Spreader chain stretching on one side only

BarnyardEngineering

Well-known Member
Location
Rochester, NY
We've got a 2-year-old New Holland 155 manure spreader. The absolute most use it gets is one heaped load of long hay manure every other day. From May to October it only get used maybe once a week because the barn is mostly empty during the warm months.

For some reason the right side chain is stretching way quicker than the left. The paddles measure 1/4" farther apart on the right.

The spreader is never left loaded in the cold, is always scraped clean, and is run empty before loading to ensure the chain is not frozen down.

We have started swapping 1/2 the links from left to right to even it out.

Why would the chain be doing this?
 
Everything mechanical being equal my first thought is the way you load it ends up heavier on the same side most of the time.

Joe
 
The number of links per side HAS TO BE EQUAL. You cannot have one link difference!!! Also, the same number between slats.
 
Are the gear teeth on the drive shaft lined up or does one side do most of the pulling? If the chain links are already stretched on one side, you could try removing the chain and installing it backwards so the better links are on the opposite side of the spreader to get a little more life out of it. Otherwise replace the web because worn web chains tend to break at the worst possible times. It's not fun hurrying to shoveling out a fully loaded spreader in the dark.
 
I used to have a Gehl box spreader (made by NH) that did the same thing. I did as you are doing - swap links from side to side to
help even things out. I think they just didn't do a good job getting the drive sprockets on the shaft evenly, making one pull more
of the weight. It was showing its age, so it left and I went back to New Idea.
 
I've made that mistake before. At least twice. Couldn't figure out why it kept jumping behind on one side. Stood there and watched,counted links,and what do you know. One more link in one side.
 
That is what the barn cleaner used to do to our spreader. Sadly that was in the days of pintle chain.
 
Are both sides of the chain tightened even ? Should be a pillow
block with a bolt through it on each side that you draw up to
even the the chain on each side
 
I don't know which right side you are talking, standing in front of behind it? Any who it is normal for the driven side to stretch more cause more torque applied to it,
the opposite side has the shaft twisting so not as much force.
 
Shaft twisting makes sense. If you knew how much it was twisting it might be possible to index the far sprocket ahead of the near sprocket to compensate for shaft twist under an average load. As the spreader empties the amount of twist should drop in proportion to the load on the spreader. The sprockets are probably keyed to the shaft. It's probably not worth the effort unless the spreader is taken apart for other reasons.
 
Maybe,but I'd be hard pressed to believe that that shaft would twist,as large as it is. I don't know that what's being described is all that unusual. I know the block on the right side of my New Idea always has to be slid up farther than the one on the left,and the left is the drive end.
 
Could it be that when assembled it was built with 2 different quality chains, good quality on one side and a poor quality on the other side, That is all I can think of that could do that being a week chain installed on the stretching side. Have you checked measurements of a non streched verses a streched link and if they are same make? Sounds to me like before it was assembled someone needed a piece of chain so grabed a piece from spreader setting waiting to be put together for something else, then when a supply of chain was gotten in it was not the same quality but was used where the piece had been taken for some other use. Is the streched link still fiting correctly on the drive sprocket?
 
How is the bushing on that side of the spreader? I remember when I built mine up and put new bushings it was more worn on that side.
 
Are you sure both sprockets are in fact driving the
apron, and one is not just spinning on the shaft. I
also had a 155 NH spreader , back in the 90?s, and
it would do the same thing. It had the hook together
chain, and not the pintel style. I could never keep it
running true, and if you let the chain get too loose,
the bouncing in the field would allow it to come
apart. I sold it and bought a 185 with a pintel chain,
no more problems
 
The spreader is only about 2 years old, and like I said, only sees a load of manure every other day for about 7 months out of the year. No wear to speak of on any of the mechanical parts, just the chain.

We took a link out of each side last week. The left side would barely hook. I had to pry it with a bar to get it popped back together. The right side is still so loose that you could take another link out of it.

It currently has the exact same number of links on each side.
 
No, it's definitely chain stretch.

Measure between the bars on the left side, 17"
Measure between the bars on the right side, 17-1/4"

It's like that for about halfway around the chain.

We swapped links from side to side in some sections, and that did not change the measurement. We compared links from one side to the other. They measured the same.

All the stretch is in the links on the end of the cross bars.

Only thing we can figure is the welding process got the links too hot on that side and ruined the properties of the metal. Spreader's out of warranty so we're stuck.
 
(quoted from post at 08:40:28 02/27/18) No, it's definitely chain stretch.

Measure between the bars on the left side, 17"
Measure between the bars on the right side, 17-1/4"

It's like that for about halfway around the chain.

We swapped links from side to side in some sections, and that did not change the measurement. We compared links from one side to the other. They measured the same.

All the stretch is in the links on the end of the cross bars.

Only thing we can figure is the welding process got the links too hot on that side and ruined the properties of the metal. Spreader's out of warranty so we're stuck.

Your saying half the links on one side only have each stretched 1/4" each? I take it there are no link pins, each link has a hook and bar on either end?

Your description sounds like maybe half the bars on that side do not have the bars welded to the link in the exact correct spot.
But they would have to be up to 1/4" off at every weld.
If each welded link has stretched 1/4", that should be easily measured. Or the hook and bar at each end of link has worn down by 1/8" each end.?

What about the sprockets? same root diameter on both sides?
Outer diameters are irrelevant.
?
 

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