Hey Den N Ms and Others Re; Lock N Stitch

[Chuck (CA)]

I cracked the rear end housing on my New Holland last year... bad... hyd oil leaking through a 6 inch crack. A local welder did not want to attempt it without removing ALL residual oil and being able to weld from both inside and outside... not feasible. I was turned on to Lock N Stitch and after talking to them (great people), I bought the pins, drill bits, tap, video, etc. for 300.00 plus change. I was kind of intimidated by it all, but my son, Joe, who's a maintenance mechanic, said he would do it. Long story short, the repair is done, almost invisible, and no leaks! The photo shows it partially repaired.
I haven't used the 3 point yet, but I'm confident it will hold.
FWIW, Be sure to remove the swinging draw bar before using the rotary mower. :-(

 

[dont_know_nothing]

Very nice job. Expensive but well worth it, not having to tear it down to have it welded...

Did your son find it an easy job to do? Any tips for anyone else attempting to do this?

 

[Den N Ms]

Chuck,It looks good and I'm sure it will hold.Looks like your son did a really good job,Give him a pat on the back for me to.

 

[Bob Harvey]

Nice to see a 'test' item. Hope it works. I remain, skeptical. All the best and please report after 3 months. b

 

[Chuck (CA)]

More time consuming than difficult. Each hole (about 30 to 35 of them) had to be drilled, tapped, screw in pin and then ground down. Pretty cool though. When the pin gets to a certain torque, the head snaps off, so you can't put it in too far. After they're all in place,grind them uniformly to almost flush with the surrounding surface and peen the surface, (used a needle scaler). Then went in and removed the metal shavings with a magnet.
This crack actually came around the corner onto the machined surface, so that took a bit more TLC. He used an Arkansas Hard Stone and smoothed it down to where it all matched up.
I guess the entire job took about 8 to 9 hours for a guy who never did one before.
Den has done a lot more; maybe he can give more input.
You might do a google for Lock N Stitch; Actually, the inventor, Gary Reed I think, hangs out on this board from time to time.
I'll try and post some more pics.

 

[Chuck (CA)]

Here's another picure of the process. The yellowish-brown spot on the left is a drop of oil.

 

[Joe)NYC)]

Hi Chuck, Can you explain why the swinging drawbar has to be removed when using a mower(brush hog, finish mower)? I have been using my mowers on my 851 with the swinging drawbar in place and now I am worried that something bad could happen. Thanks.

 

[Chuck (CA)]

When I raised the mower, the spinning blade hit the drawbar which in turn tweaked the rear end. I bought the tractor a year ago as a lease return with 240 hours on it. 3.9 hours later, I broke it. No warranty because I caused it to break. I was so sick about it, I just parked it.
I've been using my TO-35 ever since.

 

[Chuck (CA)]

BTW, it was not a finish mower. Yours may sit back further from the bar.

 

[Joe)NYC)]

I use a 5 ft King Kutter finish mower, a 5 ft Woods brush hog and another unknown brand heavy duty hog. I will check the clearances on these next time I get to play farmer.