Snap goes the spindle

[John Athey]

Today I was raking hay on my Farmall 460 and the spindle just broke off. How strange is that. The snap was loud and tHe front wheel just fell
off. Have you ever have that happen? Must have been. Crack and metal fatigue. What do you all think?

 

[khouse6]

i have a c farmall, row tractor, and this happened to it.

 

[DGinVT]

This happened on my Cub about twenty years ago -- just broke off!! I suspect from examining the broken pieces that it was the result of fatigue

 

[Janicholson]

It happens to anything with stub axles and some that have full axles. Fortunately it is rare enough that we fall into a false sense of trust. Jim

 

[old]

Do you have a loader on it?? If yes pretty common. Yes I know this is not an IH but on my Ford 841 I have broken say at least 5 spindles over the years

 

[Darald]

This happened to my dad when the SMD was about 10 years old. The wide front axle broke in the middle in road gear, through the ditch into a field. It sat for over a week waiting for a new center piece for the wide front. I remember pulling the adjustable extensions out of the broken one with one tractor as an anchor and another one pulling the sleeve out.

 

[FBH44]

My friend's "H" broke the front bolster bolts and she nose-dived into the field. He thought it was funny.

 

[fastfarmall]

Metal doesnt always break all at once.

 

[Chance M]

(quoted from post at 20:49:25 08/09/15) This happened to my dad when the SMD was about 10 years old. The wide front axle broke in the middle in road gear, through the ditch into a field. It sat for over a week waiting for a new center piece for the wide front. I remember pulling the adjustable extensions out of the broken one with one tractor as an anchor and another one pulling the sleeve out.

I almost gave up on adjusting my front axle inward....what a pain in the......but I stuck with it and got it done.


When I first got this ole M, I thought how handy that feature would be. But after that, lol....when the parts try to become one, not such a good idea!

 

[stumper]

Just remember most of these old tractors were built and designed to only last 7 years my newest one is about 65 years old ,Stumper

 

[NoNewParts]

hard bouncing an unseen furrow or rock......I'm always amazed when they [i:6b6f6b047d]don't[/i:6b6f6b047d] break. Tough stuff.
At least spindles, bolts, pedestal stuff....fix it and be on your way.
Some brands/models design...that bounce will break the block easily. Looking at the little green M's and 40's for sale, I check carefully for the dreaded block stress cracks....
I'd rather do the spindle repair!

 

[MARK ROBKE]

Is the break smooth or jagged?I think jagged means repeated stress over time and a smooth break is a sudden shock load.Let us know what it looks like.Mark

 

[John Athey]

Break is jagged and rugged.

 

[riverbend]

Yup, that happens. The old iron crystalizes. I keep a spare spindle in the shed for just such occasions.

Greg