"Part No Longer Manufactured"
"Part No Longer Manufactured" was the message I received from John Deere's online catalog while looking for parts for our lawn tractor snowblower attachment. Granted, the lawn tractor is 30 years old (cast iron engines run forever), but from what I can tell there a quite a few of these machines still in operation.
This all started at the end of August. The available manuals are vague on the technical data for individual parts, and I ran into an even greater problem. The previous owner ordered 2 different and incomplete sets of parts for the drive sprockets. He installed one set of sprockets that absolutely does not fit the roller chain.
A call to a John Deere dealer clarified why this might have happened. John Deere made three distinct variations of sprockets for this tractor.
So in September I began my search. I ended up taking various measurements of sprockets, the roller chain, and the center bores of the various sprockets. Armed with the certainty that the chain and sprocket "pitch" is 1/2" (#40 pitch), I looked at the spare set of sprockets. They are indeed a #40 pitch, yet they do not fit the roller chain?!?!?
I went to the Blaine's Farm and Fleet clear across town to look at stock parts on the off hand that John Deere's sprockets were some how non-standard. No luck.
Went home and looked at parts again... Realize I need a gear puller to remove 8" drive sprocket for the auger. Ordered generic tool online for $15.00 (name brand retailed in stores for $40.00). It takes 2 weeks for the part to be delivered...
Last weekend I pulled sprockets installed on blower (turns out they were a #50 pitch). Called previous owner to see if old parts might still be laying around. Get lucky. He had 2 of the old sprockets... the small guide sprockets.
Still needed correct 8" drive sprocket for auger. Drive out to Farm & Fleet again. Looking at roller chains and sprockets realized that the #40 roller chain looks thicker than the chain at home. What the hell??
Come home. Scoured off roller chain to look for part #, or sizes. I found "Peer 420" stamped into the chain. Peer 420??? I get out trusty computer and search for reference. Eureka!!!
Peer 420 roller chains have links with a NON STANDARD Thickness. The freakin' 40 pitch chain doesn't fit on the 40 pitch sprockets not because of a pitch difference, but because the link thickness is too narrow to fit the teeth.
One potential problem. The sprocket that is driven by the PTO is welded to the drive shaft. It is the original part from 1978. So will a sprocket designed to fit a Peer 420 roller chain also snuggly fit a Standard #40 roller chain?
I buy the new #40 roller chain... 10 feet of it because that's how it's sold. I need 2 maybe 2-1/2 feet. Not bad expensive though. Only costs me $15.00. Now the chain punch to get the length of chain I need? $29.95...
I threw the chain around the sprocket assembly, and it seems to fit tightly enough. Tomorrow I'm going to separate a section of chain to get the length I need. Then I'm going to see if it runs smoothly when attached to the PTO.
Man, I hope this works. This has been almost 2 months of dicking around with this problem because of mismatched parts and non-standard sizes...
This all started at the end of August. The available manuals are vague on the technical data for individual parts, and I ran into an even greater problem. The previous owner ordered 2 different and incomplete sets of parts for the drive sprockets. He installed one set of sprockets that absolutely does not fit the roller chain.
A call to a John Deere dealer clarified why this might have happened. John Deere made three distinct variations of sprockets for this tractor.
So in September I began my search. I ended up taking various measurements of sprockets, the roller chain, and the center bores of the various sprockets. Armed with the certainty that the chain and sprocket "pitch" is 1/2" (#40 pitch), I looked at the spare set of sprockets. They are indeed a #40 pitch, yet they do not fit the roller chain?!?!?
I went to the Blaine's Farm and Fleet clear across town to look at stock parts on the off hand that John Deere's sprockets were some how non-standard. No luck.
Went home and looked at parts again... Realize I need a gear puller to remove 8" drive sprocket for the auger. Ordered generic tool online for $15.00 (name brand retailed in stores for $40.00). It takes 2 weeks for the part to be delivered...
Last weekend I pulled sprockets installed on blower (turns out they were a #50 pitch). Called previous owner to see if old parts might still be laying around. Get lucky. He had 2 of the old sprockets... the small guide sprockets.
Still needed correct 8" drive sprocket for auger. Drive out to Farm & Fleet again. Looking at roller chains and sprockets realized that the #40 roller chain looks thicker than the chain at home. What the hell??
Come home. Scoured off roller chain to look for part #, or sizes. I found "Peer 420" stamped into the chain. Peer 420??? I get out trusty computer and search for reference. Eureka!!!
Peer 420 roller chains have links with a NON STANDARD Thickness. The freakin' 40 pitch chain doesn't fit on the 40 pitch sprockets not because of a pitch difference, but because the link thickness is too narrow to fit the teeth.
One potential problem. The sprocket that is driven by the PTO is welded to the drive shaft. It is the original part from 1978. So will a sprocket designed to fit a Peer 420 roller chain also snuggly fit a Standard #40 roller chain?
I buy the new #40 roller chain... 10 feet of it because that's how it's sold. I need 2 maybe 2-1/2 feet. Not bad expensive though. Only costs me $15.00. Now the chain punch to get the length of chain I need? $29.95...
I threw the chain around the sprocket assembly, and it seems to fit tightly enough. Tomorrow I'm going to separate a section of chain to get the length I need. Then I'm going to see if it runs smoothly when attached to the PTO.
Man, I hope this works. This has been almost 2 months of dicking around with this problem because of mismatched parts and non-standard sizes...