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axle hubs on 12H

1K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  Alc 
#1 ·
The hubs on my 12 are loose on the spline of the axle. This lets the wheel rock back and forth while attached. Has anyone ever came up with a fix to cure this problem apart from putting on different hubs? I was thinking of taking the hubs off and drilling and tapping a hole on the inside of the hub into the splines and then grinding a small flat spot on the axle and putting a setscrew in the threaded hole and running it down to lock the hub on like a set collar. Anyone see a downside to the idea or have a different suggestion apart from changing the hubs?
 
#2 ·
The problem is that originally the pull was spread over many inches of load lines and it still wore over the years. With virtually all the load being held at one small single point, it will wear very, very quickly. Changing the hubs is the best solution. BTW....JD 110 & 200 series hubs are the same.
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys. Thought it would be a good idea and is basically the same as many sprockets are held onto bigger farm machinery. From the scrap I got rid of today I may have enough to just tear this old girl down completly and redo her from the ground up. I wanna get things working good so it earns its keep for a while and I don't wanna rip into things again if I get it painted.
 
#7 ·
The trouble with setscrews is the forward to reverse action. In most farm machinery, the shaft is in a constant rotation with no reversing. The back & forth is what will get to a setscrew. Not saying it won't last a good while, as it might, but I'd look at it as a means of just getting a little more life out of things.
 
#8 ·
I remember the same conversation brought up a while ago too... one member said that some fourwheelers had/have the same problem and that they make a speacial somthing to fix it... something like a combination of loctite and JBweld?!?!? I think it would be worth looking into....
 
#9 ·
Before you spend the money replacing the hubs, be sure that the hubs are your problem. Look at the axle ends and make sure they don't have a lot of wear, or break down. If the axles are wore, replacing the hubs won't do you a bit of good.

As for installing "set screws" through the hubs, I would take a little extra time in doing it right. John Deere used these types of set screws on the 1963 & 1964 3-speed transmissions. Back then though, the axles were were solid steel without splines, so the set screws were in full contact with the axles. Since you have splined axles, the set screws will only contact the high ribbed splines. And as mentioned above by olcowhand, this limited contact will eventually wear down, and you'll be back to square one.

I personally, like the set screw idea, but if it were my tractor, I'd spend a little extra time, cutting keyway slots in both the hubs and axles first. The keyways will help to support the hubs to the axles, and also give more contact between the keyway and the set screws. When John Deere used the set screw method, they didn't use the keyway, and you will find loose hubs. But using both the keyway and the set screws combined, makes for very tight hubs, with virtually no room for wear and tear down the road. I too recommend using at least 2 minimum, 3 would be better. Just be sure to drill the set screw locations directly above the keyway locations.

One other note. Be sure to rub your axles good with vasaline before installing the hubs. This will help down the road if you ever need to pull the hubs back off, and vasaline doesn't stain your paint finish like grease does. I have changed all my areas that require grease, over to vasaline, due to the non-staining, it doesn't get hard like grease, and it cleans up easier. I even pack my wheel bearings with vasaline. Try it sometime, and I think you'll agree. If you have a garden plow, rub the plow down with vasaline too. It will keep it from rusting, always show that nice clean shine, waterproof, and will come off easy when you sink it into the ground next year.
 
#10 ·
I didn't even think of the axles being worn too . It's too bad they wern't made like some of those farm tractors that had split hubs on the rear wheels to adjust the wheel track , you be able to clamp down pretty tight a bet , Al
 
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