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So late last season the driveshaft popped off the gearbox on my Bushhog ZT25 and burrowed it's way into the ground before killing the engine.
I can only assume I didn't tighten the set screws properly when I had the gearbox off for servicing.
I finished the last couple mows of the season with my other mower (not ideal).

Anyway, I was getting the Bushhog ready for this season and when I had it running, it was severely vibrating...so much so that my feet were tingly for a bit after turning it off. I only ran it for like 15 seconds or so.
Upon inspection, the driveshaft looks a bit bent and has a slight dent in it...I assume from when the driveshaft came off and may have made contact with the frame. The bend is easy to see when it's running, but not so much when it's not...so it's not a drastic bend by any means.

My question is, can this be repaired? Straightened by a machine shop maybe?
OR...
Would it be best to just replace it with a new one?
Here is the part:
Bush Hog ZT-25 25HP Kohler Engine Parts ZT-25 25HP Kohler Engine Driveshaft Assembly (Manufactured By Neapco) 99082 Parts List and Diagram

I'm pretty sure I'd be looking at parts #1 & #2 in the diagram...which would be $600 on this site...which seems crazy to me. I was thinking maybe half of that at most.

I found one a bit cheaper, but this one had the better diagram to show you guys.

Also, can a different driveshaft be used? Or can each one only fit a certain mower? You'd think as long as the Yoke's fit, it would work, yes?

Thanks, as always.

I don't know how your drive shaft is made, but if it is a tube type the tube is replaceable, Just reuse the old ends and weld them back on the new tube. There are shops that do that type of work if you don't want to do it yourself. Do you know of any truck repair shops they might be able to help you because its a common repair on trucks.

reynoldston said:

I don't know how your drive shaft is made, but if it is a tube type the tube is replaceable, Just reuse the old ends and weld them back on the new tube. There are shops that do that type of work if you don't want to do it yourself. Do you know of any truck repair shops they might be able to help you because its a common repair on trucks.

Click to expand...

Here is the schematic of the driveshaft:
Bush Hog ZT-25 25HP Kohler Engine Parts ZT-25 25HP Kohler Engine Driveshaft Assembly (Manufactured By Neapco) 99082 Parts List and Diagram

Is that the kind you are referring to?

And we were looking at it yesterday and how to get it off to take it somewhere. It has the "easy disconnect", but I wasn't sure how that worked. So if you know how that comes off...please share.
Thanks!

cprice12 said:

Here is the schematic of the driveshaft:
Bush Hog ZT-25 25HP Kohler Engine Parts ZT-25 25HP Kohler Engine Driveshaft Assembly (Manufactured By Neapco) 99082 Parts List and Diagram

Is that the kind you are referring to?

And we were looking at it yesterday and how to get it off to take it somewhere. It has the "easy disconnect", but I wasn't sure how that worked. So if you know how that comes off...please share.
Thanks!

Click to expand...

Bog standard telescoping PTO shaft.
Any tractor repair shop should be able to fix it or replace it.

If you are in a amore residential area then they any specialist tailshaft repair company.
And do not run the unit another second.
Those kinds of small problems can di an unbelievable amount of damage.

bertsmobile1 said:

Bog standard telescoping PTO shaft.
Any tractor repair shop should be able to fix it or replace it.

If you are in a amore residential area then they any specialist tailshaft repair company.
And do not run the unit another second.
Those kinds of small problems can di an unbelievable amount of damage.

Click to expand...

Thanks.
Got a Bush Hog dealer coming out tomorrow to pick it up and hopefully do the repair...hopefully it doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
And yeah, it was vibrating like crazy...so it's not going to be run again until it's fixed.

Thanks for the help.

If its number two yes very repairable. All it should need is a new tube and you can use the end yokes over, they just weld them in place. Brush hog dealer coming out to pick it up just sounds like money to me. They will just replace the whole shaft unit instead of just the tube would be my guess. Get prices

reynoldston said:

If its number two yes very repairable. All it should need is a new tube and you can use the end yokes over, they just weld them in place. Brush hog dealer coming out to pick it up just sounds like money to me. They will just replace the whole shaft unit instead of just the tube would be my guess. Get prices

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The shaft already has a weld on it, like someone made this type of repair already. I bought it used last year.
The dealer said they would repair of possible.
Also, since 1 slides into 2 and if 2 is bent, doesn't it stand to reason that 1 is bent as well?

I called another mower service place first and they said they couldn't fix it and recommended I call a Bush Hog dealer.

It is not a mower shop job
It is a real tractor shop job.
That type of PTO shaft is used on every tractor implement very very common.

And no usually only 1 side bends.
If both bent you could not get them apart.

cprice12 said:

The shaft already has a weld on it, like someone made this type of repair already. I bought it used last year.
The dealer said they would repair of possible.
Also, since 1 slides into 2 and if 2 is bent, doesn't it stand to reason that 1 is bent as well?

I called another mower service place first and they said they couldn't fix it and recommended I call a Bush Hog dealer.

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Doesn't sound good, I guess sometimes we just have bit the bullet and pay what ever it cost. I tried to help.

bertsmobile1 said:

It is not a mower shop job
It is a real tractor shop job.
That type of PTO shaft is used on every tractor implement very very common.

And no usually only 1 side bends.
If both bent you could not get them apart.

Click to expand...

Well, they are actually a tractor dealer & service shop...and they are also a Bush Hog dealer.
Here is their site: Sievers Equipment Co.

I might call a couple more places in town before they are scheduled to come get it...to see if anyone else would take it on. A nice plus is the dealer I called will pick it up and deliver it...that is a must as I do not have a trailer. Some other shops do that too, I know.

Safety first, wear safety glasses & gloves, if u-joints have grease fittings remove fittings first to prevent breaking them off. Remove clips or snap rings from yokes 1 & 2, with large ball peen hammer or similar strike with force yokes 1 & 2, one at a time, driving u-joint through one end of yoke, you should now be able to remove bearing caps by pulling them off carefully, needle bearings are inside, rotate u-joint & remove assembly. Let us know how it goes, thanks. Try looking up driveline repair shop in your town.

cprice12 said:

Well, they are actually a tractor dealer & service shop...and they are also a Bush Hog dealer.
Here is their site: Sievers Equipment Co.

I might call a couple more places in town before they are scheduled to come get it...to see if anyone else would take it on. A nice plus is the dealer I called will pick it up and deliver it...that is a must as I do not have a trailer. Some other shops do that too, I know.

Click to expand...

Well I would be wondering what type of shop it is & what skills the mechanics have.
Most tractor shops buy the tailshaft tubing in 30 foot lengths and weld the end caps on because otherwise that would have to keep well over 1000 different lengths .
Just about every impliment uses a different size shaft and that will change again with almost every different tractor then there different bolt spacing & size.

bertsmobile1 said:

Well I would be wondering what type of shop it is & what skills the mechanics have.
Most tractor shops buy the tailshaft tubing in 30 foot lengths and weld the end caps on because otherwise that would have to keep well over 1000 different lengths .
Just about every impliment uses a different size shaft and that will change again with almost every different tractor then there different bolt spacing & size.

Click to expand...

Here in my neighborhood we have a couple of shop that specialize in drive line work. Its mainly a bigger thing with over the road trucks. It gets down to a science with angles and balance for over the road high speed. I can remember working on trucks that they extended the frames on. It just seem it wouldn't be as touchy with a lower speed brush hog..

Had a shop come by and pick it up and look at it a few weeks ago.
This is them: Horton's Auto and Outdoors

I had contacted a dealer, but I feared their prices were going to be through the roof...like some of you said. They wanted $75 just to pick it up. The place I went with only charged $5. (weird price...I know) But right off the bat I am saving $70.

But this place said the driveshaft wasn't bent (just dented), but the U-Joints and bearings were bad/loose...and that is what was causing the vibrations.
So they ordered those parts and I'll hopefully get it back today and hopefully that was actually the issue. They've had it for a few weeks now...granted, most of that time was spent waiting on the parts to come in.
Parts/labor/deliver & pickup total is about $440. That might be high...but at this point, I don't care...I just want it fixed and returned so I can resume cutting with it.
They said an entire brand new drive shaft would have been over twice that because they parts are so expensive...but that is with ordering new parts.

Anyway...we'll see how it is when I get it back.
I'll post pics and updates when I get it back.

Wish me luck.

In the mean time, I've been cutting my 5 acres with my backup mower, a Craftsman garden tractor that has a very weak reverse gear for some reason (it's been very reliable, just had the reverse weaken last year...and when I mean weak, I mean weak...it has very little reverse power. Flat concrete ground is ok, it will move slowly...but in the grass with a slight uphill grade is a different story). So it's been a bit of a slow and painful first few mows to start the season...but I'm glad I held on to it when I got the zero turn...at least I can get the grass cut...kind of.

Got the mower back...new U-Joints and bearings.
Cut 5 acres over the past two days, and the vibrations are down dramatically. Much, much better.
It still seems to vibrate a little more than it should though at full throttle...so I dropped the throttle to about 85-90% and that was perfect. It seemed to be running the best at slightly less than full throttle.
I know it is recommended to cut at full throttle, but 85-90% is hopefully good enough, because it seems to run about perfect at that level...or about as perfect as a 15 year old mower can run I guess. :smile:

Overall, I am pretty happy. We'll see how it holds up over the summer.

Here are the pics...not that they LOOK any different than the ones that were replaced, but here they are anyway...