kylemorley
Member
I was splitting some logs today using an old PTO powered Unicorn screw cone splitter on my 8n. I'd done about 1/2 a cord, mostly 14" to 20" round oak, without any trouble, when I put in a especially large and gnarly piece of oak. The 8n hunkered down almost to stalling but kept on going, but the tractor let out an "ik-ik-ik-ik" noise loud enough to make me jump, like some sort of ratchet safety device under extreme overload might make, or maybe stripped gears rubbing against each other.
It had a real bad sound to it, so I immediately killed the engine (though not before it finished splitting the log and stopped making the noise). The noise had sounded so bad that I was sure something big must be damaged inside so I wiggled the PTO shaft back and forth, drove the tractor around in each gear. engaged and disengaged the PTO, ran the lift up and down, and even split a few more logs. Everything seemed entirely normal.
So what could have been making that horrible noise? I know the splitter doesn't have any sort of overload protection, and I am pretty sure the 8n PTO doesn't.
It had a real bad sound to it, so I immediately killed the engine (though not before it finished splitting the log and stopped making the noise). The noise had sounded so bad that I was sure something big must be damaged inside so I wiggled the PTO shaft back and forth, drove the tractor around in each gear. engaged and disengaged the PTO, ran the lift up and down, and even split a few more logs. Everything seemed entirely normal.
So what could have been making that horrible noise? I know the splitter doesn't have any sort of overload protection, and I am pretty sure the 8n PTO doesn't.