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axle tubes


TimJr

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Has anyone out there ever broken an axle tube on a Sim/AC garden tractor? I have seen a couple of tractors with them broken, but alway s wondered what was going on when it broke. I met a guy with a 920 AC, and he has broken 3 or 4 axle tubes in the last 10 years or so. The tractor has wheel weights and stock size turf tires - maybe chains in the winter. What is he doing wrong? He says he was just driving along - hard to believe. I know the diesel has pretty good power, but other people go tractor pulling with that axle set up , and they don't break. My guess is that he is ramming into something and allowing the drivetrain to "wind up" and jerk, snapping the tube. Any opinions? Thanks, Tim
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Can't answer that one Tim, I used the same 3-speed rear for tractor pulling off-and-on for over 15 years. Never broke a tube. Did shatter a removable hub, and sheared a couple of keys. I have just never broken a hub. I, myself have been wondering the same thing about tube breakage.
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I can’t answer that question either. But this is a perfect opportunity to tell the following true story. About 30 years ago I was selling trucks and transporting them from New Jersey to Texas. I would piggy back (put one truck on top of another) and take them 12 at a time (6 pairs). A trip would take about 2 or 3 days depending on whether or not I had any problems. I had made about 20 trips without any accidents or significant breakdowns. Never even had a single flat tire. Then I hired a new driver. We left my yard and had the first breakdown less than ½ hour later (alternator). From then on we were lucky to drive 50 miles without something happening (flat tire, broken belt, mirrors falling off, etc.) Two days later we were in Oxford, NC when an engine blew. I had to switch the top truck with the bottom truck using bottle jacks and railroad ties. 50 miles later we pulled into an interstate rest area. When the convoy started to pull out one of the trucks twisted a driveshaft into a pretzel. I swapped driveshafts. When we went to pull out again, another truck twisted a driveshaft. Then a third. I won’t have believed it if I hadn’t been there. When we were going through Altanta, GA we hit a rainstorm and a Greyhound bus sideswiped the first pair of trucks. After the chain reaction I had 10 trucks laying on their sides and on their roofs. God protected all from injury. God also sent Mr. Millirons to me who had all the equipment to clear the road and reset the trucks so I could continue on my journey. That’s a whole other story. After 7 days on the road (and 13 flat tires) we were 100 miles from Mobile, AL when another engine blew. I removed a piston and ran the engine on 5 cylinders. 50 miles from Mobile a third engine started knocking. After wrapping the crank journal with a piece of my belt we made it into Mobile, but the engine started knocking again. I decided to leave that truck in Mobile and send the new driver home on a bus. The new driver was really weird and was getting on everyone’s nerves. After I sent the new driver home, the rest of us made it to Houston in one day without any other problems (including the 5 cylinder truck), not even another flat tire. But that’s not the end of the story. After we flew back to New Jersey the new driver had not returned yet. He rolled in the following day and said the busses he was riding kept breaking down. I’m not superstitious but I now believe that some people are jinxed.
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WOW! That's amazine. I have met people who seemed jinxed, but have never seen or heard of such a graphic example before. Even the busses....That's amazine.
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1985 Simplicity 7790 diesel. Tires loaded with chloride, wheel weights, ice bar chains. Over 5000 hr worked very hard. Main use blowing snow at my Business and Apt building, occasionally pushing or pulling cars into Garage. No broken axel tubes.
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I broke an axle tube pushing wet snow. I had problems with the clutch not stopping the drive belt on varispeed. After pushing snow all morning I started 'bouncing' the tractor in 2nd and reverse to push the snow over the edge of the driveway. I didnt know that I had cracked the tube until later. A few weeks later I was getting ready to change the oil and noticed some grease leaking from the axle seal, thats when I saw the crack. I have weights and Ice breaker tire chains on the tractor, pushing on asphalt. I figure the sudden change in direction caused the axle to crack. My fault. Shouldnt been a lot nicer on the old girl. But, even after the crack she finished the job. ddh
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I've had problems with only one tractor, and it was the tractor that I assumed to be least likely to have a problem. I purchased a 914 that was used for nothing other than mowing. The first year I had it, the axle tube broke while driving it from my house to the machine shed. There was absolutely no reason for it to break when and where it did. Not long after the tube was replaced, the welded hub on the axle shaft broke off. Again, no reason or explaination for it. Since it was both axles, I assume that the previous owner caused some unseen damage through some sort of accident or abuse. I say the previous owner, because I hadn't hadn't used it enough to cause any damage. It's possible that there were some defective materials, but I can't believe that the shaft and tube would BOTH be defective on the same tractor. Since the repair, this tractor (as well as all of my tractors), has been used VERY hard. Haven't had any problems with any tractors before, or since. Pat
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Sounds like it might have fallen off something or somehow gotten jammed up(backed into in the garage, etc.). Was the damage to both tube and shaft on the same side of the tractor?
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This is very interesting.Wheel weights on the tires exert pressure just on the rim and tire.Weights on the 3 pt hitch exert pressure on the trans and axle tubes.
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I have experienced a broken axle tube w. I believe mine came from my brother "popping wheelies" by rolling the tractor backwards down our driveway then with the throttle at 100% dumping the clutch.... NOT GOOD. I believe this cracked the tube.
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Thanks for all the insight - maybe it is just bad luck - ya hate to accuse someone of beating on their tractor if they are not. Still wonder though....
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quote:
Originally posted by thedaddycat
Sounds like it might have fallen off something or somehow gotten jammed up(backed into in the garage, etc.). Was the damage to both tube and shaft on the same side of the tractor?
That is my assumption. No, it was on each side. The axle tube broke about 3/4" from the differential. It broke all the way around the tube, not a twisting type break like most you see. On the other side it looks like the welding and axle both snapped. The welding on the inside of the hub is broken and the axle itself is broken almost at the outside of the hub. On the outside of that hub, all that is left of the axle is the weld and whatever part of the axle (1/4"?) that extends out of the hub. Pat
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Pat, Your problem sounds like someone at one time was tremendously overloading the rear of that tractor with weight. What you have is more of a bending failure, unlike the torsional failures that others see from jerking and heavy pushing. A bending failure will cause the welds to fatigue and will usually cause a straight break, because it is being bent at the same time it is being rotated. A torsional failure from pulling and pushing heavy loads will nearly always cause about a 45 degree spiral fracture.
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HB 212 (with 1000s of hours) axle tube - nephew pulling wheelies on blacktop (full reverse to full forward). 712 Pulling tractor axle tube and right side housing (axle tube spiral broke). 712 pulling tractor made hamburger of differential. Both caused by loose keys. Both broke right at start. Pulling tractors rebuild with everything tight, now pulling a 718 and a 920 gas for 4 years with no axle tubes or differentials or hub broken. But last year we did break a solid axle. Wheel weights can add to momentum, and stress, when go from forward to reverse.
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