What ftlb is he torquing the bolt to?
GT235 PTO Clutch bolt loose.
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I know this is a really old post on a recurring issue, but last week my 2005 (I think) GT 235 just simply "lost" the bolt and washer that hold the clutch on the crankshaft.
I've read through all the posts I could find on this forum and Google in general and saw a common thread where this particular bolt loosens no matter what it's torqued to and whether or not it has locktite on the threads. I've seen several cases where the bolt breaks off on the crankshaft, but amazingly the fragment backs out by simply tapping it...
My theory is that the root of the problem is the fact that these bolts don't stay tight. If you're lucky like me they just fall out in the field and if your unlucky they waggle enough to break off before they come out.
So a couple days ago I bought a new bolt and washer, and sure enough it came with white locktite on the threads...
I'm kind of old school and I've decided to use a "tabbed lock washer" to mechanically stop the bolt from turning.
My initial thought was to use a 2 tab lock washer similar to the one below, but I had a hard time sourcing one big enough to stretch to the flat side of the bushing.
After chatting with the guy at my local Fastenal I ended up using a really large fender washer between the bolt head and the concave washer that holds the bushing in.
After torquing the bolt down I used a drift and a ball-peen hammer to fold one edge down past the concave washer to one of the two flat sides of the bushing, and folded the other side up over one of the flat sides of the bolt.
I got a chance to test for about 30 minutes before it got dark tonight and so far so good. Right now I'm thinking that this bolt won't be backing out as easily this time around.
![2472711]()
I've read through all the posts I could find on this forum and Google in general and saw a common thread where this particular bolt loosens no matter what it's torqued to and whether or not it has locktite on the threads. I've seen several cases where the bolt breaks off on the crankshaft, but amazingly the fragment backs out by simply tapping it...
My theory is that the root of the problem is the fact that these bolts don't stay tight. If you're lucky like me they just fall out in the field and if your unlucky they waggle enough to break off before they come out.
So a couple days ago I bought a new bolt and washer, and sure enough it came with white locktite on the threads...
I'm kind of old school and I've decided to use a "tabbed lock washer" to mechanically stop the bolt from turning.
My initial thought was to use a 2 tab lock washer similar to the one below, but I had a hard time sourcing one big enough to stretch to the flat side of the bushing.
After chatting with the guy at my local Fastenal I ended up using a really large fender washer between the bolt head and the concave washer that holds the bushing in.
After torquing the bolt down I used a drift and a ball-peen hammer to fold one edge down past the concave washer to one of the two flat sides of the bushing, and folded the other side up over one of the flat sides of the bolt.
I got a chance to test for about 30 minutes before it got dark tonight and so far so good. Right now I'm thinking that this bolt won't be backing out as easily this time around.
Sorry I really didn't keep count and only focused on the B&S posts because they were relevant to me... but there were a lot of them...
As I started this I was simply trying to find specs for the bolt and was real surprised by the hits I found.
As I mention in my post I saw a pattern but the other thing I learned was that the JD bolt/washer is the best way to go.
As fasteners go they're pricey but together they came to less than $15, I ordered them from AGPRO online and picked them up the next day from my local dealer.
I've dropped a couple pics of my hack in this response. First pic is after testing 30 min, the second is after my wife mowed a couple acres the next day... she's mowed another several acres more today and so far so good.
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