430 Broken Front Wheel Spindle

[Squidbait]

Greetings gentleman,

I had a couple of questions about the John Deere 430 Lawn Tractor I use to mow the yard for my church. The church bought the tractor new back in the late 1980's or early 1990's. I was mowing the church property the other day and plop! the right front wheel spindle broke into (basically the wheel came off). The spindle rod broke right where rod intersects the flat metal plate (that extends out to attach to the steering rod). The actual rod broke into. I hate to say this, but the left front spindle broke off last fall in the same spot on the spindle. Last fall we ordered a replacement spindle for our tractor - looking up the serial number on TractorData.com the tractor appears to be a 1992 model (the last year they where made). When our replacement spindle arrived it didn't fit - it was roughly 020 to .030 of an inch too large in diameter. Our John Deere dealer ordered another spindle for an earlier make of the 430 and that spindle fit perfectly. What I can't figure out is why the tractor I use (if it is a 1992 model) takes parts to fit an earlier version of the 430?

Here is the a picture of the actual serial number of the 430 I mow with.



Maybe some body can tell me if I am reading the serial number incorrectly or if the chart on TractorData.com is incorrect. We got the left front spindle replaced last year when it broke - the parts were available. We checked with our John Deere Dealer Tuesday and they told us that only one of the two makes of 430 front wheel spindle is now available. My concern is if the available spindle is the one that does not fit. What options would we have to replace or repair the broken spindle? I personally do not know any machinists or welders. If the part was welded my guess is that some of the existing material would have to be removed (machined off) to create a clean surface for welding. Plus, how does a person weld a part that is a 1 inch thick (diameter) solid steel? Maybe that is easy (I don't know. I'm not a welder.)

Any suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated.

Below are a couple of pictures that I took last year that may help you visualize the area(s) where both spindles broke.






One quick comment: in the picture above that shows the actual place where the spindle broke - in the light colored area on the left of the spindle you can actually see the grain structure of the metal. The darker colored on the right of the spindle is fairly smooth with slightly raised "ripples" - no metal grain structure is visible (a shearing of the metal?). Both broken wheel spindles appear this way which puzzles me. To me I would think the grain structure would be visible across the entire cross section of this broke metal part. Any idea why this appear the way it does?

 

[beenthere]

A puzzlement for sure. The s/n that I see is 111307

Is it possible to machine the large one to fit?

Hope you get better help from your dealer and don't run into a dead end.

 

[Squidbait]

Thanks for the reply "beenthere". Yes that is the correct serial number of the tractor.

An update: As I understand things John Deere does not manufacture or have any front wheel spindles in stock anymore. Our local dealer did by chance have a spindle in inventory that should fit the tractor I mow with (It was in a box full of mixed parts they got from another John Deere dealer). It is supposed to be the correct size spindle that will fit a 1992 model JD 430 Lawn and Garden tractor. Once again it is oversized and will not work as is. So now I will be starting to look for a machine shop that may be able to machine off about .015" to .018" (total) of metal stock off at both ends of the spindle to make it work.

I did talk briefly to a gentleman who used to work for the local John Deere Dealership (before they changed ownership and moved). He suggested machining the axel out instead of machining the wheel spindle. My only concern was that the wheel bearings would have to be machined out also or changed or adapted somehow to work with the oversized part.

Anybody out there have any other suggestions? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time gentleman.

Squidbait

 

[beenthere]

Have you thought about getting the right size bushing that will fit the id of the axle and the od of the spindle?
If by chance there is such a bushing, it solves both machining problems. Glad you found a spindle.. to work with.
Looks like you are getting close.. and hope you find the machinist that can solve the dilemma.

Or is it the diam of the part that goes through the wheel bearings that is oversize, not the part that goes up through the bushings in the axle?

 

[Richard001]

Or is it the diam of the part that goes through the wheel bearings that is oversize, not the part that goes up through the bushings in the axle?

Yeah, that's the question I was wanting to ask. If it's just the bushings in the axle support, then maybe easier to just buy a reamer or drill just the right size and enlarge the bushings in the axle support.

Richard

 

[Squidbait]

Thanks for the replies gentlemen,

Or is it the diam of the part that goes through the wheel bearings that is oversize, not the part that goes up through the bushings in the axle?

Maybe I made my description confusing. The spindle is oversized on both ends (The spindle OD is oversized): The end that would slide through the wheel bearings (ID) and the end that slides up into the front axel (ID). I may be wrong, but I don't thing that there are any bushings in the front axel where the spindles slide up into the axel. I think the axel is just a smooth machined cylindrical surface with grease as the lubricant.

 

[beenthere]

There are bushings up through the axle. See jdparts.com
And your dealer parts person should know just what is needed. Put some pressure on whoever is looking up parts for you. More info included in second attachment.. with reference to bushings and spindles.

 

[Richard001]

Also if the wheel bearings are too small for the new axle, it could be possible that the JD dealer has new bearings that would fit in your old wheel and also would accommodate the larger axle diameter.

As a last resort, you could just go to your local industrial supply house and see if they can fit a bearing for you.

Richard

 

[Squidbait]

Well I guess I was wrong. There are bushings in that there axel. Thanks for the info an suggestions gentlemen. This gives me a little more information to go on.

 

[Squidbait]

Also if the wheel bearings are too small for the new axle, it could be possible that the JD dealer has new bearings that would fit in your old wheel and also would accommodate the larger axle diameter.

I checked into this Richard001 - it was a No Go. The Deere Shop could not find wheel bearings that would work with the larger axel and still fit the wheel itself. I checked Fastenal's website today; they carry approximately 5,500 different bearings. They had one model of wheel bearing that met all of the dimensional requirements for my needs - except the wheel bearings need to have a flange around it to keep the bearing in place on the wheel. Fastenal's bearing did not have this very important flange.

So machining the spindle to fit seems to be the only option I have left. I called three different local machine shops, but only managed to get talk to someone at one shop. I set up an appointment (on Tuesday) to show him my old spindle, my new one (for machining), and the wheel itself to insure a proper fit. I left messages at two other shops and plan to go to one machine shop tomorrow morning to get their input on machining this part.

A service representative at my local JD dealer said the machinists at this particular shop (I plan to see tomorrow) have done some impressive work for them and helped them in fabricating parts for repairs on bigger machines. He said they fabricated an entire rear axel for a large farmer tractor in which the axel was not available. So we will see how things go. This is all new to me, so I am learning as I go. I do appreciate the input from and "beenthere".