Winter Machine Maintenance

It's still my first month as Superintendent, and my focus is on learning how to grind the reels and getting them all done. After bringing in the Jacobsen Eclipse 322 triplex, I took the reel motors off to get the reels off the machine. When I removed the motors, I noticed there was a chipped drive motor, on not only 1 motor, but all 3!

Chipped drive shaft on left, key on right

This is not what I wanted. This is the first time I have ever had a machine have something broken and I have to deal with it. There is no mechanic at The Nursery, so I am not only a Superintendent, but a mechanic as well. Coming into this, I am not mechanically inclined at all. This is going to be a great learning opportunity. I am lucky to have an owner who is very mechanically inclined. 

After seeing this part that was broken, I contacted the Jacobsen dealer to see what they could do as the machine only has 804 hours. They were able to send new motors as part of the warranty. Thank goodness, because each motor costs around $800.