OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Tech Talk Broken drive shaft

Hey guys just twisted off the square drive sharft in my 12th Ann Greenfield ride on. Waiting on a price for a new one. Has any body got an idea where to start pulling this thing apart. The manuals on here are more parts lists than how too's. Any help would be great.

Dave, can you give us the model number please, and a photo or two?

Got a couple for you Grumpy. You can see by the silver spot in the middle of the sharft that it has been cracked for a while and holding on by a small amount.

That seems to have been caused by a rotating lateral force on the shaft, causing a fatigue failure that propagated inward. It is either due to misalignment between the two ends of the shaft, or a design fault (too much overhang from the pulley to the shaft's support bearing). That may be why the broken shaft has jumped to one side after failure. If you don't fix the cause, it will happen again eventually.

Can you give us the model number? It's a great picture of the broken part, but unless someone recognises the model, it doesn't help us work out how it comes to pieces. And that shaft looks round, not square, in the picture, so I must be missing something.

Ill look for the model number, I was just going by what the parts list called it "Square Drive Shaft". Thanks Grumpy.

Carnt find a model number on it Grumpy, bar the 12th Anniversary Model 12-32 stickers on the side. Ill take more photos if required.

The 12-32 is sufficient model identification. However as you say, the only information that seems to be available is the parts diagram which does not give much idea how to remove and reinstall the broken shaft. I did notice from the parts diagram that it is called a square shaft because a short section in the middle of it is square, to engage the square holes in the centers of the drive plates.

There seem to be two drive plates, driven by two pulleys, each with a clutch. There is a small sprocket on one end of the shaft, chain-driving a huge sprocket on the rear axle. From the totally inadequate information in Illustration 5, I suspect you need to remove the two bolts holding each of the flanged plates at opposite ends of the axle to side members of the chassis, then you lift out the axle complete with bearings/pulleys/clutches/drive plates, sliding it axially off the belts as you lift it. Then with that complete axle system on the bench, you transfer the parts one by one onto the replacement axle. Note there is a nut on each side of the pair of pulleys/clutches/drive plates. You will have to remove a nut to slide the square section of the shaft out of the pulleys/clutches/drive plates. If you keep Illustration 5 handy, and memorise or photograph each part of the original assembly, you should be able to do all this fairly easily if it works the way I've guessed. Some photographs of the ends and middle of the shaft on your mower, taken from directly above, would help clarify this.

I've looked at the Greenfield site and it was completely unhelpful. I've read elsewhere that if you contact Greenfield they will give you the parts list that is available on this site, but that is all they will give you.

Thanks Grumpy, I might do a photo by photo remove and replace for other people on the site. Hopefully I'll have a new shaft this week and get in to it next weekend.

I've been working on my Greenfield 12-32 today trying to do the exact same thing.
I want to replace the clutch linings but be buggered if I could remove the shaft and clutch plates/pulleys.
I removed the bearings from each side of the shaft, and have managed to undo the nut next to the clutch plate pulley as per you photo.
I can't get the shaft to move.
I will have more of a play with it next week so I'll look forward to any progress you make.

Me too Murray. Boldly go where no novice has been before.

Are they pressed in with a press or have a key-way...ken

Having had a better look at your photo dave, I notice that the sprocket is on the outside of the chassis rail, not the inside. It looks as if you have to remove the sprocket, and the chain, before you can take off the flanged plates (10 & 12) and slide the end of the shaft (with the bearing still on it) through the chassis rail. You will have to take the screw (4) out from the end of the shaft so you can remove the retaining washer (5) then the sprocket (6). You take the two flanged plates off the right side bearing as well as the left (sprocket side) bearing.(Numbers refer to the Greenfield parts diagram).

For mower man- Gear drive on the lhs is on a key way. bearings L&Rhs easly removed with a brass drift.

I've got it all out and in peaces every where. Got photos to up load.

Ok Here we go!!
-Jacked up mower and supported on stands and besser blocks
-Removed rear wheels,Drive chain, Tentioning spring on drive belt, Battery,Steering wheel and Steering wheel boss, Dash and drive belt.
- Removed Lhs 30mm nut on drive pully and removed it and drive plate. Came out easy due to broken shaft on that side.
- 2.5mm alan key used for grubb screws on shaft bearings,removed rhs grubb screws and Flangette Plate bolts, Hammered sharft through bearing with right sized brass drift.Removed bolt out of clutch bracket and loosened the back bolt in the clutch bracket so the clutch fork pivot pin would come out of its hole.
-Man handled remaining shaft and Rhs Pully and Drive plate out of mower
-Remove the other 30mm nut and slid Pully and Drive plate off shaft.
- Drive sprocket is on a key way, removed with 3 leg puller











One thing that helped me was that i sprayed plenty of possum piss around the night before i started giving it time to soak in.



Just in the process of putting it back together . Any body in the bundaberg (QLD) area go to Ron Bauer in George St. Got anything you want in parts in relation to Greenfield and Tanaka equipment. Will post more photos of putting it back together soon.

Thanks for posting this detailed explanation and photos Dave. Your pictures show more about the mower than Greenfield's site does. I hope others will pitch in with questions and comments to make this thread as useful as possible in Outdoorking's archives, since there does not seem to be a workshop manual for this mower.

Dave, I hope you will continue the process and show step by step pictures of building up the replacement axle, and then fitting it to the mower and connecting it. Good work, this is good stuff.

Thanks Grumpy. If any ones got any questions just ask. On my way to the shed to put it back to gether.

HERE WE GO PUTTING IT BACK TOGETHER;...................

Cleaned up new shaft and got rid of any dags. Made sure all the parts had free movement.
Tried fitting all clutch parts to the shaft and had a go at squeezing it in to the mower , but no joy.




So disassembled everything but left the clutch bearing on the shaft an fitted it in to the mower.




Push the shaft all the way to the rhs and lift the lhs out of the mower and fit clutch plate,spring, washer,shim and Drive Pulley.



Slid the shaft back in to the mower and push it all the way to the left and the rhs of the shaft up and out of the mower. Same as lhs fit the clutch,spring,washer and shim. The drive pulley will take some care to fit so you don't damage the clutch cork. Slide shaft back in to position. To make a little extra room I removed the spring bracket on the Notch Bar.Make sure the adjuster on the Notch bar is all the way forward.




Replace clutch fork on to the transfer link before doing anything else due to the lack of room. Tighten the bolts in the transfer link.





Fit nuts Left and Right side of clutch. This is where an extra pair of hands is handy so you can push tension on Drive Pulley to expose the thread on ether side to fit nuts.



Fitted Rhs bearing and Fangette Plates. Fit set screew and washer on the out side of the shaft.

The following is the second half of Dave's post, with the images localised. Note that only ten images can be put in one post, which is why I've had to split it into two posts. Take it away, Dave:



Same for the Lhs and tighten grub screws through slots in mower chassis.




Reassemble hand break rhs.



Fit key in key way. Fit drive sprocket to shaft,this should tap on easily. I had to hold down on the key so it didn't pop out while fitting sprocket.Fit screw and washer to hold sprocket in place.




Loosen the two bolts on the chain adjuster and back off the adjuster that's hidden in behind the main sprocket on the axle. Fit drive chain and adjust tension on chain and tighten bolts in tensioner.



Now refit drive belt and spring on tensioner. Dropping the cutting deck down as far as it can go will make this process easier. Fit the wheels and give them a turn by hand to make sure that the belt is fitted properly. Now you can refit everything else battery,high tension leads,dash,steering wheel and so on. Gave mine a test run while it was still up on the stands.



I hope this will help some people. Any questions on anything you don't understand or i didn't cover just ask guys.................



Well done Dave.

Thanks Grumpy, And it even works............

Job well done Dave, congrats.
I've just done the same job on mine, but I replaced the clutch corks.
I managed to get the clutch pack out and back in in one unit.
You need to remove the bracket that the clutch fork pivots on to allow enough movement to get it out.
You then move the assembly to the left side and drop it out under the chassis.

Thanks Murray, Yeh I'll remember that for the future. How hard was it to get the old cork off and what did you use to glue it back on.

To get the old corks off, I just peeled them off with a knife which then left the glue to remove.
The glue seems to be like Selleys or Norton Bear contact cement.
I found that by brushing some petrol on the glue, which softened it, I was the able to rub it off with a rag.
Once the glue was off, I used a wire brush to take the gloss off the surface to be re-glued. I also used some wax and grease remover to clean this surface to give the glue the best chance of sticking.
I used Selleys contact cement to glue the corks back on.
It is heat and water resistant.
I just used a small paint brush and applied the the glue to the cork and the clutch plate and allowed it to become touch dry as per the instructions on the can.
Then you very carefully stick the cork to the clutch plate.
You only get one chance at this as the glue is instant stick.
Once the cork is in place, I just used a small block of wood and hammer to gently tapped the cork down. All done and just like new.

Cool, thanks for that Murray. I've heard that loctite even have a glue for this but Bear Contact would be a lot cheaper.

I use cheap contact cement (Parfix, from Bunnings) to glue the 36-grit abrasive cloth sheets to the flat steel surface of my flat-disc grinder. That runs serious, solid streams of sparks for long periods of time - it is a 14 inch, 1.5 hp, three phase, belt-drive machine and I use it to its limits most of the time, changing sheets when necessary (I keep a stack of 100-plus sheets on hand). The only time I ever had trouble with the contact cement was when I used expensive spray-on industrial stuff. I can tell you, having a heavy 14 inch abrasive sheet whistle past your ear at 2200 rpm convinces you immediately to review your gluing practices.

The important things are getting the metal surface clean and flat before you attach the new sheet, so your clutch surface will be smooth, following the glue manufacturer's directions, and checking it carefully before you put it into service. I do one thing differently from Murray: I clamp the glue joint for at least 24 hours after pressing the surfaces together. Before I began doing that, I found if I tried hard enough I could sometimes peel the joint apart. For my purposes, that is unacceptable: it is a safety issue.

Good tips there Grumpy.
On the Selley's contact cement I used, clamping was only recommended if using the "wet gluing" technique.

I've used the Bear contact in industrial maintenance situations and have never had a problem.
It's the first time I've used the Selley's, but by reading the can, it's the same glue.

Safety is very important, so choosing the correct adhesive for the job and following manufacturers instructions critical.

Murray, I have issues with the whole wet-versus-dry gluing technique. I find if I use wet glue, I need to clamp it for several days to get a really good bond strength. If I try to follow the dry directions I sometimes get no adhesion - I can't break through the surface film unless I clamp the joint. Because I'm concerned at the possibility of getting only a partial bond (only breaking through the dry film over part of the glued area) I wait for the surface to become very tacky, then clamp it. Results so far have been consistently good, as demonstrated by the problems I have breaking the glue joint to replace the abrasive sheets for the grinder. So, it may be that I've come to this approach because I always did a lousy job of dry gluing. However because safety is involved in my application (and to a lesser extent in yours) I currently think clamping is a considerable advantage, and well worth the additional trouble.