Curious about double wide cub

[inairam]

The double wide cub (rear axle only, not the two cubs bolted together) has been around for a while from the pictures I have seen. I never saw one in person nor spoke to a person who has done one.

Is it as simple as bolting all of the rear axle parts together? I am just curious not what I would call an active or future project or anything. Just wondering.

[T-Mo]

I seen a similar project just a day or two ago on one of the Farmall Cub Facebook group page. I can't remember which, though.

[Urbish]

Is it as simple as bolting all of the rear axle parts together?

I have never done this, but spent some time noodling with the idea when I was parting out a cub. I'm sure others on here who HAVE done this will chime in.

Here's the basics from my perspective though: If you look at the transmission housing where the axle extensions attach, you'll notice the face on the left side is further from the transmission center line than the one on the right. I believe putting an axle extension and shaft from the right onto the left necessitates lengthening the shaft by an inch or so to get the correct engagement in the differential carrier. I believe the axle extension bolts right up. The floor pan needs to be reworked or fabricated from scratch as the flange that attaches to the transmission ends up on the wrong side.

The front axle can be extended on the left side to make the front track fairly closely match the rear. However, the pivot point for the front axle will still be off to one side and makes it kind of wonky.

[Gary Dotson]

When George Willer did his first one (Trike) he thought the simple path would be to simply cut and lengthen the axle shaft, which he did. It wasn't as simple as he thought, I don't know what snag he hit, doing it that way but when ha did Ret Cub, he stripped the trans housing, bolted it on the milling machine and removed about an inch of case material and insisted that was the easier way. Of course, the bolt and dowell pattern has to be re-established but that's not too hard. It might have been for the fact that George was a better machinist than ha was a welder.

[inairam]

Can't you use the right axle from the donor cub along with the housing on the left side?

[Gary Dotson]

Yes, those are the parts you need to use but in stock form, the shaft doesn't reach the gear. You either have to lengthen the shaft or machine the case to make it work.

[Urbish]

Can't you use the right axle from the donor cub along with the housing on the left side?

If you're referring to the final drive and its innards, yes. The trouble comes with putting the extension (that the floorpan, seat, and battery box bolt to) on the left side. You either need to lengthen the shaft or shorten the extension to get proper engagement of the splined end of the shaft in the differential carrier.

[inairam]

answered my own question

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=94629

"But as you have found, the right side shaft will be the wrong length because the differential housing isn't symmetrical. "

[Peter Person]

My son Aron ran into a similar situation when he added loboy finals to his Cub Cadet 100, only he was dealing with putting a short axle on the right side of the transmission (as viewed from the back). He took the Cub Cadet axle casting and had it cut and machined to 1 1/4" (?) to act as a spacer.

After he won the Tolland County 4H Lawn & Garden Tractor Pull in 2014, he sold the engine and clutch to a fellow 4H Club member.
This spring my daughter Hannah wanted to pull at this years fair, so after coming up with an engine (Onan 16hp twin) and figuring out how to mount it and connect to the transmission - working untold hours together - she pulled a new club record and became the first girl to win the pull. http://www.farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=97754

These types of custom modifications are what keep the creative juices flowing for many people, and for the rest of us - we just ...actually, we just marvel at their work!

Peter