Massey 1655 gear drive deck pulley replace

[pacer 3,169]

Massey Ferguson 1655 with 54" deck by PTO shaft thru gear box driving PLASTIC splined/cogged pulleys - (the blades have to be timed) The gear driven off the gear box is a double with top half being driven by gear shaft and to drive the left blade, the bottom half is to drive the middle blade and the right blade....

 

What this is leading up to is that middle pulley driven by the gear box with a splined shaft .... well just picture running up on that hidden root or ???? Those splines dont stand a chance and will be shucked like an ear of corn! Couple wks ago I shucked my 3rd one and there aint NO more to be had -- they are more scarce than horse parts for sure!

 

Well, I really like that dang tractor (sorry horses, but I do!) and I set out to make a pulley.... Several yrs ago I got into green sand casting, but lost interest and put the stuff away (a herd of horses caught my eye) So I go dig all of it out and proceed to try and cast an aluminum pulley. The splines were the hang up, I have cut/made many a gear but had never learned, or seen, splines made  .... so, having an extra shaft - with the splines - I decided to cast around it and do the cogs on the mill, took 4 castings re-learning how to do it. (see pic of one failure coming out of sand with spindle in it) Leaving spindle in to use in mounting it on the mill -- Had a HECK of a time cutting the cogs with right spacing/depth/diameter/etc. Finally hit it today, YEAH! OK how did I get the spindle out of the casting you say?? When I first read about it, they were saying to use the black smoke from a candle covering the surface so it wouldnt stick, since I had a spray can of graphite, I coated it well with it and then added parting dust to that. Its still pretty stuck in the casting but a BFH and many 'smacks' itll come out leaving a direct copy of the splines. Tommorow I'll have to figure how to mate my one good plastic pulley to the casting to get the 'double' pulley - that should be a breeze after the trial of casting.

 

In the pic is one of the plastic pulleys with the splines stripped out and the finished aluminum one with the spindle I used near. These things have to be a labor of love, I must have spent some 50-60 hours on it. But, I dont golf, fish, hunt, etc, and Im retired and .... well I dont care how long it took!! 

 

 

 

 

[oliver2-44 9,743]

@pacer since the steel shaft and cast aluminum part have different expansion rates you might try putting the assembly through several freeze/heat cycles to break the bond. 

[oldlineman 1,481]

Great job, but the plastic gear was probably designed to be the weak point to protect the drive line. Having said that they probably didn't expect the rest of the tractor to last beyond the production of the gears! What will be the next weak link to protect the driveline? Is there a place to put a shear bolt? Just some thoughts. Bob

[peter lena 8,625]

@pacer , do you have any "  bearing distributors  ,or industrial suppliers near you ? , used these guys for years for belts, gears , pulleys, bearings , shims etc. they also regularly have 4x8 swing out wall boards , with related match up pieces , that are terrific for conversion ideas. also lots of industrial lubricants , and most of all they have experience related insight to problem solving , ideas, pete

[pacer 3,169]

@oliver2-44 

9 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

several freeze/heat cycles to break the bond. 

Thats an interesting thought .......Hmmmm! But, it really wasnt too bad, I've got a 14lb sledge and it would move about 1/4" every blow, a 20ton press would probably walked it right out.

 

@oldlineman I dont know if that was what  the engineers idea in that design, but there were/are other ways to do it, (maybe a spring idler pulley?)and it is a valid point ....but, the  cogged belts are readily available, unlike the non-existent pulleys. Its not the best solution for sure, but I can at least get the tractor back to work.

 

@peter lena - I did not pursue that - mainly because its probably been exhausted by other owners. There is a MF section on the GT site and has a pretty decent following with many comments about this problem. One member had set out to correct it by finding a similar roll of the plastic and making up a bunch, but,,,, hes been quiet now for a year or so, last comment was his concern for making the splines.

 

Having a nice shop, I make quite a few of my horse parts - bushings, rods/shafts, some pulleys, etc ---- LOVE MY SHOP!! (man cave!)