Broken Front Axle

[ricky racer]

So, I got a phone call from a friend about his Cub that I have worked on in the past. Seems he'd broken his front axle.

He was helping his neighbor who was having a difficult time scooping dirt into his loader bucket. My friend got an idea. He got a board stood on its side leaning against his Cubs front wheels so his neighbor could have something to push against. Turns out that wasn't a good decision.
I spent yesterday working at our local county fair in a booth operated by our church. When I got home his Cub was on a trailer setting in front of my shop. I wasn't sure how I was going to unload a 3 wheeled Cub to get it from the trailer into my shop.
I was able to get the bucket on my John Deere 425 under the Cubs front axle and pick it up. It was really more than the garden tractor should have attempted to lift but it got it lifted.

I got the broken axle off of the Cub and found a replacement axle near me so the plan is to swap out axles. It didn't make much sense to try to weld up the broken axle tube since it broke so close to the outer tube and actually part of the break entered into the ID of the outer tube.

[tst]

do not see them break like that Ricky, it is the tube rusted bad enough that is was weakened ?

[Don McCombs]

I’d be willing to bet that there was an existing crack in there somewhere. An examination of the broken edges would confirm or refute that.

[ricky racer]

I’d be willing to bet that there was an existing crack in there somewhere. An examination of the broken edges would confirm or refute that.

Bingo!! On the underside of the axle is evidence of an existing crack covering about one third of the tube. We're going to pick up the replacement axle tomorrow morning.

[ricky racer]

do not see them break like that Ricky, it is the tube rusted bad enough that is was weakened ?

The axle was not weakened due to rust. It appeared to have been cracked for some time. When I get a chance, I'll inspect the weld to see if that might have been an issue.

[tst]

had a feeling that was not a fresh break

[Pap]

You might want to check the other axle if you have not already done that.

[NJ Farmer]

Apparently a used and abused field hand Cub. I have never seen that happen before. Lucky he was on level flat terrain because it could have been worse.

NJ Farmer

[inairam]

Luck he did not get hurt. If that was on a hill or something

[Barnyard]

You might want to check the other axle if you have not already done that.

I'd say that wouldn't be necessary since Rick is replacing the entire front.

[Pap]

Ok . I didn't realize he was replacing the hole thing. I thought he was just replacing the broken side.
My bad.

[radioguy41]

I like that loader. JD or aftermarket?

[ricky racer]

I like that loader. JD or aftermarket?

It's a Buford Bucket. Buford Buckets are built by a retired guy in Kentucky so there's not a lot of them out there. There's quite a few video's out there on YouTube featuring them. It's a great addition to a stout Garden Tractor.





I like the more compact design of this over a more traditional loader. I use it primarily to lift and move stuff around the barn and shop. It won't lift as high as a traditional loader but lifting something heavy real high with a garden tractor can get unstable with the small footprint of a garden tractor. As compact as it is, I can get it just about everywhere in my barn, shop or garage. I've got 75# of windshield washer fluid in each of the rear tires, 100# of iron on each rear wheel and a little over 200# of suit case weights on the rear.

[radioguy41]

Thanks. Nice. Looks like you might have oversized tires up front. Hard to steer with the weight on it?

[ricky racer]

Thanks. Nice. Looks like you might have oversized tires up front. Hard to steer with the weight on it?

Both front and rear are oversized. Fronts are 18x8.5x8 and rears are 26x12x12. The 425 is equipped with power steering so steering is very easy. That was one consideration in choosing that tractor for a loader tractor. When I went from the 2 ply tires to 6 ply for the loader, I bumped up the size too.