I have experienced the same issue on some tractors I have purchased. You will need to remove the pto pulley to get to the pto axle carrier mounting bolts and also remove the the channel pinch bolt below it. Also need to remove the pto brake assembly and the muffler. The reason you can't grease it is because the grease that was in there is hardened because it wasn't greased routinely. There is a milled channel on the outside of the pto axle carrier that lubes the front axial pivot that is filled with hardened grease. Because it wasn't lubed properly you may find you have to put a piece of wood on the pto axle and nudge the carrier out of the front axle with a hammer. Removing the front wheels will eliminate some of the front axle weight and making removing and installing the axle much easier.

 

Thanks for the info.

I got it out/apart. I sure am glad that I have it on a lift to work on it. It was a PITA to get it apart, even with it on the lift, but would have been miserable if I was working on the ground.

I could have saved myself some time, aggravation and money if I had studied the parts diagram before I took it apart. I ended up damaging some parts that did not need to be damaged, when I removed stuff.

I'll post some photos and an explanation of how I should have done it later.

 

This is a photo of the PTO/Axle Pivot Assy. There is still a seal and needle bearing in the smaller end of the housing.

I tried to take this out of the axle while it was fully assembled. I tapped on the rear of the shaft and initially it moved, but it soon got tighter and I hit it harder and harder. My thought at the time was that if the bearings had been run dry for a long time, they were probably shot and would need to be replaced anyways, but after it was too late, I discovered that this was not the case. As I hit the center shaft, the small External Retaining Ring that goes on the groove in the shaft deformed, and came out of the groove. I was then able to just tap the shaft all the way through.

After the shaft came out I tried using a punch to drive the housing out of the axle, but that did not work very well. I then discovered that a 1 1/4" deep impact socket was the perfect size to use to drive the housing out. I had to hit it hard, and a lot of times, to get it to come out, and I liberally applied PB Blaster several times during the process. It was up on my lift so I had ideal access. It would have been a major PITA to remove with the tractor on the ground.

When I got it out, I inspected it and discovered that the exterior had no grease on it, except for some that seemed to have been baked on. There was also very hard caked grease in the groove that is supposed to carry grease around the housing.

To my surprise, there was still a significant amount of grease on the inside of the housing, AND the bearing at the front of housing is "sealed" on both sides, so even if there was no grease in the housing it still would have been OK. Even after being pounded on, it still feels good. Had I not pounded on it, I would have reused it, but I can get a new bearing for $6, so I will replace it. On the other end(still in the housing) there is a seal and a needle bearing that probably would have been OK, except for when my punch slipped off of the housing and damaged it.

If I had removed the Internal Retaining Ring from the front of the housing, tapped the shaft and the front bearing out(the bearing came out easy) and then used the socket to drive the housing out, I think everything could have been cleaned, reassembled and reused.

Front bearing 1641 2RS(<$6 at Fastenal)

I rotated the housing back and forth with a pipe wrench to help get it loose. At times I had to put a cheater pipe on it, to get it to turn.

 

The grease zerk must not have seen grease for quite some time. I have removed the pto axle carrier on three different machines and have not had the amount of difficulty removing it as you have. A lite tapping of the shaft covered by a piece of wood was all I needed to remove it from the front axle. From the sounds of it, it fought you the whole way. I think a lot of 3000 series owners were not aware of the grease zerk in that location.

 

I agree that some(perhaps a lot) of owners are not aware of that grease fitting. I'm guessing that original owners may usually be told about it, but subsequent owners are seldom told. I have bought 11 and don't recall any of sellers telling me about that grease fitting, when I bought them. If the tractor is on the ground with a mower deck on, the grease fitting is not very obvious.

I was really surprised at how hard it was to drive out. The way I had it on the lift with the jack stand supporting it, there was no misalignment pressure, like there would have been if it was on the ground. The axle did pivot on it, so it was not totally frozen up in the axle, and after I got it part way out, and turned it with the pipe wrench(it turned very hard, but it did turn) I still had to hit it very hard to get it out. Usually, with stuff that is "frozen", once you get it moving a little it will come out a lot easier, but it may be that that is a characteristic of rust(what I am usually dealing with) and this was more like a "varnish".

If I had used the impact socket from the start of the project, I think it would have gone a lot better, but I still think it would have taken significant force to drive it out.

Thinking about it now, the next time I do one, I may disassemble it before starting removal and then use a threaded rod, with a socket on the rear, and some kind of spacer(probably have to fabricate) on the front, and pull it through the axle.

 

The needle bearing that goes in the small end of the housing is INA SCH1612

INA SCH1612 Needle Roller Bearing, Caged Drawn Cup, Steel Cage, Open End, Inch, 1" ID, 1-5/16" OD, 3/4" Width, 11000rpm Maximum Rotational Speed, 6400lbf Static Load Capacity, 4500lbf Dynamic Load Capacity: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

INA SCH1612 Needle Roller Bearing, Caged Drawn Cup, Steel Cage, Open End, Inch, 1" ID, 1-5/16" OD, 3/4" Width, 11000rpm Maximum Rotational Speed, 6400lbf Static Load Capacity, 4500lbf Dynamic Load Capacity: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

 

I put the PTO Hub back together, using a new External Retaining Ring($0.28 at Fastenal VS >$5 at CC). Putting the shaft in the freezer for a while before installing the bearing made the bearing install very easy. I cleaned the axle bore and the exterior of the hub, applied a bit of grease and reinstalled.

Slid together easily, with just a few very light taps.

If/when I take one apart in the future,***IF***it will take grease, I will grease it right before disassembly. Might create a bit of a mess, but it might also make it come out substantially easier.

 

I stripped down the most recent tractor that I purchased and I removed the front axle. It had over 900 hours on it and the PTO assembly came out REALLY




Easy.

One tap with a rubber mallet and it slid right out. I did grease it as soon as I got the tractor and I did not resist taking grease. My guess is that it would have come out easily even if I had not greased it.

 

This thread saved me some frustration. I was assembling a 3200 and noticed a lot of play in the lower pulley. That front bearing was shot. After a few light taps on the shaft, I remembered this thread talking about the c-clips so I came here to review. Then I went back and found the big c-clip under a lot of crud. Everything came out nice after that. Gonna get a new sealed bearing tomorrow.

Thanks!

 

@Joelk @ejl6658
I'm trying to take mine apart and can't get the PTO double pulley off. I have the snap ring off and the shaft sprayed with PB and it won't budge. Put a puller in the holes and all it's doing is bending the pulley. Any ideas?

 

@Joelk @ejl6658
I'm trying to take mine apart and can't get the PTO double pulley off. I have the snap ring off and the shaft sprayed with PB and it won't budge. Put a puller in the holes and all it's doing is bending the pulley. Any ideas?

More time for the PB to work and then perhaps a bit of heat.

Might try "tapping it further on". Probably a situation were if you get it to move at all, it will let the PB seep in and then eventually it will come off.

Might also be able to get a couple long screwdrivers in behind and then tap on them so that they act as wedges to force it to come off.

 

I started taking the PTO block assembly out of the tractor with the pulleys on it. Got the bolts off and the block just off the bolts and it's stuck like nobody's business. Good grief. taking a break to cool off. I may have to oil it and beat it back in then back off to run the oil thru the axle. Not a good day.

 

I had my tractor slightly jacked up and tried to have a neutral balance of weight on that assembly. Is the pinch bolt loose?

I tried to change the Hydro filter on my 2165 yesterday and could not get it off, had it jacked up and the wheel off so I put it back together. I will have to buy a filter wrench to fit that filter. Used to have one but got rid of it because I thought (or did not think) I would not need the large size wrench again. Man, it is hot in that garage this time of year.

 

Everything's apart on mine and I have a pry bar between the pinch bolt and axle holding it up slightly. I was gong to fix the no grease taking zerk problem and switch to my boat trailer hubs so everything is off of the axle/spindles off, tie rod off. This is not my idea of a relaxing Sunday.

 

Success! This was a throwdown and I ended up getting out my $1500 USATCO monster .498 shank air rivet hammer and driving it out with a special driver that had a square drive for a socket on it. I put a 1 1/8" impact socket on it and drove it out with the rivet hammer. It did smear the inside of the bearing housing inward so getting that bearing out the rear would be a pain. I have no intention of taking it apart though as I was able to get the PTO to take grease and squirt it out both ends with a grease needle. Spins freely.

The axle had dry carbon-like remnants of what grease used to be in it and I dug that out and wire brushed the bore. Dead beat and I cleaned up. I am getting to hate this type of work. I enjoyed fab more than greasy mechanic work when I worked for truck and trailer shops. I have to get tie rod ends. All these are loosey-goosey. Any better deals than these?

Sealed Builder's Parts Ball Joint Female M12 x 1.75 RH Housing M12 x 1.75 RH Stu | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Sealed Builder's Parts Ball Joint Female M12 x 1.75 RH Housing M12 x 1.75 RH Stu at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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Whoa, you got ALL of it out. I had only removed the pulley and shaft on mine. Nice job!

 

Thanks man. This was not easy. Gonna be sore tomorrow.

Randy...I used these on an old Cub Cadet ....good quality
View attachment 2512799
I got them here
How to Repair, Improve and Modify the Steering on a Cub Cadet and Other Makes and Models of Garden Tractors if none of these fit your application Grainger has good quality ones

Thanks Mark. These suckers are metric M12 so that makes it harder to find.

 

Randy...I used these on an old Cub Cadet ....good quality

I got them here
How to Repair, Improve and Modify the Steering on a Cub Cadet and Other Makes and Models of Garden Tractors if none of these fit your application Grainger has good quality ones

 

Just reread this post because I never knew there was a zerk hidden in between the axle pivot and a big red flag went off in my head telling me to check mine soon or else suffer the consequences. Holy crap there is a lot of pain and suffering involved in the repair. Randy's photo caused me great anxiety. That's a lot of work! So, as posted earlier I had the same experience with the zerk not taking grease so I tried using my Grease Joint Rejuvenator filled with PB plaster and was able to get some in to liquefy the old grease but on my last wack of the hammer managed to bust off the zerk. ****. So several hours later having to drill and re-tap and install a new zerk, I was ecstatic that I was able to get grease in. About 20 pumps or so until I could see grease escaping from both ends of the shaft. I'm puzzled though as to what gets greased. Is it the bearings on both ends or the pivot or both? Not sure how that works. Thanks to Joelk and Randy for this post else I would have never known,

 

Just reread this post because I never knew there was a zerk hidden in between the axle pivot and a big red flag went off in my head telling me to check mine soon or else suffer the consequences. Holy crap there is a lot of pain and suffering involved in the repair. Randy's photo caused me great anxiety. That's a lot of work! So, as posted earlier I had the same experience with the zerk not taking grease so I tried using my Grease Joint Rejuvenator filled with PB plaster and was able to get some in to liquefy the old grease but on my last wack of the hammer managed to bust off the zerk. ****. So several hours later having to drill and re-tap and install a new zerk, I was ecstatic that I was able to get grease in. About 20 pumps or so until I could see grease escaping from both ends of the shaft. I'm puzzled though as to what gets greased. Is it the bearings on both ends or the pivot or both? Not sure how that works. Thanks to Joelk and Randy for this post else I would have never known,

I'm glad you were able to get it to take grease. Mine wasn't gonna happen without the tear down.

The PTO has a shaft and bearings in a tube. The tube has a hole in it that lets grease go into the tube to grease the PTO bearings. The axle pivots on the tube.

Inline with the zerk is a groove going around the tube. The groove lets grease flow around the tube to lube the axle pivot. The hole in the tube for the shaft bearings sits inside the groove.