40 S John Deere

Nat

Member
I ordered the gaskets, seal, bearings and the key for the hydraulic pump for my 40 s last week. The dealer didn't have them in stock so they ordered them as stock items so that I wouldn't have to pay shipping. Man o man it's a good thing The bearings weren't to bad at 16$ each and the gasket set with the seal was 32$ sort of rediculas I thought but the real kicker was the woodruff key was scary. 23$ for a key my gosh. I didn't ask the price of the key expecting it to be a dollar or so, but 23$ ? Give me a break. I'll Build the pump Monday then It should be ready to Paint if I don't have a stroke over the price of that freaking key
 
Funny about Woodruff keys, I had the same shock with pricing a IHC Woodruff key, I think about $7 or $8 or so at the CaseIHC dealer. Founds the identical size at hardware store for 75 cents or so later.
 
I had told them to get it without asking the price so felt obligated to take it , but you can rest assured thatr I'll ask in the future
 
Learned a long time ago to call the parts department first and ask for both price and availability on Deere parts.

Be sure to post some photos of your 40S when it is finished.
 
I wonder if that key is heat treated or something better than mild steel like hardware store ones would be ?
 
I rebuilt the power steering pump on my 60 and used hardware store keys and one sheared within 5 min. of starting the engine. I went and payed Deere's price and it is still going. I would not have thought it would make any difference.
 
the Parts Catalog lists that woodruff key (M1869T) as "special"

while the woodruff key used in the steering shaft has only the size information.

Maybe it is golden.
 
Deere prices sure get your attention sometimes. Yes it is a special alloy key. Had Deere thought a cheap steel key would hold up they woulden't have wasted their money buying a special one when building the tractor. Would have been nice had they specified the alloy used though.
 
Both my brothers worke in the auto industry, so I asked them about Woodruff keys.
The GM brother said:
Per the 1956 edition of Machinery's handbook, p.588 on Woodruff Keys,, they Spec 2 different grades:
1) Carbon steel .30 carbon min Minimum hardness C scale 10 , minimum. ( that's not much hardness, but is better than dead soft).
2) or Sae 2330 or 8630 alloy steel w/ hardness of R C(scale) 40-50, that's good, tough stuff !!! Further, I quote "alloy heat treated keys are marked with depressions on the top to distinglish them from carbon steel keys".
At work, I never saw or used the alloy keys.

The Ford brother says:
> One source said they are "low carbon steel." (At Ford, that meant about SAE 1010 to 1020, with a minimum tensile strength around 30,000 psi.) Another source I read this morning about Woodruff keys says SAE 1035 with a 70,000 psi tensile strength. That's real steel.
>
> AutomotiveFasteners.com says that "alloy steel is available on request." Alloy steel could run up to 100,000 psi, but that would need to be heat treated after machining to size. But almost anything is possible if you pay for it.
 

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