PTO From Front of Crankshaft

[akghound]

Earlier a quarried about if a 3/4" shaft could handle a 12kw gen head.
I have built a purchase and shaft to power the setup. I wound up using a 10 kw head instead of the 12 because I want to keep the 12 on the Lister Twin in hopes of getting it going again.
Today I fired it all up but have not wired it to the electrical panel yet. All seems to run true and smooth. Tomorrow we will be running power from it.
The 30 year old L275 Kubota tractor runs great, its been sitting since the fire of 2006.
Here are some pictures









Ken Gardner

[akghound]

A couple more pictures

[Tom T]

Looks good Ken. Hope every thing works out ok. Tom T.

[akghound]

You can see the end of the flex shaft in the first. Well it broke on the engine end this morning.
It is about 30 years old with thousands of hours on it, what held it together yesterday?
Hope I can find another one quickly.

[Tom T]

Good luck on finding another one soon. What was it that broke on it can it be fixed? Tom T

[akghound]

Good luck on finding another one soon. What was it that broke on it can it be fixed? Tom T

The coupling that fits onto the engine crank. I'm taking it to a friend that can weld just about anything. If they made welding rod from sawdust he could weld sheets of plywood together. Wish me luck.

[Tom T]

The rod for ply wood is called  Weld Wood:)  Tom T

[akghound]

I believe I set it too close to the end of the crankshaft not allowing room to flex. The inside of the coupling was hammered to some degree. Finally the collar broke.
Ken Gardner

[DanG]

Didn't like the jounce and wobble of the belt changing loads? That little bit of rust on the fragments where the metal split - is that an old crack?

[akghound]

I'm not sure if it was cracked or not, just looked it and it could have very well have been cracked. The problem I am running to is that Kubota no longer stocks that part. It is 18 spline metric, not sure of dia but will get it. A Kubota parts man said it is Kubota specific but I doubt it, however I have learned that 18 spline is uncommon.
If any of you guys have an idea please let me know. Thanks.
Ken Gardner

It measures 15/16 or 24mm (I think that is the conversion)

[Carlb]

Would it be possible for you to have a solid steel shaft welded to the splined  end that is left or do you need it to be flexible to exit the tractor?  Maybe even have a piece of solid stock bored out to accept the splined portion of the broken end,  cut off the broken part,  have the splined end inserted into the bored out solid shaft and welded in place.  If the fit between the solid shaft and the end is good it will be much stronger than before by a large margin.

just a thought.

[LowGear]

That tractor should run all month at 1800 RPM assuming you pour enough biodiesel into the big tank.  How about mounting it straight on with an appropriate coupler?

The no visible rust on the break really suggests a new break to me especially with rust showing in the neighborhood.

Casey

[vdubnut62]

Looks to me like rust mites got in the flex section and caused it to swell right up on you.  Like freezing water, too much pressure on the
cup.

[akghound]

Got it fixed and back up and running. Cut the splined coupling off the broken piece. Drilled and tapped three 1/4 - 20 holes in it for set screws. Welded a stub of 1" sch 80 pipe on the old factory end, thus turning the splined collar around and setting the best part of remainig splines of the collar onto the best section of splines on the crank. Snugged up the new set screws onto the worn out splines on the end of the crankshaft.Brazed the flex shaft into the pipe stub. Retained the factory lenght. So far it is working perfect, wow, two whole days now!
Ken Gardner

[Carlb]

Did you need to retain the flex shaft or could you have replaced it with a solid one?