fixerupper
Well-known Member
OK, I got new cotter pins from Deere, they are soft, they cut easy with the side cutter, but I put them in and buttoned it up. The one thing I picked up on was the end play in the pivot pins. The pins are 3/16" longer than they need to be. I'm thinking these pins are sliding end for end and hammering the cotter pin into submission.
Here is the last broken cotter pin. It has seen a rough life. The way it is mashed and flared a bit right where it broke at the base of the loop tells me it is being hammered. I don't know if these pivot pins are factory. My hunch is they have been replaced with pins that are too long.