So I took all four bars off a new-to-me jd 851.
I just went to reinstall them - and I got three on, but for the life of me, I can't get the fourth one one. It's about 2" too long.
I tried removing them all and shuffling things around several times - but no matter what combination I try - I keep coming up with one that will not fit.
Both of the star carriers (no idea what they're really called) at each end have apparently had one arm broken off and welded back on.
AND one of the bars originally had a nasty bend in it before I straightened it. Another had a more minor bend that I straightened.
I measured all the bars - they match exactly.
I measured the point to point distances of all 4 mounting points from one star to the other. hard to be accurate, but they seemed close enough.
I also measured the distance of each mounting point from the center of each star - again - looks close enough...
I'm about to do something that's potentially foolish - I'm thinking that I just can't measure it accurately enough, and the repaired sections are too far off. I'm thinking the previous owner, in frustration, probably bent the bar forcing it back on, and that's why it "fit".
Sooo - I'm thinking of cutting one of the bars down and re-welding the end at the proper length...
before I take that step - AM I MISSING SOMETHING???
this is so frustrating. Is there some kind of trick to mounting these things???
I can't imagine it's supposed to be this hard - and I HAVE to shorten one (OR try to fix the star wheels which seems like a MUCH bigger job.
I just went to reinstall them - and I got three on, but for the life of me, I can't get the fourth one one. It's about 2" too long.
I tried removing them all and shuffling things around several times - but no matter what combination I try - I keep coming up with one that will not fit.
Both of the star carriers (no idea what they're really called) at each end have apparently had one arm broken off and welded back on.
AND one of the bars originally had a nasty bend in it before I straightened it. Another had a more minor bend that I straightened.
I measured all the bars - they match exactly.
I measured the point to point distances of all 4 mounting points from one star to the other. hard to be accurate, but they seemed close enough.
I also measured the distance of each mounting point from the center of each star - again - looks close enough...
I'm about to do something that's potentially foolish - I'm thinking that I just can't measure it accurately enough, and the repaired sections are too far off. I'm thinking the previous owner, in frustration, probably bent the bar forcing it back on, and that's why it "fit".
Sooo - I'm thinking of cutting one of the bars down and re-welding the end at the proper length...
before I take that step - AM I MISSING SOMETHING???
this is so frustrating. Is there some kind of trick to mounting these things???
I can't imagine it's supposed to be this hard - and I HAVE to shorten one (OR try to fix the star wheels which seems like a MUCH bigger job.