It's one of the silliest design failures I've ever seen. His tractor is an '05 and has 550 hours.

Supers, Johnson loaders, and Haban decks are looking REALLY affordable all of the sudden!

Just amazing... JD = massive fail on this one... I'm wondering how the Kubota and CC compact tractors do it.

(For the record, I did mention taking the JD only failed parts to a fab shop and having them make them into something that would take a typical Spicer joint... Too late for that and Dad doesn't care as he's going to drill some holes in his tractor to apply grease and he's convinced the sissy u-joints it had will outlive him if they're greased. He may be right).

Think I recall seeing a thread about this same issue on MTF a couple years ago. Think the owner also cut some holes so he could grease it.

ugh... The WORST design ever...

How is the shaft on your BX? I had always assumed they were some type of CV in a boot that would live forever.

(totally random side note... My parents moved out to the country about 3 years ago... Their neighbor behind them has a MASSIVE Kubota of some variety. The type you would pull a monster wing mower with. The only thing the guy does with it is, I kid you not, water about 20 saplings about 3 acres from his house with a 2-300 gallon water tank on the 3 point. He mows with a Dixie Chopper and and a Deere ZT with a steering wheel [my knowledge on the topic]... I'm thinking I'm in the wrong line of work).

BX has a CV in a boot. All good till the boot rips then you split the tractor to replace it. :bash2:

Sounds like a normal CV shaft to me... They did everything BUT split his Deere to get to that shaft.

Should I assume that boot has the life span of an autozone quality automotive rebuild CV shaft (80-100k in my experience) and will Kubota sell you parts or just the entire shaft? I have a buddy with a BX, that my Dad also pals around with, so Dad is all freaked out about his tractor now even though they share just about nothing between the two tractors as far as I can tell.