TC30 cracked rear axle housing

[michael.white]

I was moving some piled up lose caliche, sitting less than two weeks, dusty and dry limestone & calcium here in Texas Hill Country with my TC30 FEL when I noticed a streak of moisture under the tractor. I lowered the hydraulics, shut down, and proceeded to watch a gallon or so of hydraulic fluid come out of this split in the rear axle housing:

I've been moving this dirt pile for two days and thought maybe I hit something, but I always go slow (manual transmission, L1) into the pile to avoid jarring anything. But then this is the rear wheel axle housing and shouldn't have much to do with the FEL, right?

While moving the dirt I had the 5' brush hog attached as a counter weight, but the brush hog is normally attached and accounts for the lion's share of the hours (200+) cutting five acres five times a year. I hit a few bumps while moving the dirt into some rougher land but nothing that caused much racket from the brush hog.

Any ideas why this happened? The previous owner had a three-point backhoe he used with this, but that's been nearly 300 hours ago (I bought it with 350 hours, it has 630 now) - could that have weakened something? Is it something I could've done? The heaviest thing I've picked up with the three point is some concrete chunks with a boom pole a couple of years ago. It never exceeded the capacity of the hydraulics.

It's about 100-200 yards from the workshop. Given the amount of fluid that came out, I'm hoping there's enough fluid left to raise the bucket and drive it back sans brush hog. I have two concerns:

1) Is there enough fluid in the reservoir to drive it without frying anything?
2) With the support of the axle housing lost, will this damage the axle? The ROPS is in place and adds structural support.

If I can't raise the bucket with the hydraulics, I can probably pull the tractor by the bucket with my truck - any issues with that?

Any better way to move this? I'm trying not to add to the damage. New axle housings run about $1150 and I don't think I'd trust used.

Thanks,
Michael

 

[JC-jetro]

So sorry to see this Michael, I think this is an stress crack that was brewing for a long time till it manifested itself like this. Not having under-mount (sub-mount) support for the loader to tie the front axle back to the rear axle could be a contributor with major culprit being 3 point mounted backhoe. You can always by inspection of oil level in the transmission check where the level is every few minutes but my concerns is right dive shaft inside the axle that might be damaged or bent as you drive it. It appears the breakage is complete and right side of axle is free and it is held up by 3 point arm. Also , remember the hyd reservoir is your diffy for your hydraulic pump, so if the oil level goes below the suction pick up you can run a chance of running your pump dry and damage it. it is difficult and you might not have the infrastructure to do it but winching it up t a flat bed and taking it home would be the safest. Second bad option is to tow it with your truck after you remove the bucket. Third bad option would be to drive it while topping off hyd oil. There is more chance of damage with option #3. I wondered if you can add some sort of temporary splint/brace just to get it to you shop /barn. Sourcing the right axle will be difficult and welding would be at best a very poor choice.

JC,

 

[5030]

I feel for you and your wallet. A Kubota rear housing (depending on model) can run from a around 5K to over 10K and even if you attempt to weld it up, it has to come completely apart and even that is quite involved. and requires special tools.

I bet it started with the 3 point backhoe the previous owner had on it. 3 PH backhoes without a subframe are notorious for causing rear housing failures.

If it was mine, I'd pull it back as it most likely has little fluid left inside.

One of the issues with buying used. One never knows how a unit was used (or abused). I would have not bought it when I found out the previous owner had mounted a 3 point hoe with no subframe.

Good luck. You are gonna need it.

 

[fishheadbob]

I don't remember if the TC30s and Farmtrac tractors were made by the same company like some New Hollands and LS are. They looked pretty much the same. Many Farmtracs had issues with rear differentials cracking. It got so bad Farmtrac went belly up when warranty claims got to more than they could handle. When I had a TC30 I kinda thought they were the same product and I knew about the cracking problem so I really took it easy if I wanted to yank something hard preferring to use a bigger tractor rather than find out I had a problem like yours.

 

[michael.white]

Thanks all, good advice and thoughts. FYI it's an '01, the first year for the TC30. If I'd known about the problems with attaching a BH I would've passed on this tractor. Oh well, live and learn. It's been a good tractor otherwise for the last decade, only needing regular maintenance.

JC - I've got a trailer that I can load the tractor onto but I'll need to pick up something to pull it into the trailer. Harbor Freight has a $35 one-ton hand winch that looks to be trailer-mountable. I've been meaning to get something like that anyway.

5030 - Agree with used structural components, in this case I'm glad I can get away with "only" $1150 + seals, fluid, and whatnot.

fishheadbob - I haven't seen a spate of postings for TC30 cracked axle housings and when I looked up this part it was used in New Holland and Case tractors from '87 to '12. Sounds like a different part.

 

[JC-jetro]

Michael,

Winch is a great idea. I do have a 12 volt , one tone HF winch that I use ti lift the deer up my home made boom pole. You might want to do it today as they have %20 coupon for today. I will attache it to this posting. you might consider a beefier one if the price is good.


PS. Even better would be their 2 ton chain hoist. I bought one i think around $50 and fro the price is great. No electrical to maintain, built solid and much safer to pull with a chain rated for 4000 lbs than aviation cable and potential whiplash.

2 ton Manual Chain Hoist

Amazing deals on this 2Ton Manual Chain Hoist at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[michael.white]

JC - I've got that chain hoist already, didn't think of that. I've been using it for lifting but it'll do for pulling too. Thanks!

I traced the oil leak a bit further back and found the straw the broke the axle housing - a divot I've hit numerous times before. Looks like I drove about 250 feet after the damage. I'll check the axle for straightness when I pull it - I've got an engine block straight edge I can check it with.

 

[JC-jetro]

JC - I've got that chain hoist already, didn't think of that. I've been using it for lifting but it'll do for pulling too. Thanks!

I traced the oil leak a bit further back and found the straw the broke the axle housing - a divot I've hit numerous times before. Looks like I drove about 250 feet after the damage. I'll check the axle for straightness when I pull it - I've got an engine block straight edge I can check it with.

sounds good. I hope you can find right axle without it breaking the back. Good luck.

 

[michael.white]

That was a project.

Turns out I don't have that exact hoist, I've got the one ton version. Worked well but at a ratio meant for half the weight, which meant more grunting from me - definitely a workout here in our 100 days. Pulled the tractor onto the trailer from the rear and once the rear wheels were on the trailer things went a lot easier. Left a big ol' streak of hydraulic fluid from where I loaded it until the workshop, where it continued to trickle out. Unloading was simple - remove the bucket, raise the front of the trailer as high as it would go, and coast off.

The New Holland manual was moderately useful. Removing the housing took a number of "love taps" with a sledge to free it. New Holland recommends using an overhead hoist to remove and install the housing. I used an engine hoist to remove it, but when installing I used a transmission jack - much easier and gives you much better alignment and control.

I examined the axle for bends with a straight edge - that sucker is about 2" in diameter. Since the axle is beveled on the end, it's a bit tricky to look for bends. It did look straight to me from every angle I checked.

I did replace the axle seal since everything was apart anyway. Took a bit of heat to free it up. All the bearings still looked like new and very minimal wear showing on gear teeth, i.e. I could tell where they meshed but nothing more than that. Not much wear on the brakes either.

New Holland says to use socket #FNH00088 to tighten the lock nut on the axle. As far as I can tell FNH00088 is no longer available. However, I went to Napa and picked up this:

This socket almost fit the nut, just a little too tight. I took a die grinder and a metal grinder bit and ground off just a bit on the inside of each leg until the nut fit (sorry for the blurry photo):

This stood up to the 75 ft-lbs of torque needed for the nut, although I did have to push down on the top of the torque wrench while tightening to prevent it from slipping off.

The New Holland manual doesn't say a word about using form-a-gasket, yet I ended up scraping form-a-gasket off the tractor when I removed the old housing. I wasn't sure which type to buy so I bought the Permatex Gear Oil RTV; hopefully it holds. Anyway, back together now:

After the sealant set overnight I put on the ROPS, tire, and fenders, then filled it with fluid, then started. No leaks and the hydraulics worked. Hooked up the bucket and then retrieved the brush hog. Hopefully good to go for as long as I or my kid owns the thing.

Only thing I would've done different would be replace the axle lock washer. It has tabs that can be bent into one of the axle nut slots. Things went together so well that that the tab I straightened was the tab I needed to bend in again. So I bent that tab but also was able to bend another tab halfway into a slot. Should be OK - not a lot of stress on those tabs.

Back to moving the dirt!

 

[WM75Guy]

Glad you got it working. Thanks for the post on how you repaired it.