Farmall Wide Front - Broken Spindle Identification

[Radec Aksarben]

I have 2 questions here.

I know I have a factory Farmall wide front for an H or an M with the tie rods in front. I think it is for an M specifically. I bought it for cheap with no hubs/wheels and it has a broken spindle.

First question: Do you think this is something I should bother attempting having repaired? That's pretty thick to weld. I found a place online that I can get a new spindle for around $220. Yowza. http://www.abilenemachine.com/international-tractors-spindle-left-hand-AM51699DE.html

Second question:
What are the threaded holes and boss for at the bottom inside of the spindle? The new spindle doesn't have that and about 1/2 the pictures on the internet don't either. I also don't see this specific spindle in the parts book on caseih.com
Is this spindle special or rare compared to the one without the boss? If I got the new one the spindles wouldn't match...

[Jim Becker]

I can't answer the questions. However, I will point out that the spindle itself was originally turned as a separate part then inserted into the rest and welded at the inner end. An alternative repair may be to have it milled from the back side to remove the broken spindle and turn a new spindle to weld in place of the broken one. You MIGHT find a machine shop willing to do it for less than $220.

[Matt Kirsch]

If it's not keeping you from using the tractor, it'll pay off to shop around some. Abeline Machine is not the only place to get that stuff from. Check your local yellow pages, see if there's a tractor salvage yard nearby.

The large salvage yards with online inventory tend to have inflated prices because they're looking for people to buy on impulse/desperation.

[ricky racer]

Replacement is the only way to go on this in my opinion. A couple of hundred bucks isn't out of line and by shopping around you can probably find a better price on the spindle.

[Radec Aksarben]

I posted the same questions to the people on the Red Power forum. Someone there pointed out that the boss seems to be the same as the one on the bottom of the narrow front end that is for the mud scraper. Apparently someone in design thought it necessary to have a mud scraper available for a wide front.
I just found this link http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=529207 that contains this picture of an H with mud scrapers on the wide front.


Another guy there pointed me in the direction of a set of spindles with the boss that include the bearings, wheels, and tires which I also need for both sides as mine didn't come with bearings or tires. I should have it all for $300 by Wednesday. I'm pretty excited!

[Radec Aksarben]

I did get that set of spindles/wheels/tires mentioned above.

I finally finished getting everything together and on the tractor over the weekend. It was pretty "exciting" swapping that heavy front end alone!

I had originally planned on using the set back plate but it interferes with my coolant drain pipe. I will have to figure that out another time. I decided to leave the setback plate out for the time being. To quote my brother, "That front end isn't even in the same zip code!"

It's a smooth ride now, let me tell you.

[cbfarmall]

A little late to your party, but regarding your coolant drain and the setback plate. The IPL specifies a 45 degree street elbow and a nipple to poke thru a slot in the plate. Seeing as I didn't have a street el on hand, I plugged the radiator drain, bolted it all together and I simply undo the lower radiator hose to drain coolant. Messy, I know.

Chris B.