TO 35 Struts

[Carlo Magno of Mendo]

Greetings: it's Spring in the swamp again and I just dusted the winter's accumulation of duff from my old TO-35. Running it around the field just for the heck of it I noticed that the right-hand strut that goes from the front wheels to the transmission housing is pounding in its socket. I've not checked it out but it appears to be a ball joint and it appears from its perigrinations to be somewhat worn. Now, does the whole strut have to be replaced, this ball is not like a ball joint in a steering mechanism it appears to be a permanent part of the strut. Any suggestions before I dig out the plasma arc cutter????

Regards,
Charles

 

[DavidP, South Wales]

Hello Carlo,
Heaven forbid, don't do that yet. Wear in the ballend and socket is very common as it is never lubricated. Indeed there is a line of thought that says things like the 3-pt lift balls etc should not be lubricated. Extreme cases of wear can alter the alignment of the axle slightly and if you do a lot of radwork can speed up tyre wear. On several occasions over the years I have cut thin copper shims from a piece of sheet and dressed them out to fit the shape of the outer cap. The exact shape will be determined by the wear pattern. If you can do this, you should find it successful.
DavidP, South Wales

 

[maxwell99]

guess you could take the outer cap off and mill off a few thousands.

easiest thing to do is get some spray graphite.

shoot it full of graphite also can lube the center axle pivit point with spray graphite and continue on for many years.

Graphite should be the proper lube for those points as it does not collect dirt.

 

[Carlo Magno of Mendo]

Thanks for the replies Gentlemen: Just kidding about the torch: it is a cool toy though, almost as cool as my tractors. I was always told not to lube the balls on the 3 point and there was no provision to lube the ball end of the struts so I didn't. It makes sense to use graphite, I hadn't thought of that. I also like the idea of the copper shims to stop the pounding (the pounding can't be good) so I will also try that idea. Thanks so much. One of the reasons that this is my favorite tractor forum is that there are people like yourselves who actually know the answers and who are willing to suggest ideas without all the posturing that is so common on other fora. Thank you very much!

Best regards,
Charles

 

[Piker]

I took a couple of washers with a large hole, concaved them with a large socket for an anvil & a ball peen hammer. I removed the cap on the radius rod end & inserted my "shim" & bolted the cap back on (making sure the "shim" wasn't too thick & no danger breaking the cap as it was tightened down). Worked great on my '47 8N (same setup as the TO35). No more play.

 

[Joe Ferguson]

We have TEA-20's MF-35 MF-135 for many years.
When a radius ball become loose we remove the cap and put a one cent piece (penny) in the center and replace and tighten the cap the soft metal takes the place of the eroded steel on the ball.

At our surprise this (repair) last for years.

A 2 penny repair....

My 2¢