New Idea Manure Spreader PTO drive chain

ndgregor

Member
I recently acquired a New Idea manure spreader I know little about. It has a 12 ft long box, and is a flail unit. The chain that comes off the PTO driven sprocket that drives the flail is very loose and popped off on occasion. The tensioning mechanism is severely corroded, and I believe there is enough slack that I can get by with removing a link from the chain. Does anyone know how to do this? Is this a standard chain, would I be better off simply replacing it? How do I determine the type and length of the chain?

Thanks for the help!
 
I'm guessing it's probably a 60 or 60H roller chain. Not positive though. Clean the rust off one of the plates on the chain and there should be a number on it. Your best bet would be to free up the tensioner and tighten the chain. If you take a link out or make up a new one,it might be too short,then where will you be if you don't get it freed up?
 
Personally,I don't see the point in removing a link. When the chain is stretched to the point you can remove a half link or a full link, it's not going to ride properly on the sprocket. Chain is cheap, especially compared to most sprockets and labor to R&R them.

Dad had a neighbor stop in at work the other night for some #50 chain. The store was out, so dad gave him the key to our shop and told home where we keep it. A few days later dad stopped by to grab the key, and he just grabbed a piece we had on the bench that was all rusty and I removed more than a year ago because it was stretched out.... it got them going, but man I hope he replaces it with new chain soon.

We borrowed another neighbor's round baler one year. He was having all sorts of troubles with it and he wasn't having much luck. First thing I did was replace every single chain on the unit. I then figured out he had the twine knife mounted backwards. By the time I brought it back, it was working like a champ. He was more than happy to let us use it again the next year when we were in a pinch.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
This is probably a dumb question, but how would I check to tell what type of chain is on there? Is there a simply way? Measuring something?
 
Ptfarmer posted a good link on how to measure. There also should be a number on the side plates of the links as rrlund suggested. If there is an H street the number, tart means it is "heavy" chain so the side plates are thicker than standard duty chain.

A roll of cheaper #60 last time I looked was around $35 for 10 ft. The better quality stuff is maybe double the price. I can't really say if it lasts longer or not though.

To break the chain, I would lay it on an anvil or other solid surface, and strike with a chisel between the inner and outer side plates. Just make sure it's the one pointing away from you as sometimes it'll shoot off pretty fast. The other option is to grind off the rivets first, but you still need to have a way to pop the side plate off. With a good hammer and cold chisel I can cut a length of chain in seconds.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 

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