What gives with my front axles

   / What gives with my front axles #1  

4710and110TLB

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Jan 29, 2004
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106
I have now gone through three pinion seals on my 4710 and 1 on my 110 and two of the lower seals on the axle near the drain holes. Is this just me or what?
 
   / What gives with my front axles
  • Thread Starter
#2  
No one but me has problems???? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
   / What gives with my front axles #3  
I have not seen this problem in the shop. So far the only thing we have in the shop for compacts is a 790 with broken gears in the MFWD front axle. The only time the 4000 series come in are for normal maintainance and/or hydro tuneups.
 
   / What gives with my front axles #4  
It seems that I remember a post a some time back about seals leaking on 4000 series tractors. This could have been 2 or 3 years ago. If I remember it was thought to be caused by lifting heavy loads with the loader without enough rear ballast.

Chris
 
   / What gives with my front axles #6  
If you do not have enough ballast weight on the back of the tractor & lift a heavy load loader. More of the total weight of the tractor is transfered to the front axle.

Chris
 
   / What gives with my front axles
  • Thread Starter
#7  
I am not doing anything that a construction unit like the 110 is made or rated for. I assure that I have enough weight on its back end there is about 5000 lbs on the rear axle. 4000 on the front just empty. Plus weight transfer is the same with or without a load it. If you pick up 2000 lbs in the loader it doesn't know wether it has extra weight on its back end. It is simply more stable. It transfers the same regardless.
 
   / What gives with my front axles #8  
I had to think about this also.

In your case, where you have 4,000 LB on the front axle and 5,000 LB on the rear. When you pick up a load with the loader some of the weight from the rear transfers to the front axle. The more weight you lift with the loader, the more transfers. The loader lifting capacity is limited either by the capacity of the loader hydraulics, or by the ability to transfer weight from the rear axle, whichever is lower.
Assuming that the hydraulics is not the limit, when you get the the point where the rear wheels start to leave the ground the entire weight of the tractor, loader, and load in the bucket is resting on the front axle.
In your case this whould be 4,000 + 5,000 + bucket load. If you increase the weight of the rear axle, say by loading the tires or by adding wheel weights you can increase the lifting capacity of the loader before the wheels leave the ground. And then when that happens the front axle is still supporting the weight of the entire tractor and load. And in this case you are right in that adding additional weight does not change the way the weight transfers to the front axle. And, it will not REDUCE the load on the front axle, it only has the ability to INCREASE the load on the front axle.
However, if you add weight the the tractor to the rear of the rear axle it is a different story. Weight added to the rear of the rear axle actually reduces the weight on the front axle. Imagine that in your case you add enough weight the the rear of the rear axle such that your front axle load is reduced from 4,000 LB to 2,000 LB. You could then pick up more load with the loader and you are increasing the front axle from 2,000 LB instead of 4,000 LB. So, you can pick up more with the loader and stress the front axle less. Of course of you ever do pick up so much that you lift the rear of the tractor, even with the ballest, then all of the weight is again on the front axle.
Look at it like this, you have two opposed overhung loads, the rear ballast, and the front loader. If you do it right, you lower the load on the front axle such that when you lift with the loader you don't increase the front axle load much more than it would have been without the loader at all.
I think the key here is to put enough weight past the rear axle so that you are assured that the loader hydraulics will be the limiting factor. This issue is more of a problem with CUT's, which typically have a high power to weight ratio, and shorter wheelbase, than with larger Ag tractors.

Regards
 
   / What gives with my front axles
  • Thread Starter
#9  
This is a cut which is just built heavier all the way around. My 4710 weighed 6200 lbs with filled tires and full rops/fops/ a few other goodies. My 110 subtract the hoe weighs in at 7000 with filled tires and full belly pan and a few other goodies again. The hoe adds another 2000 lbs to it. The tractor by itself has a little over 4000 lbs on the front and little under 3000 on the rear. And yes it still has enough power to get one tire off the ground with the hoe on and sometimes even enough to get both off. But I know I don't do anything more aggresive than a fulltime construction crew would do to one of these units I don't abuse after all I still twenty something thousand on it. No one else I have talked with have ever had this many problems with a front axle. The darn bucket holds a good yard on it when it is hepped full. I would hope deere wouldn't make something that can't hold that much load. It is alot more loader than a 460 loader and whole lot more bucket too. Heck the dang bucket is knockin on 500 lbs empty twice that of the 460 bucket. But the axle is noticable heavier too. If it does it after the dealer fixes it I may insist on deere replacing the whole axle. It might just be a bad casting. Who knows???? /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
   / What gives with my front axles #10  
Out of curiosity, I looked up some numbers. Did you ever spot a spec for the axle weight capacity for the 110 in your documentation? I have the axle numbers for the 4710 - it's 4960 lbs. front, 5292 lbs. rear. I would assume (you even said so) the 110 uses different (and heavier) castings and axle internals. I wonder how much extra capacity they have.
 
 
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