Pulley welded to crankshaft

[Glenn Salisbury Jr.]

I have a Cub Cadet 129 Hydro that I purchased several years ago, and I recently had to take the front PTO off (it's a mechanical one) When I was finally able to remove it , low and behold some moron had welded the belt pulley to the crankshaft. I really don't need the front PTO. My question is: Do I have to have the PTO on there at all or does it severe some purpose for maybe balance? Any thoughts on this?
Glenn Salisbury Jr.

 

[digger]

I have a Cub Cadet 129 Hydro that I purchased several years ago, and I recently had to take the front PTO off (it's a mechanical one) When I was finally able to remove it , low and behold some moron had welded the belt pulley to the crankshaft. I really don't need the front PTO. My question is: Do I have to have the PTO on there at all or does it severe some purpose for maybe balance? Any thoughts on this?
Glenn Salisbury Jr.

Run it, it's not gonna hurt a thing as long as it's not bent up and wobbling.

 

[Glenn Salisbury Jr.]

Run it, it's not gonna hurt a thing as long as it's not bent up and wobbling.

Well, not going to swear it is not wobbling, but I will breakout my dial indicator when the weather gets a little better and check it for runout. Doesn't appear to be bent and looks like it is fairly running true. Thanks for the info.

 

[Glenn Salisbury Jr.]

I think I discovered why the set screws don't make contact on the bearing where they are intended to. If you look at these pictures, the first one shows the set screws not making contact properly, and the next 3, 2 of the bosses where the screw protrudes there is a small crack, and the other one is drilled or tapped on an angle. I have a good casting, and I tried it and the set screws make contact properly. The last picture shows the good casting and there is considerable material above the tapped hole. Either they broke the set screws (or the hex key) and drilled and tapped the hole and got them off center or maybe didn't know they existed and used a big puller to remove it. Either way it is junk!!
Glenn Salisbury Jr.

 

[bklipa]

You are missing the locking collar for the bearing.

 

[mgonitzke]

That's not his problem though...the setscrews are supposed to just grab the back of the outer race of the bearing like shown in this picture from the service manual:

 

[Glenn Salisbury Jr.]

You are missing the locking collar for the bearing.

Yeah, I know, but it was there. My concern is where those set screws make contact with the bearing. The locking collar has nothing to do with that, the screws come nowhere near that. Thanks for the reply.