My Generic Auction Brush Cutter Failed (AGAIN!!!) 

Weld gussets on the hydraulic motor support plate. So that it can’t flex or bend backwards under load. The stout gearbox won’t move but that weak sauce motor mount will flex away from thrust.

I recommend taking the two halves you already have to your machine shop to have the two surfaces that face each other machined flat and true. Then weld identical chain sprockets to both pieces so a double wide chain ring encircling both sprockets ties them together. This solves the problem of finding that one odd spline. 😎👍

Yep.....Had this same issue years ago and solved it with a slip clutch. Go to your "local" bearing/drive component supply house and get the Love Joy coupler that has 1/2 with the correct spline. Take all the parts to your local machine shop and get them slip coupler turned down on the side that has the U joint connection. This same shop can then weld in the 1/2 part from the Love Joy to the slip clutch. This sounds like a lot, but after you spend the money and time to replace this several times, you have more than paid for the custom part. In may case I got lucky and could but only the 1/2 of the Love Joy that I needed. Hope this helps. Love the channel!!

The image quality on phones has come a long way it looks better then some cameras that are preety new

I know I'm late to the game, but if you ever need to replace that coupler, consider a rubber tire coupler. Heavy hollow donut bolted to the coupler on either shift. Does double duty by being a shock absorber as well as a flex joint so the 2 shafts don't need to be perfectly aligned. We had a big-ass one on a 10', 3 blade rotary cutter we used for chopping cotton stalks after picking and prior to plowing. Worked great and we only replaced one donut in the 20 plus years we used it and that was due more from AZ desert heat and trash wearing on it than anything else.

Every time I watch you, I'm amazed on how much knowledge you have. Crazy!

Wasn't bothered about your camera phone - found the story, / content interesting. 🇬🇧 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 😂

Get some heavy walled pipe that fits inside of itself weld the pipes onto the coupler ends and pin the two pipes together with a shear bolt. The bolt will break before anything else will

It looks like an Eaton 2K motor and should have a standard output shaft. There should be a tag on the tail off the motor with the part number, you can use that to find out exactly which that option that motor has. I would also consider installing a cross port relief valve, that should give your over torque protection. As others have pointed out, check with major hydraulics suppliers for coupling options.

For your spline sizing it's measured over the largest diameter of the spline. There are also "permanent fit" and "slide fit" which have different internal diameters. Permanent fit have a larger internal diameter than slide fit, ie the depth of the tooth to the spline is shallower on a permanent fit. For a nom 1" 6 spline, the OD range is 0.999" and 1.000" and ID range for permanent is 0.899" and 0.900" and to slide no load is 0.849" to 0.850" and to slide under load is 0.799" to 0.800". Your comments about the movement of the hydraulic drive motor is of concern. If you think about the loading, and what happens with an impact such as when you hit something, the motor will move (attempt to rotate) in one direction but the gearbox in the opposite, but you cannot see that under the cover. That could indicate there it's flex in the deck or the bracket that is holding the hydraulic drive motor, so your suggestion of stiffening that up has merit. Even putting triangular plates into the L each side would strengthen that mounting plate. Also having the two shafts as accurately aligned as possible will certainly extend any couplings life, and use of a slip clutch will help with impact loading. Hope that has been of help.

On the brush cutter I built I just used a 1/2" through-bolt to attach a chain coupler to the gearbox shaft and that has always worked fine. Your problem isn't shock loads it's shaft misalignment. The pressure relief valve and many feet of hydraulic line in the machine are more than enough to absorb and dissipate the small pressure spikes caused by hitting solid objects. However, as you noted the shafts are allowed to flex away from each other under load which grinds away at the rubber insert and then at the soft metal of the chinese jaw coupler (hence the heat). I would reinforce the motor mount like you said then find a way to attach a chain coupler to each shaft and you should be set. No matter how you attach it the chain coupler will be way better than the jaw coupler.

I use chain coupler on a 2 hp feeder for poultry low speed operating and would shatter before it slipped the chain is pinned tight. It would make up for misalignment some but I do not think it would tolerate the torque and shock in your application. Keep the vidjas coming.

realign it, cut the ends off clean, weld on some flat steel onto both sides, give it two bolts as sheer pins , done, and you got a failure point thats less than 50 cents to replace or : weld the motor side of the old coupler onto the safety clutch you have and install it , realign the motor and reinforce the motor mount , alsso you might want to brace the rear of the motor, like with a sheet metall snair and a second bracket

Maybe Walterschied might have what your after they specialize in drive lines for agricultural machinery and have a huge selection of yokes and stuff so it might be a good idea to look at them or Weasler which is another agricultural drive linecompany

You’ve done a good job of convincing me to not buy a cheap brush cutter. Those blades or the whole hub could come back, ricochet off the ground and come into the cab. This is my next attachment and I’m going to save my money and get what I pay for. Thanks for the education!

You hand held video makes it very relatable.

The JCT website lists that as a parker motor. The spline could be a 1" SAE 6B spline. I think the next weak link will be the gearbox. I'd figure out a coupling that would "give" The joy type was probably used for this reason. The clutch-type would be a lot of mass I would think about more support/mounts/ bearings if going that route. Straightening up the alignment would help.

Great video Matt, quality of vid was fine, looking forward to next instalment..

That bush hog is basically a PTO driven design with a hydraulic motor attached, so the correct coupling is indeed a spring slip clutch. Most replies here have suggested just welding the broken coupling onto the other side of the clutch, and that will work, but you are still stuck with alignment issues as the spring clutch is not meant for that, and if you have any significant misalignment, you will eventually destroy the clutch. Instead, that's what the U joint from the PTO drive shaft would have been for.. My suggestion: if you have enough clearance, you can reverse that motor bracket on the deck and move the motor back towards the rear, thus giving you room for an actual U joint. Then just get a machine shop to weld together the broken motor coupler and a couple of straps for a U-joint.

No complaints about your camera-work, you did pretty good.

Look at tractor supply company tsc . I got a 6 spline and weld a spocket to both sides and made a chain coupler for my dozer for hydraulic pump no issues 👍👍

That slip clutch is far too heavy for your application. Its mass will destroy the bearings in your pump and gearbox, and the inertia of the driven half is likely to destroy the gearbox if you hit an obstacle with the blade. Your other suggestions are good but if you can't find what you need, you could repurpose a rubber donut out of a small toyota rear wheel drive car's driveshaft. Cut both ends off the toyota's driveshaft. Cut the splines off your existing coupling halfs and weld them together.

Bolt on the slip clutch. Counter bore the yoke for the other side of uni joint to the od of the existing lovejoy coupler for a tight press fit. Press it in and lock it with a few grub bolts. Reposition the motor further back for longer coupling then brace that sucker real well. Slip will provide protection and uni will take up minor misalignment. Any tractor shop or driveline rebuilder can do the very basic machining.

In the refinery, we had thousands of couplings on high horsepower equipment. We standardized on Falk Steelflex couplings. As with any coupling, they cannot withstand much misalignment. We used dual reverse indicator alignment techniques. Your pedestal and base are too flexible to achieve and maintain precision alignment.

SHORT DRIVESHAFT WITH A U-JOINT

Why not use the 1 love joy spline coupler from the hydraulic side, and weld it to the old tractor clutch coupler? Just remove the u-joint ears...

To me it appears we have two issues. #1 is a coupler, and #2 is alignment of a coupler between the motor and the gearbox. Unless I'm missing something, it appears the respective splines fit their respective shaft ends. Why can't you simply (A) put each spline end on your lathe and face the separate spline end segments to provide mating faces. Then true and weld the two freshly faced ends together. Obviously you need to ensure straight alignment, but you don't have to worry about spline alignment since the motor and gearbox can turn and align independently on the fabricated new coupler. Now for (B), you will have to loosen all the fastening bolts on the motor and gearbox then align the motor and gearbox using the new coupler (eliminating angles). Once aligned, you will need to fabricate, in either heavy angle iron or square stock (as you described), new support brackets. Also, you will have to deal with any tolerance gaps between the old mounting holes and the need to widen them or create new ones.

I have nothing to do with farming, agriculture or heavy industry and live in a city of London. Your channel has completely captivated me, wow nothing in common and very much enjoyable watch nearly through all your videos.

The odd end looks like a 1-1/8" spline like an old 8N Ford tractor came with originally.

I hear "AvEism`s" and I appreciate it !

3:05 - You're a good boy! That comment made my day. Timely too!

For people like me with zero experience with this equipment, this is pretty interesting. Keep up the good work.

There's probably a reason they used that crappy coupler. That's all they could find to make it work.

take 2 slip clutches apart and use only the spline sections and put them together that should solve your problem

After reinforcing that drive unit, put a sleeve over both splines. Weld the motor end, Fasten the business end with a shear pin. Simple to fix, no slippage, same principle that snowblower impellers use if they hit a rock.

Hello; First thing I would do is Put a plate on the underside. Clean the area very well and then weld your plate to that overlapping the frame at least on 2 opposing sides. Then I would remove the hydraulic motor bracket turn it around so that the upright is toward the cab using the same mounting holes. Now your motor/deck won't flex and you have more room for your coupler. By the way if you would "button-hole" the deck it would give you areas to weld the plate from above. If you choose to leave your bracket as it is I still would use the plate underneath as this will not affect the height of the motor. In order to find a coupler I would look on E-bay mentioning the the spline sizes. If not there I would contact a Good machine shop. I don't remember the brand but there was coupler that used something like a small rubber tire adhered to flanges etc.. Good luck and sometimes it's cheaper and faster just to make it (or have it made for you) yourself.

Well one thing for sure you know what size the one coupler is so take your tape measure measure across there and wherever you hit inch and 3/8 is where you have to measure across the other one to have the correct measurement on what to buy. The problem with those and so many other pieces of equipment is they just pretty much thrown together with whatever Parts they have to make it work that's a shame that everything isn't compatible if you know what I mean but I guess that probably comes together when you buy high-end stuff. Oh and by the way your phone is working pretty good it's not bad at all pretty clear. So you stay safe stay well and as always God bless

Just a shot in the dark: Take your new(used)slip clutch, mill off the u joint holder, weld on your old coupler to the new(used) slip clutch.

I built my own from scratch. I works great, just used a regular U-joint from a bush hog for my connection between the motor and the gear box. Several years and it is still going.

You have quite a conundrum there, but you are at the point to where you need to decide to fix it correctly, abandon it, or sell it. As you know the love-joy is mostly to help forgive misalignment, not real great at absorbing huge shocks over and over. When using this cutter in heavy stuff you are going to have to have some type of slip clutch or shear pins-bolts unless you feel like doing time consuming repairs each time you hit something unforgiving. The slip clutch is easiest, It is made from cast though and welding and modifying options are limited unless you find a double splined one. The spline shafts and bearings will need to be able to support the weight of a slip clutch. Some one also mentioned getting a spline coupler for each spline and welding a circular plate to each one and putting a couple of shear bolts in and mating them up that way. That is a really good idea also and simple and inexpensive to replace shear bolts each time. You may could also pull the Hyd motor spline and replace it with a spline to match your gearbox. Hope you find a solution and I am sure I have not told you anything you did not already know or think of and the video quality was fine!

The blade gear box is a 540 pto spline

I'm late to the party. There's no reason for that motor to be where it's at. Move it backwards towards the supports. That'll help with the flexing. Then you'll have space to fit your slip clutch in there. Weather or not you've gotta use the knuckled fitting

You could use the slip clutch if you take your hydraulic motor bracket and turn it 180 degrees. That will give you more space and allow a u-joint on a short shaft to the motor.

Add a C-channel for reinforcement. Relocate the motor and use v-belts. This would be and easy way to deal with the misalignment, and a spring-loaded tensioner will help isolate the shock loads.

That slip clutch looks exactly like the smaller one on my Gravely 30 inch bush-hog. They work very well.

I would go with the slip clutch and see how long it lasts keep up the hard work and thanks for the content stay safe and take care

One day, get some Rust proofing spray paint. and just spray the inside of that box. At least will make it so standing water doesnt eat the metal away.

Matt I think that you have the solution right there with the slip clutch idea that you proposed at the end of the video. If you brought this into my fab shop I would repair it exactly the same as your idea. I really like your videos and ones like this in particular were you work with everyone to solve a problem and come up with a creative solution ...awesome video looking forward to seeing the next one. Take care and keep the dirt flying best wishes from Iowa

#DieselCreek i agree with wut others have said. remove the yoke on the other coupler and attach one of the broken love joint coupler halfs where the yoke was

Yeah, beef up that motor bracket. Looks like the weak point.

Cane across this today. Got called over to a buddy's property and found this exact issue. Found the big coupler fits on a old Ford PTO, but the smaller one is a misnomer. Have a older slip clutch that looks exactly like the one you found with a yoke on it. Was thinking about cutting off the yoke flanges and just welding the smaller coupling directly to it. May have to drill 4 more holes to move the hydraulic pump to correct position, but that's the easy part of the job.

I was dealing with the same problem on my old Roscoe roller that I repowered with a Briggs & Stratton. Lovejoy couplers broke. Those chain and sprocket couplers work great. Especially if you don't have shit lined up exactly perfect. 👍

just do what you said weld that coupler on to that clutch thing you have and be done with it easy peasy

Vice Grip Garage would just "do the right thing" and weld those two pieces together.

Do what most farmers do, put a shear bolt in that lashup. Buy a bag of shear bolts and when one breaks just replace it. It's cheap, works and saves the expensive parts on either side of that coupling.

being a welder I would combine the broken spider gear coupler with the clutch piece, cut off the Ujoint yoke, set up both sides on the brush cutter for alignment, tack in place, then do the full welds with like 045 duelshield fluxcore in at least 3 stringers, preferable 5 or 6 pass stringer stack like welding heavy equipment.

I was wondering could you modify a couple of yoke from a small rear wheel drive and a Universal joint. Just a thought you might be able to find them at a pull apart. I hope that this helps. Have You check with Grainger Might be able to help Or modern welding Might be able to rebuild the ends.

weld a pair of sprockets on the ends of your old parts.

I’d say the best bet would to put the slip clutch unit on the gearbox side. My ancient Hardee bush hog has just such a unit hanging on it’s input shaft, that thing is still running after 45 years or better. Adapt a u-joint to the hydro motor, move it back far enough to put a short driveshaft between them. I guess your biggest issue is the coupling flange with the unknown spline. Could you weld a u-joint hub to the existing one? The u-joint drive would tolerate the shaft misalignment, the slip clutch would protect the hydro motor. Little bit of fab work, but seems better than the other options mentioned.

Talk to a marine technician about how to align shafts. Reinforce your motor mount & then shim the pump to exact alignment with feeler gauges or calipers. Use a fabric coupler, (like an auto steering shaft) & you've got impact, alignment, and shear taken care of.

....GOOD ONE, STAY SAFE..

Why not rotate the hydraulic motor and right-angle drive such that the shafts are parallel, and rig up two sheaves and a belt drive? You've got a lot of slack in the hydraulic hoses, and the gear box looks to be on a 4 hole pitch circle... you could even weld the L-bracket for the hydraulic motor if drilling & tapping new mounting holes in the deck is problematic. Alignment is till an issue, but eating belts is a lot cheaper than Lovejoy couplers should things go wrong, and you have shear protection from overloads. If you want to get fancy, use a timing belt and pulleys...

Good vids man , wouldn't have noticed that you were using your phone :) cheers for spending the time to make the videos , also like the fact that you don't pretend to know everything

Honestly, your best bet may be to mill off the u-joint flange on your slip joint and weld on your coupler from your lovejoy. If you were closer to Michigan, I'd tell you to stop by and I'd put it on the lathe and fix you up. It could be beefed up plenty. I've done this exact repair a few times with good results. That lovejoy setup really wasn't the best for a brushhog, especially as undersized as it was. I would definitely reinforce that mount too, probably in both directions. Good luck brother.

I’ll say what I would do...don’t take it the wrong way, but alignment is critical on that unit, what ever coupler you use it will last longer and not destroy the hydraulic motor or transmission in the future. The navy had an entire 2 week class on using the MAC (mini alignment computer) to teach people how to align motors and pumps...it was a fancy dial indicator. A chain type coupling is way to rigid in my view for a brush hog, I’d stick to a slip clutch or rubber coupling to take the shock force from hitting rocks and large tree stumps. kasinchain.en.made-in-china.com/product/VsamzXhvfBcW/China-FCL-Quick-Coupling-Type-280-Flexible-Rubber-Flange-Shaft-Couplings-Bolt-PB280-.html A coupling like that will allow some “slop” in alignment and still give you the ability to absorb shock loads, I just using that link as a reference, it’s probably made from old pop cans melted by a torch...

Call industrial bearing supply Carrol Iowa Darren or Joel will get you everything you need for a great price!

Great feedback an all this drives. Makes perfect sense

0:11:00 I would also take two flat steel straps, put bolt holes in one end, give it a bend and run them forward from the forward hydro motor flange top to the forward beam of the mower. Combined with the angle iron they'd give a much better control on twist and torsion, can be some pretty cheap steel too. Sadly I think getting a bigger used motor that far exceeds the power need of the cutter would be the solution in the long... direct-drive spindle from something someone bent up maybe? That body looks very well made tbh.

Check Granger or McMaster Carr. Maybe that brushhog is made for leaves and grass.

Making a slip clutch might be your best option as long as that clutch housing is cast steel and not iron.

A slip clutch is your best bet, but one that is appropriately sized, No flexible coupling on the market is going to withstand a high torque impact that a rotary cutter can incur. Even though the blades are hinged to take up some of the impacts there are still large torque values transmitted back to the coupling. A belt setup could also be used, but would require additional engineering. Check with some local tractor supply companies, as this is really an agricultural piece of equipment.

Since the hydraulic motor is just bolted to the deck, you can move it back toward the skid loader if you need more room for a bigger, better coupler -- just drill new mounting holes. Also, to make the motor more rigid on the deck, you only really need to put a gusset on the side of the mount that it torques toward, unless the deck is really flexing in both directions, rather than the mount. Then your angle plate idea is a good one. Since the hydraulic motor comes from the PRC, it might be metric, in which case it would probably be 25mm, if your 1" measurement is close. Oops, that's what I get for commenting before the end of the video!

Ask Ave to have a go at making you one! Tappy tap tap..

Some radiator hose and a few hose clamps...

Mill the beat faces of old coupler flat, weld together, use as solid coulpler. Put thick rubber mat under motor mount for shock? Take a motor mount with steel on both sides, weld that to old coupler, fix alignment.

My suggestions (from a non-expert and for what they are worth-- (1) that coupler was special-ordered in bulk by the Chinese builder of that brush hog to connect the cheapest hydraulic motor and gearbox that they could find and that you will search high and low for a replacement; (2) that the misalignment between hydraulic motor and gearbox has to be corrected or you will destroy any coupler you try. So if I were you I would correct the misalignment and order a replacement coupler of the same type, which may work just fine. If you decide you want to get a different coupler, you will have to go to a machine shop to attach the coupler to the spline. There is a RU-vidr named Adam Booth whose RU-vid site is called Abom79 who owns a machine shop that mostly does one-off jobs who might be interested in helping.

I wouldn’t put a solid yolk in there you wind up tearing something up

Have you tried motionindustries.com, stuff like that is what they specialize in. Good Luck

I know for a fact you don't mean to bring funny content to us but you are really funny blowing the leaves into the cab,,,LOLOLOL

Almost all the good brand brush hogs I’ve ever been around have used a slip clutch. Got to have a way to absorb shock loads..... Cheapie ones just used a shear bolt.

What about getting two used slip clutches and putting the two spline parts together instead of spline and yoke?

I just watched all the videos you posted on this it’s like you filmed my jct to the minute. I have my machine shop making a shear pin slip collar right now for mine. And revamping stump hopper to a larger one with 4’ blades. I can reach out to you with picture and the price my machine shop has it done I’m only about 45 minutes north of you.

You asked for it so, I'll give you my two cents. I would take what is left of those couplings, smooth off the damaged faces and weld a piece of keyed round stock on the ends. Then go to McMaster-Carr or similar company and select a coupling that you think will work. I would select a non interference coupler because if it fails only the coupling itself will be damaged. If it fails, you can try a different type next time.

If you can get the inline better and square to each other the original lovejoy may still be the best setup you can get. Keep extra spiders around, but once lined up correctly the spiders should last a long time.

While you have your phone, video was fine BTW, Call ThisOldTony he makes them before breakfast

if duct tape and WD40 don't fix something, then it's too difficult for a guy of my meagre abilities - sorry I can't help.

P1 1 3/8 6 SPL B is the browning part number they make a 6018 chain coupling use a cover and lube for your dirty application. you will need a half for your straight keyed shaft too I sold Power Transmission items for over 30 years. Both are Good reputable companies.

Mount the motor to the side and reinforce the deck with a plate .Put pulleys on the motor and gear box and run belts.They will slip if you hit something hard. Make a belt guard up.Also weld a hinge on your belt guard so its easy to change belts.

Are you sure it's not a 1 1/8" 6 spline on that side instead of a 25mm? could adapt the below link with a couple adapters. www.agrisupply.com/fd-pto-slip-clutch/p/31951/

Made in China :)

Make a flat rubber coupler from some old thick conveyor belt webbing. Weld some 5/16” steel discs with three holes onto your broken coupler hubs. Punch six holes in the circle cut from the belt. Bolt it up using big fender washers. Bet it lasts longer than your old coupler. And definitely align your shafts.

I’m not sure if it’s been said but I have made my own double chain couplers many times. I usually get my parts from Princess Auto up here in Canada. I’m sure Tractor Supply would have some of the needed 6 spline weld on hubs. Get 2 of whatever weld on hubs you need, 2 matching weld on sprockets, And some double roller chain.

love the shot of the road in the woods . looking good. i know you are so proud

Seperate the motor mount from the gearbox (move it closer to the cab) and then use a shortened driveshaft with a standard slip clutch assembly at the gearbox which has a std spline. A machine shop with a wire EDM can make a female spline quite easily, they cut the profile in a bit of sheet metal as a fit test and check it fits nice over the hydraulic motor shaft. If that is all good, then they can go ahead and cut the spline profile into the pre-turned flange. You might just weld whatever interface you need onto what is left of the lovejoy coupling. Their problem is that the deck and bracket for the hydraulic motor were never going to stay aligned because everything is too floppy. The bracket should have attached directly to the input shaft end of the gearbox. There are plenty of bolts there to make an attachment. you need 2 locating plates, one on each end with locating features and a bit of pipe in between to hold the plates parallel. With that you have a good chance the lovejoy coupler may be just fine since everything will be very stiff.

@Diesel Creek It looks like its just flat plate with holes for the spring bolts... so with that said get some plate steel and a spline coupler(off the shelf or machined) and weld the two, remount to the slipclutch where the UJ plate was and it should work great with minimal expenditures. If the splines from the chinesium hydrodrive box is steel then thats one less thing you have to buy.

Your back up plan of welding up that slip clutch is your likely route as hunting old farm tractor spline on one end to a metric piece on the other end is probably not gonna produce anything; and your time is worth more than you realize. Use what you have in your hands. Shear pins are also of value.

I make my own. Yes weld the spline that fits on the motor into the biggest rubber coupler you can find. The out put, use the slip clutch pto spline plate. with bolts in it holding short pieces of large rubber hose that fit into the biggest coupler you can find.

love your sense of humor ,i know way side warning says ' stay waaaaay back'

You have the splines. For that matter you have the females too. Toss them into a lathe and get the ends cleaned off and neatly rounded and get the engineer to weld them onto any double Cardan Joint you can find of a suitable size. Then unbolt the bracket for the hydraulic motor on the mower and connect the parts in line with the motor, still on that "L" bracket. Get it in line with a straight edge and redrill the mounting holes. You might need some material to reinforce the mower deck under that mount. OR you may be able to simply bolt it on reversed giving you approx. 4" extra space. Of course you have by now fixed it or sold the piece of equipment?

Try machining the yoke off the clutch coupler, hopefully it’s weld able material! You will probably have to center it up in a lathe and tack weld it! Good luck my friend, I’m a retired welder after 37 years! Hopefully it’s not a bad grade of castiron, maybe it’s cast steel! That would be great and weldable, good luck