MarlinSlayer
Bronze Member
Okay, well I finally got to work on the tractor again.
In the process of replacing the water pump, I dropped a lockwasher into the pit of ****......you know the bowl like bracket that bolts on to the front of the red tiger engine flange which holds the pivot for the front axle and radiator which is filled with 30 years of dirt and oil and has an almost impenetrable 3/4 in layer of sludge (looking for parts diagram to no avail for name of such part).
Well, rather than going out and buying a new one, I'm cheap and I go diving into the pit of ****, scraping said sludge out and letting it fall into a specially engineered cardboard box strategically placed. I shouldn't have....
When I got it somewhat cleaned up, I found that my pit of **** is held on with THREE NUTS on Studs and NOT FOUR... the broken stud is at the upper right side of the flange as you look at the tractor from the front. The stud is in a tab on the flange and you can see the end of the stud from the back side of the flange. I'm assuming the worst and figure the PO (rocket scientist) broke off an "Easy Out" in the stud. I can't see that far in hole as of yet.
Now I'm of two minds, the **** rententive part of me says, since I'm replacing the radiator and redoing the thrust bearings in the front axle tubes, I ought to just go ahead, and pull the axle, replace the axle pivot bushing while I'm at it....and disassemble the front end and replace that stud.
The other part of me says, that for all I know it was fine for an unknown length of time like that and it can wait till next year or two when I strip the tractor down to paint. (remember, the original purpose of this work was not to restore, but get the tractor running well enough to get some cutting and box blading and food plotting on my deer property.) I have a long unfinished home renovation that has taken a back seat while tractor sits in my wife's garage space... If it was just going to cut on flat ground, I wouldn't worry too much...but I'll be cutting and blading some neglected spaces. Figure it had four studs for a reason. If I lived alone, I'd just go ahead and do it now, but I need to get this running and the thought of permanently breaking my tractor is less expensive than permanently breaking my marriage.
Two questions:
1. Pretty much okay to wait till next year? (Pros: get the tractor moving to satisfy my wife and get property ready for an awesome dear (as in yes dear) season. Reduce teardown as I'm planning on tearing it all apart in 12 months for repaint any way. Gives me twelve months to get up courage to do battle with left handed bits...lets me run the tractor and find out if there's another big problem which would cause me to unload this and buy new)
2. Does anyone know how they are installed? I'd hate to drill the thing out and retap it if it can be driven out the back. Is it threaded in like a head stud or installed like some wheel studs where they are inserted from the back side and essentially pressed in when the nut is tightened on the other side?
I'm hoping someone else has already done this, or its a common problem....C'mon Soundguy, you've probably done like four or five of these by now.
What say you?
In the process of replacing the water pump, I dropped a lockwasher into the pit of ****......you know the bowl like bracket that bolts on to the front of the red tiger engine flange which holds the pivot for the front axle and radiator which is filled with 30 years of dirt and oil and has an almost impenetrable 3/4 in layer of sludge (looking for parts diagram to no avail for name of such part).
Well, rather than going out and buying a new one, I'm cheap and I go diving into the pit of ****, scraping said sludge out and letting it fall into a specially engineered cardboard box strategically placed. I shouldn't have....
When I got it somewhat cleaned up, I found that my pit of **** is held on with THREE NUTS on Studs and NOT FOUR... the broken stud is at the upper right side of the flange as you look at the tractor from the front. The stud is in a tab on the flange and you can see the end of the stud from the back side of the flange. I'm assuming the worst and figure the PO (rocket scientist) broke off an "Easy Out" in the stud. I can't see that far in hole as of yet.
Now I'm of two minds, the **** rententive part of me says, since I'm replacing the radiator and redoing the thrust bearings in the front axle tubes, I ought to just go ahead, and pull the axle, replace the axle pivot bushing while I'm at it....and disassemble the front end and replace that stud.
The other part of me says, that for all I know it was fine for an unknown length of time like that and it can wait till next year or two when I strip the tractor down to paint. (remember, the original purpose of this work was not to restore, but get the tractor running well enough to get some cutting and box blading and food plotting on my deer property.) I have a long unfinished home renovation that has taken a back seat while tractor sits in my wife's garage space... If it was just going to cut on flat ground, I wouldn't worry too much...but I'll be cutting and blading some neglected spaces. Figure it had four studs for a reason. If I lived alone, I'd just go ahead and do it now, but I need to get this running and the thought of permanently breaking my tractor is less expensive than permanently breaking my marriage.
Two questions:
1. Pretty much okay to wait till next year? (Pros: get the tractor moving to satisfy my wife and get property ready for an awesome dear (as in yes dear) season. Reduce teardown as I'm planning on tearing it all apart in 12 months for repaint any way. Gives me twelve months to get up courage to do battle with left handed bits...lets me run the tractor and find out if there's another big problem which would cause me to unload this and buy new)
2. Does anyone know how they are installed? I'd hate to drill the thing out and retap it if it can be driven out the back. Is it threaded in like a head stud or installed like some wheel studs where they are inserted from the back side and essentially pressed in when the nut is tightened on the other side?
I'm hoping someone else has already done this, or its a common problem....C'mon Soundguy, you've probably done like four or five of these by now.
What say you?