Ive been told that a VAC isn't a good tractor to use with a post hole digger. I have a 51 VAC With BOTH pulley AND 3pt. Its the only 3pt tractor Ive got. I know it dosnt have any downward pressure, but I assume the detractors of it knew that also and knew other things about it making it not a good choice.
- Thread starter Farmallb
- Start date
Case Nutty 1660
Well-known Member
Well I have used mine for over 40 years and digging postholes has been one of it jobs,, Never have I had a single issue with pto,,
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Adirondack case guy
Well-known Member
Really!!!! where did you get that info from.
Loren
Loren
Adirondack case guy
Well-known Member
The only PTO in a VAC that I saw broken was when one was powering a silo blower, and a kid wound up the motor and then just pushed the PTO lever down without pushing the clutch pedal down. Not too smart of a move.
I suppose a rotary mower with a shear pin drive and a grade 8 shear bolt could also damage the PTO.
Loren
I suppose a rotary mower with a shear pin drive and a grade 8 shear bolt could also damage the PTO.
Loren
Case Nutty 1660
Well-known Member
I was Lucky? I have put at least 2000 hrs on my VA in that time,,, operator Error breaks parts,,, I have been at this game a long time luck has little to do with it, I doubt many are used in the many jobs and as much as mine is today but I do not abuse my stuff but I sure do use it and I know the correct way to operate without breaking parts, my equipment are not weekend toys i use them to make a living
One was from running a baler that had the correct shear bolt in the PTO, another was on a rear mower with a slip clutch, and I don't remember the last one. VAC's were avoided around here due to PTO gear breakage, so there were probably more broken PTO's that I didn't know about. I had used a VAC-14 on a 230 Case baler, but was very careful about not feeding the baler to fast. If I were to use one on a post hole auger I'd be careful not to lower it too fast, and put a licorice stick in the shaft for a shear bolt.
Case Nutty 1660
Well-known Member
again not a design problem
Adirondack case guy
Well-known Member
Hey, L fure, please start using Classic view so your replies are directed under our comments, rather than at the top of the thread each time.
The flow of things would be much easier to follow.
Loren
The flow of things would be much easier to follow.
Loren
What do you want from me. A notarized affidavit from all the people that had busted the drive gear in their VAC's? You are so much as calling me a lier when I tell you what I know about the VAC PTO. I still say you have been lucky up to this time. Someday you may have a moment of inattention, and BANG. Another busted drive gear. Good luck finding a replacement gear.
oldproudvet
Well-known Member
I sold the 2 late VACs I had 20 years ago, I couldn't keep up with busted pto gears. You CANNOT use it on a 5' bushhog, unless you're mowing a putting green. Anything, gopher mound etc, let alone a tree limb or something on the type of ground you'd bushhog, busted teeth. Worthless for farm work unless you run it in a parade or to pull a garden cart. SCs I replaced those things with back in the 70s have been faultless. The V is just a toy
casecollectorsc
Well-known Member
- Location
- E central SD.
I have drilled 30+ post holes in one shot with no problem...12" auger. Same VAC has run a finishing mower a long time also and ran the Case-Helix feed grinder. Operator error is the main fault.
That's a lot of holes. If your ground isn't too rocky you might not have any trouble. Make sure you have a bunch of the softest shear bolts you can find in the auger shaft.
It probably is a good thing the drive gear breaks when something goes wrong. Otherwise it would do more damage. Replacing the gear is not a big job. It's just finding a replacement. News ones are no longer available, and used ones were getting hard to find back when I was dealing with VAC's. New ones were probably available back then, but I most likely couldn't afford one back then. VAC's are great little tractors. You just need to beware of their limits.
BarryfromIA
Well-known Member
What is the possibility of using a pto drive from a 300 or parts of it.
My 2 cents: My VAC i bought had little use. The guy said all it did was run a 5' CASE brushhog for the last 40 years. He said the tractor gave them little trouble, but the pto case has been replaced at some point as it is off a yellow tractor. I will say, the Case brush hog I bought with the round gear case on top does seem to run smoother and quieter than any of the new stuff I have seen. Draw your own conclusions. I have none.
Bruce from Can.
Well-known Member
- Location
- Woodville, Ontario, Canada
When I was a kid , dad's VA was the only tractor on the farm with 3 point, and we dug hundreds of post holes with that tractor , with no problems. We never ran the tractor over idle while digging a hole , and some times a root from a tree or a stone would stall the tractor, but never broke anything.A over-riding clutch on the pto of a bush hog type cutter , should cut down on damage to any tractor while cutting.
Case Nutty 1660
Well-known Member
Good to hear Bruce,, I was just about to get rid of mine beings they are made so poorly,, I guess I am not the only "Lucky" one, I too run a posthole digger at a idle,, hard to tear out gears at a idle,, I also run this chipper with my VA a lot and it can work the snot out of it but no problems with gears
I have a vac 14 I used on a post hole digger for years without any issues. I find that if you run it at an idle you rarely shear pins. I also use ine on a 6ft artsway belly mower and have never had a problem with either. However I have also used one on a pto generator. That little vac had been rebuilt with m&w pistons the head was warped and had been planed more than once valves had been replaced with larger valves by the previous owner. That little tractor had plenty of power and it spit several teeth out of the pto gears
Case Nutty 1660
Well-known Member
Not much will crush those, they what is called petrified wood,, its metal really and even my carbide tipped trencher will not even hardly scratch them lol I save them for display the bigger chunks you see weigh over 500lbs each,, I have one that is around 5000lbs also
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jay-eye-see
Member
Down pressure is unnecessary if the teeth are in good shape on the post hole digger. The PTO gears on a VAC are adequate but wont take much abuse in my opinion. Bush hog with a VAC only if you have nothing else to bush hog with. Certain people like to argue and will also swear they never heard of poor brakes on a 50s era Case tractor or for that matter, a power shift problem on a 70 series Case tractor.
I have a 1946 VAC that my dad used with a home made post hole digger for many years. But if I remember correctly, it had a slip clutch on the PTO shaft that would slip if you hit something solid like a stone. I think the slip clutch came off an old PTO powered grain binder my dad had. So to be safe it might not be a bad idea to add a slip clutch on your digger. Al
I think what you are referring to is what I call an over-running clutch. The slip clutch we had on the post-hole digger would slip the PTO shaft if you hit a stone or something. We only ran the VAC at a slow idle when digging holes. This slip clutch is like the slip clutches used on older JD combines like my 4420 on some of the grain elevators etc. Maybe I can find it in my junk pile and take a picture of it. Al
olgentdc
Well-known Member
Tom ,So, you have Petrified Wood in Your end of Wyoming Too ? I Saw petrified Trees in Yellowstone and piked up a firewood size blok that was impossibly HEAVY that was on display ,. I Am baffled by all this talk about VAC power shafts , I have a 49 and a 54 models for parts if someone needs them .. We never had any trouble and ,. Never heard of one breaking ever ,. we DID twist the 430 diesels s PTO on a JD 30 combine trying to clear a slug. And Yes, We Knew better , krinkled the short shaft on the combine and had to rebuild it too ,Dad was Not happy , LOL .Still got that 430 with the twisted shaft ..about summer 68-1970 era ,It was 100 that day ,Wheat was tuff !, I was probably about 12 , My brother 14 and dad was at work ,. Live and Learn . the slug would roll back only so far ,after too many attempts, i wound up the 430 at my brothers direction , and i really thought all was going OK until i realised the augar was not moving. punched the clutch just in time before twist off. After seeing that , we went down to the creek to cool off.
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