1660 broke drive axle

[j hikemper]

brother pulled his 1660 case ih into 40 acre field of beans at 6pm ,,half the field was in the semi by 9 pm ,,, when "Up jumped the phuk'n devil",, clean break under the cab ,tire rested under unloading auger with the bin half full ..took 3 jacks to raise it , so we could unload ,,,no other damage ,,, brother reported that for a round or 2 the wheel under him felt a little odd and he was sensing a grinding feeling ,,. thats the only clue he got ,.. 3 miles west of heer ,, another 1660 sits in a field with a cab drive wheel gone to hel,,, salvageyard has sold a bunch this year ,,, and has us all wondering what is up with these dam broken axles on these case/ihc combines ????
 

[flying belgian]

I just started looking for a good used 1640-1660. Now you are scaring me.
 

[Bob Bancroft]

When I got a 1660 a fellow told me that with the Cummins engine, inclined auger in the bin, etc. it was late enough the final drives should be OK. So is it assumed a 1660 with IH engine had lighter final drives? I haven't done any research. So far, so good.
 

[Eric in IL]

I am also running a 1660, cummins, inclined auger, etc.

Developed a slow oil leak last season on final drive under cab. Enough of a leak that it ran down inside of tire if sitting in one spot for a month or so.

Pulled tire and final this season before harvest. Outer bearing/race were shot.

Bearing and race was $235.

The other final is not leaking but is getting pulled this winter for a look-see.
 

[Case Nutty 1660]

all I have seen break have bin extensions or whooper hooper ect and I see them spining them on turns with a full or near full bin and big corn hdrs, I do not think any thing can take that forever, and to be fair I have seen a equall amount of JD machines in the same boat my two cents cnt
 

[Bob Bancroft]

Interesting. Haven't had any issue with the axle shaft.(I've had this 3 years now). But the input shaft on the left was leaking a little. When I got into it I found the three capscrews holding the bearing housing in were loose. But they weren't loose! All I could figure was the bolts came loose, and the shims rusted. I started taking out shims to get the bearings tight, then started measuring the shims, and cleaning the rust off them. I was amazed how many thousandths the rust made up. I ended up with all the original shims back in and the bearings just right!
 

[Dick2]

Knew a retired engineer from IH; they had that problem with axles breaking on the prototype combines. But in typical IH fashion, they never did anything about fixing the problem.

A retired JD engineer moved just up the street from us. He was mad at Deere for not fixing problems that they've had from Day 1 with their engines and injector pumps. They called him back from retirement twice to work on the engine problems - and then wouldn't use his suggestions, so he told them to get lost.
 

[j hikemper]

yes ,,it has flip up/outbin ext,, no duals ,, and a 24 ft head ,,, all running on a 2 and 1/2 axles,,i can agree with many here that we are overloading these ladies ,,, but the girls take the capacity so well , until this scht happens ..brother piked up another axle headfrom salvage yard $450 . and stuck it on while i raked hay ..temps are low 40s,son gave way to clouds ,got a smittle of sleet rainb ,and crazy wind from every direction
 

[Eric in IL]

I am guilty of running a bin extension. It adds approximately 1200 lbs of extra grain weight.

A reasonable guess would be an additional 500 lbs to each final drive.

If that 500 lbs is enough weight to cause damage, maybe I should ask potential riders (factory installed buddy seat) how much they weigh first.

I guess the point I am trying to make is, there must have been "zero overkill" designed into the final drives. That just seems chinese to me.
 

[JMS./MN]

Good and used is an oxymoron with them. Granted, my ex (no longer farming) neighbor could crack an anvil with a feather, but when he picked up the header (6rn), nothing happened. Drive axle was too busy curving up into the bottom of the combine, under, then through, all the augers that carry threshed corn back to the separator. Dealer wouldn't rent him another to finish- he had to rebuild all that on his own.
 

[Case Nutty 1660]

Eric the extension I am talking about added 100 plus bushels to the total capacity in wheat that would be 6000lbs or so just saying they need to be treated with respect with that kind of additional load, like I said the guy's I know would come up to the corner with a loaded bin 8 row heads and step on the brake and spin them around to me that is a little harsh, but I am told the newer models do have a stronger axle/planitary system cnt
 

[Bob Bancroft]

My bin extension adds about 70 bu.- as you say- potentially a substantial amount of weight.
There was discussion on here earlier about brakes. They seem to be ignored on hydro. machines around here. When I got this 1660 they were worthless. The first winter I fixed them. I discovered much to my surprise they would spin this 4WD machine around. But not with much weight in the bin. Not any different than it was with our old 2WD Gleaners.
I don't know how these guys you mention are even doing what you describe!
 

[IaGary]

When I worked in the weld shop we worked on about as many JD final drives as we did IH.

You just never know???

Gary
 

[Jon Hagen]

Have been down that road a couple times with our even heavier 1480 combines.
The final drive cases are weak so they spread and do not hold proper preload on the wheel bearings, shortning their life.
also the early axle designs were weak, the 2 piese axle / flange assys with 1 or 3 retaining bolts were especially bad while the latter 1 piece (rough back) axlees were better, but still cracked off at the flange.

the replacement (smooth back) axle shafts have more metal inthe transition from axle to flange and are much stronger. I have never had a smooth back axle fail.

In a discussion of this problem on another site, I addressed this problem and posted pictures that explain the problem and the fix.

http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=336418&posts=6#M2634040
Stronger axles for the Axial flow combines.

 

[Case Nutty 1660]

guess I am full of cr&pp just saying what I seen no problem if you don't belive me