Wheel shaft

[Sutty]

Hello Sam

Okay, I took the other ring off, from the intact shaft, and here is a picture. Excuse the dirty finger nails. That's what you get for messing in all that oil.

20160615_005000.jpg

I have also now found the part online. Here it is.

http://www.cubcadetspares.co.uk/zero...-44871-circlip

but I refuse to wait 2 weeks for that to come in from the US to the UK supplier, and pay £14.53 for it. It's criminal! $2.70 ish, in the states, for the exact same item.

I know it will be a standard engineering clip.

Here are the specs.

Wire thickness, single layer. 0.018"
Two layer, nearly all the way round.
OD: 0.711"
ID: 0.600"
Wire width: 0.057"

This must be available as a simple clip from some online uk hardware merchant. I'll keep searching.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Cheers

Sutty

[Sutty]

Maybe this matches.

http://www.sdproducts.co.uk/ssr-emh-...ngs-imperial-6

My numbers are very close.

Get the feeling they'll want to sell me 10,000 though. I'll call them tomorrow to find out.

[Sutty]

Hi Guys

Just thought I would update you on my gear box shaft issue.

After having got over having to pay £20, including carriage, for a tiny spring steel retaining clip I went and ordered it. So that's on its way, but no doubt will not be here for another ten days or so.

In the meantime the grass was growing fast, and had already not been mowed for some time, and I simply couldn't wait any longer.

I measured and checked the exact spec of the real ring, and looked up a standard circlip that matched the specs.

Here is the real clip in place on the undamaged shaft, to show you a real one in place.

1 Real clip fitted.jpg

Here is the circlip I bought to replace it. 100 of them for about a fiver.

2 Alternate clip.jpg

The problem being, if you look at the first picture it has to fit in a recess on the face of the gear, so the lugs to get the tool in place stick out too far, so it had to be modified.

Here is the modified clip.

3 Alternate modified clip.jpg

Here it is fitted, and as you can see it now fits in the recess. In additional it has the exact same feel in terms of freedom of movement on the gear on the spline. They are quite loose, and can wobble around, which I assume must be by design, so they can easily take up a nice neutral run position, for less wear. Oh, I had to make another one to fit it, by part fitting it first, and grinding it whilst in place on the shaft. Without the lug holes I simply could not expand it to get it on. Once on, and ground down, it was easy to push down into the groove. This explains the small marks on the face were I touched the gear with my mini grinding wheel once or twice.

4 Alternate clip fitted.jpg

Here is the inside of the case, just before assembly.

5 Inside just before assembly.jpg

Here is the other half of the case. Again just before final assembly.

6 Other case half.jpg

Here is my bead of sealant. I know it isn't very neat, but it seems to have done the trick. I have very shaky hands, so that is the best I can do, especially when it is so hard to squeeze out of the tube.

7 Sealant bead.jpg

Here is the whole assembly back together.

8 All back together.jpg

I invited my friend round to help me fit it back onto the mower, and once everything was back in place we had some very tense moments whilst going through the purge procedure, because nothing was happening at all at first, and all sorts of thoughts were going through my mind about not having done it correctly.

Repeated the procedure over and over, forwards backwards, etc, and all of a sudden it sprang into life. Phew!

I'd overfilled the oil, since the instructions said it would drop during purge, and luckily, when I checked it after purge it was almost perfect, so I left it. I'll check it again tomorrow, because I've subsequently mown all the lawns, so maybe it will have found its way into a few more spaces by now. Maybe not but can't hurt to check.

Can't tell you how pleased I am that it's now working again, and I'm feeling rather pleased with myself for having achieved it. As you'll now from my other posts, my knowledge of such things is limited at best, so having achieved this has delighted me.

Thanks for the help, now and in the past.

Cheers

Sutty

[Sam Mac]

Looks like you have it under control. Thanks for posting the pics, first time I've seen the inside of one of those.

[ol'George]

If you don't know, the original retaining ring is called a spiral lock,they are avail.
They make internal and external just like the snap ring you used.
As far as applying sealant, I put it on my finger and apply it to the cases,--it works for me.

[Sutty]

Originally Posted by Sam Mac

Looks like you have it under control. Thanks for posting the pics, first time I've seen the inside of one of those.

No probs. I posted in case it might encourage someone else to give it a go, even if they aren't engineers, plus to let you know I'd had success and to thank eveyone for the help.

Originally Posted by ol'George

If you don't know, the original retaining ring is called a spiral lock,they are avail.
They make internal and external just like the snap ring you used.
As far as applying sealant, I put it on my finger and apply it to the cases,--it works for me.

Thanks George, I know now what they are called, but after about 5 hours straight of not finding them online, even knowing the name, apart from one UK supplier, who when I called them had a silly lead time, and a small order surcharge, and large minimum quantity, I went ahead and ordered the OEM part, for £20, 15 with 5 carriage. I suddenly realised my time was more valuable than the £20 I was trying to avoid. As I said earlier, it's a joke, $2-3 in the US, and even that's a rip off. I got 100 circlips for £5, carrigae paid. The real deal will turn up in a week or so, but I'll leave it as it is. Big job to change it, and I don't think what I've done will fail anyway.

As for the sealant. I'd never done it before, so I tried to follow the Hydro-gear service manual, and the instructions on the goo, which said apply a thin bead to one surface. The manual showed the exact path to follow, which is what I did, if rather wobbily, lol.

Had I known smearing it on would work, it would have been a whole lot easier without a doubt.

Anyway, it's all done now, but useful info for the future for sure, and may be helpful to someone looking in.

Cheers

Sutty