B2782A front snowblower shaft question

Orange1forme

Active member

Equipment
B2650 HSDC, filled tires, wheel spacers, B2728B , LA534A FEL, 3rd valve kit
Dec 1, 2018
394
56
28
Wa
I was greasing my snowblower and came to the front u-joint, just behind the snowblower itself, on the short/half shaft.
On this shaft is a plastic cover.
1) There is a chain that is supposed to attach to the plastic to keep it from rotating. It is permanently attached to the metal of the snowblower, but I find nowhere to attach it to the plastic cover.
I have found this to be a bit of a controversial subject, some say it is unnecessary and others say it is vital.
a) How is it supposed to be attached?

2) How do you remove the plastic cone portion to access the grease fitting on that u-joint?
I tried prying, pushing, etc but did not want to destroy it so I quit. I just removed the short shaft from the rear spline, removed the inner shaft and rotated the front/outer shaft until I could access the fitting. It was only accessible from the bottom.

Anyone have experience with this?
Any pointers?

Thanks
 

sheepfarmer

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3560, B2650, Gator, Ingersoll mower
Nov 14, 2014
4,440
654
113
MidMichigan
I have the B2782B blower, and assuming it is the same as yours with regard to the little chain, its function is to hold up the drive shaft when the blower is off the tractor. When the blower is on the tractor, the chain S hook is to be hooked back on one of the links to keep it out of the way. See Fig 5 in manual.

No hints on greasing. Some joints are pretty inaccessible. Should get all of them good before you install it.
 

Russell King

Well-known member

Equipment
L185F, Modern Ag Competitor 4’ shredder, Rhino tiller, rear dirt scoop
Jun 17, 2012
4,603
975
113
Austin, Texas
Look around for a couple of nylon (white) screw heads on the back side of the cone on the plastic shield. Rotate the screw head and it will move over into a hole in the plastic. Then the cover can slide back. Hopefully that makes sense.

There are other attachment methods but that is a common one.

The chain on my PTO shaft does attach to the plastic shield. One chain at each end of the shield. The other end of the chain is attached to something stationary to keep the shield from rotating.

I believe the plastic shield has a protruding piece with a hole in it for the chain to snap into.

There is also a plastic bearing at the ends of the straight section near the cone. There is a plastic grease zerk to apply grease to the bearing.



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Orange1forme

Active member

Equipment
B2650 HSDC, filled tires, wheel spacers, B2728B , LA534A FEL, 3rd valve kit
Dec 1, 2018
394
56
28
Wa
I have the B2782B blower, and assuming it is the same as yours with regard to the little chain, its function is to hold up the drive shaft when the blower is off the tractor. When the blower is on the tractor, the chain S hook is to be hooked back on one of the links to keep it out of the way. See Fig 5 in manual.

No hints on greasing. Some joints are pretty inaccessible. Should get all of them good before you install it.
I found that in the manual, thanks.
It is brief, with one more reference to it later in the manual.
While it does state it is a drive shaft support chain, it says nothing more. I guess one has to "read" into it.
 

Orange1forme

Active member

Equipment
B2650 HSDC, filled tires, wheel spacers, B2728B , LA534A FEL, 3rd valve kit
Dec 1, 2018
394
56
28
Wa
Look around for a couple of nylon (white) screw heads on the back side of the cone on the plastic shield. Rotate the screw head and it will move over into a hole in the plastic. Then the cover can slide back. Hopefully that makes sense.

There are other attachment methods but that is a common one.

The chain on my PTO shaft does attach to the plastic shield. One chain at each end of the shield. The other end of the chain is attached to something stationary to keep the shield from rotating.

I believe the plastic shield has a protruding piece with a hole in it for the chain to snap into.

There is also a plastic bearing at the ends of the straight section near the cone. There is a plastic grease zerk to apply grease to the bearing.



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Well, nothing to connect my chain to. Apparently it is to support the drive shaft when not on the tractor, see other posts.

As for the cover, no screw heads. I have seen the youtube videos with that type and mine is definitely different.
 

Russell King

Well-known member

Equipment
L185F, Modern Ag Competitor 4’ shredder, Rhino tiller, rear dirt scoop
Jun 17, 2012
4,603
975
113
Austin, Texas
Have you tried looking at the online illustrated parts list for that implement? It may show enough in the exploded views to figure it out


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blperk

New member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
B3200, FEL, Betstco 63" flail mower, B2782b front snowblower
Dec 25, 2018
21
3
3
Canandaigua, NY
I have a B2782B, and the front U-joint is pretty inaccessible for greasing once it's assembled. I ended up drilling a hole hole through the metal guard plate on the blower that shields the joint, and I just insert the grease gun through the hole. Works well with no gymnastics or swearing involved!
 

Orange1forme

Active member

Equipment
B2650 HSDC, filled tires, wheel spacers, B2728B , LA534A FEL, 3rd valve kit
Dec 1, 2018
394
56
28
Wa
I have a B2782B, and the front U-joint is pretty inaccessible for greasing once it's assembled. I ended up drilling a hole hole through the metal guard plate on the blower that shields the joint, and I just insert the grease gun through the hole. Works well with no gymnastics or swearing involved!
I thought about doing that, too.
I guess I will see what it's like after a couple other times.
 

nbryan

Well-known member

Equipment
B2650 BH77 LA534 54" ssqa Forks B2782B BB1560 Woods M5-4 MaxxHaul 50039
Jan 3, 2019
1,161
705
113
Hadashville, Manitoba, Canada
Yes indeed the chain is to support the shaft once disconnected from the tractor.
To grease the ujoint at the blower end, I pull apart the 2 halves of the PTO shaft and rotate the ujoint until the zerk faces down, then raise the shaft a bit to expose it from underneath.

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