GR2707 Mishap

[pelhughes]

I have a GR2000 with GR2707 snow blower attachment.

I was blowing pretty deep snow when I made a terrible mistake. With PTO still engaged, I lifted the blower up and moved the tractor forward over some snow. The snow got under the blower and dislodged it from the tractor; again with the PTO still engaged. After hearing some awful noise and vibration, I quickly turned the mower off. The spline shaft (not sure if this is the right name; it's the long axle that connects the tractor to the blower) also fell off.

I managed to get snow blower re-attached but was hearing some pretty bad vibrations. I kept getting off the tractor and re-inspecting but couldn't see anything wrong. When I turned the blower back on the third or forth time, the spline shaft somehow fell off again (blower was still attached and aligned) and this time bent itself 90 degrees.

My theory is that when the blower fell off the first time, this caused a slight bend in the spline shaft which caused the vibrations. This bend must have gotten worse each time I engaged the PTO ultimately leading to the visible bend.

I guess my question is, before I go and buy a new spline shaft (maybe it's called the yoke/shaft or driveline?) what else can I check? I just don't want to drop $200 on a new shaft, put it on and then have it break/bend all over again. The place where the spine shaft connects to the snowblower looks fine to me; doesn't wobble visibly when I spin it manually. Should I just resign myself to giving it to a dealer so they can evaluate?

 

[TheKubotaKing]

I've never heard of any Kubota with those models you posted. Whatever happened, in the end, it sounds like a terrible design flaw. If you can simply back over some hard snow, and it removed the snow blower attached to your tractor - that's a design flaw. If and when you get this repaired, I'd look into somebody who does welding and have them design you some sort of bracket that can attach to your tractor and snow blower attachment, so it will bolt the 2 together, so this would not happen again. Some sort of brace or arm system that attaches the 2 together with big bolts is the way I see it. This sounds like it's going to be a big expensive repair.

 

[pelhughes]

I had model number wrong in original post; the snow blower attachment is 2707. Edited original.

 

[Dave_eng]

Is the shaft that bent part #4 below?

Likely replacing the complete assembly #6 is the way to go.

You need to determine why the blower became disconnected. It should not happen and it will be a User rather than a design issue.

Since you need to buy the shaft from a Kubota Dealer, ask if they make house calls where they could install the new shaft and see why the blower became disconnected.

At a minimum you need the shaft. The mechanic can determine if other stuff is bent/broken before he damages the new shaft whereas if you install the new shaft yourself, should you miss something, you will be the one damaging the new shaft.

Dave