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pivoting frame


comet66

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OK....I have seen a lot of mention of a "pivoting frame Broadmoor", I have never seen one so I tried to look it up on SinpletrACtors, and can't find any illistrations of this articulation. Any body got any pictures of this thing in action, and maybe the mechanics of such a joint? Sounds kinds neat to me. TIA
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The early models of the Serf, Yeoman and Broadmoor have solid front axles. In order to take the stress off the frame members and insure for the most part, four wheel ground contact, they have a pivot point between the hood and rear fenders. The engine, steering, front axle and hood make up the front half and the transaxle, rear fender and seat make up the rear half. Both halves are joined together with a pivot bar on the rear half sliding thru a pivot tube on front half, being held by a 1" or so collar and set screw. Most people don't realalize that there is a grease zerk underneath, and , if not serviced, both halves will seize together. You can generally tell by the transmission adapting plates. If there is a problem with the pivot, the plates start showing stress cracks. Fixing that becomes a bear. Quite a few of us including yours truly have been down that road. But we all know now where that grease zerk is.
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Bob explained how it works better than I could have - but here are a couple of pictures. This the transmission with the 'pivot bar':

And a Broadmoor -

Note the seat pan is attached to the tranny and separate from everything forward. These things really feel weird (in my opinion) when driving them because your body is tilting with the seat pan while your hands on the steering wheel are tilting with the front half of the tractor.
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I downloaded a manual for the 728 Broadmoor and it shows this pivot joint to some degree but it is not clear enough to post a picture and actually only shows the rear half of the joint. It does have a view showing the grease fitting but that view is such bad quality that I can't even make heads or tails of it. The joint is below the cover just in front of the seat where the shifter is located. I had to completly tear mine down to the bare frame and apply a lot of heat and pentatrating oil to free it up then I reassembled it with lots of never seize. It does have a grease fitting that is easy to over look.
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About the only thing I can think of that the pivoting frame does for me is mow around my fire pit. It's kinda hard to see in the photo. The people that owned the house before us had an above ground pool. The ground slopes, so to level it out, they dug a big round hole. When I mow the angled edge of this, I put my right front tire of my B-208 on the top of the slope and as the frame pivots the rear end is almost flat.
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OH OH took my 727 broadmoor apart to paint, picking it up moving it around, don't think the rear end moved at all, will have to check tonight to see if mine is froze up. This question came at the right time before I put everything together and then find out it froze. What ya al wana bet it is. Ken
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Here is a couple pictures of the underside of the frame on my Broadmoor 717 that I am redoing...I don't know if you can see it good enough or not but there is a tube in the center of the frame that the bar on the trans goes through then held in place with a lock collar...If anyone wants me to I can go out and get a better shot of it...Note the grease fitting sticking up in the center hole cut out...

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Thanks guys! Between the explinations and mowerman's pictures I think I got it now. I was picturing more of an articulation, a steering in the middle rather than a suspention twist.
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My first time working with the frozen pivot was when I restored my 728 simplicity. It had sat outside for 3 or 4 years and was rusted solid. It took the better part of an afternoon working with the torch and a hammer to free it up. I haven't mowed with it but it does give you a different feel when you drive it over bumps. The steering wheel moves seperate from the seat. Maybe it's an ab workout machine in disguise!
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Hi, This flexing set-up is the reason that these little tractors crawl around on hills and banks better than any other tractor of their size including any with pivoting front axles. Simplicity uses the same principle in the new Regents plus they added the torsion bars for even better traction. My 2 cents worth and its free. Value accordingly. Al Eden
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Somthing interesting to add to the identifing what year your early Broadmoor. I started playing with the Broadmoor that I got from Kirk. He belives it's a 1963 because of the lack of the 303 on the sticker. Well I found that it's probably true. It dosn't have any grease fitting for the pivit tube! Wick explains why Iv'e been trying to free it up for the past few weeks! lol Looks like they learnd a lesson early, my 1964 has the grease fitting. Just thought it was kinda interesting. I'll get a pic of it tonight. Elon
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I don't have the service bulletin number, but I remember seeing one from late 1963/early 1964 from Simplicity about drilling a hole and adding a grease fitting to those real early Broadmoors. Just gotta love those twisty small frame tractors! Tim
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thanks, i only have the two #'s 287&288, have to look to see if it has the gres fitting, the frame pivits ok...it has a serial # but i can't quite make it out
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  • 5 weeks later...
I have a 728 with a modified 12 horse. wide open in high gear it goes about 28 mph. Boy is that a scary ride out on the two track with the front going one way and your butt going the other. At half throttle it will pull a wheele for about 30 feet. Needless to say I don't let anyone else drive it since it is a little on the dangerous side.
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