Vicker's - What Tractor?

May 28, 2014

I'm currently swapping out a Vickers from a 3416 into my Homelite T-12 that has a broken axle tube. Both the T-12 Vickers and 3416 have a differential and right hub that look like this:

I was given a rusty "spare" Vickers several years ago before I acquired the "parts" 3416. At the time, any spare was better than none. I figured I could now tear apart the rusty spare Vickers to recover the axle tube and at the same time get low risk "split the case" hands on experience. But the rusty "spare" has a differential/right hub that looks like this:

Obviously different. Anyone know what this Vickers is from? Maybe an HB-112? I want to compare parts lists and see if the axle tube is the same. And in case it helps identify the rusty "spare", it has the "bolt-on" type left hub (as does original Homelite Vickers) versus the welded left hub on the 3416 Vickers.

May 28, 2014

yes, its from a hb112 and the tube will be the same.splitting the case is no big deal not a whole lot inside.

May 29, 2014

Could also be from the simplicity counterpart, a 3112 H or a 3212 H. IIRC the long hub is for the newer differential vs the early set screw diff. The former was used on the rbt's and the latter on fdt's. IMHO the tubes should be the same. Be sure to go over ant donor tubes with a magnefying glass to check for cracks. I almost sold a bad one last year until I really looked over!

May 30, 2014

Thanks for the replies.

I checked the parts lists and the axle tubes are the same, so that's good news.

Obviously the axles are different. From reading posts about axle tubes and differentials, I'm aware that the axle keyways can get sloppy, so knowing by Homelite has had 40+ years of hard work, I'm thinking I may need a new axle as well as the tube to rebuild a spare.

The Homelite has the removable left hub which of course has wobble, so I'd prefer the newer welded hub axle shaft (I'm aware the sideplate hole is different). I checked availability; it's NLA now and it's the same axle used in the Sundstrand trannys. Surprisingly, the old shorter axle used in the HB-112, 3212H is still available at $113 snd the removable left rear hub at $120. I guess they still have old Port Washington parts still in inventory.

May 31, 2014

I bought a new axle from simplicity once and it was a BAD experience. The first one I got was bent bad enough that it wouldn't slide through the axle tube and I realized it after spending about an hour cleaning the 1/16 inch thick paint off the axle that also wouldn't allow it to slide in. The next one was ok but still had to clean that ridiculously thick paint off of it. I probably just got unlucky with the bent one but I'm a firm believer in good used parts now:D a lot cheaper too.

June 1, 2014

May not apply here, but I have had good luck using JB Weld on the wobbly left side hub. I have done it on both 3112 and 3212 and have used them for years with no problems. Really simple fix which I like.