YM2000 Front Axle repair coonass/redneck style

[capt1989]

Haven't been here in a while but wanted to drop in and show the latest adventure with my YM2000. My brother's brother in law broke the front axle on the tractor last year. A call to Hoye got me another. Tuesday afternoon while bush hogging the front axle bent again. I am not really sure when it happened as the property is overgrown and filled with holes and ruts from logging equipment. When I noticed it I headed to the shop and took it off. This is what it looked like.




Worked on it with a 12 ton press, acetylene torch and welder for 8 hours including figuring out and making a jig to work with. I just figure it out as I go guys... no professional here. The repaired axle is bullet proof and will not bend again which means the next weakest link will eventually rear its ugly head. I cut a 24 inch piece of 4 inch channel down the middle and welded one to each side of the axle.



These are some tough little tractors. Love my little Yanmar.

Capt.

 

[stuckmotor]

Hello Capt,
It's great to see a coonass mechanic in this group. I had a coonass friend in a Yahoo group for years. He sawed the lumber to build his house with a big Stihl chainsaw mill. Sadly, he passed on last year.
When the next weak link shows up on the Yanmar, I'm sure you'll fix it back better than new.

 

[redman135]

Looking at the original I would say you did well not bending it earlier than you did. The axle looked like it was built for a life mowing parks, not working in the real world.

 

[winston1]

Now this is a nice fix with great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

 

[grainger12002]

awesome repair,thanks for sharing

 

[clemsonfor]

Just curious how it bent anyway?

Are you turning at full speed and the outside tire is catching in a rut and then folding it up???

 

[deepNdirt]

Good thing you could salvage and repair the axle, I've always thought the front axle would be the weakest part of my tractor after having installed a FEL, For precautionary measures I've thought about reinforcing it in some way, although never have yet, and surprisingly enough I have never had any problems with the front axle.... Knock-Knock on wood!
After seeing how yours has bent out of shape I think I'll go ahead and sturdy the axle on my tractor up a bit, I have some 3" channel iron at my disposal Do you think there's enough room to cap under the bottom of the axle with the channel iron?

 

[capt1989]

Good thing you could salvage and repair the axle, I've always thought the front axle would be the weakest part of my tractor after having installed a FEL, For precautionary measures I've thought about reinforcing it in some way, although never have yet, and surprisingly enough I have never had any problems with the front axle.... Knock-Knock on wood!
After seeing how yours has bent out of shape I think I'll go ahead and sturdy the axle on my tractor up a bit, I have some 3" channel iron at my disposal Do you think there's enough room to cap under the bottom of the axle with the channel iron?

On the Ym2000 there is but you may have clearance issues with the tie rod ends. I had to cut notches for mine.

 

[capt1989]

Just curious how it bent anyway?

Are you turning at full speed and the outside tire is catching in a rut and then folding it up???

Very rough terrain. Deep ruts, stumps and holes. Going slow while bush hogging. I didn't notice exactly when it happened but it was in 1st gear / low in thick stuff.

I am very careful with my tractor cause I work it HARD but at a slow pace. I cut some 2 to 3 inch oak and gumball saplings today with the 4 foot bush hog but you have to go slow at high rpms. Will post a pic of what happened today later.

 

[capt1989]

This is an example of the terrain that caused the broken axle a few days ago. At least I knew this trench was here... still bottomed out though. The gumball and oaks in the previous post did kill the tractor twice before I could get the clutch in but I am usually a little quicker than that. I am eventually get this property cleared but with my little yanmar it may take awhile. Thanks for all the replies guys.

 

[Neat 1500]

My you like to live dangerously! No Rear Guards or ROPS :shocked:

 

[winston1]

Is that mud or a weight in you back wheel? Looks sort of like my home made weights.

Edit. My bad, I looked back at a thread when you made your weights. I had forgotten. Nothing unusual for me.

 

[284 International]

You have good pictures of your fix and your explanations make clear why you did things as you did. I'm just curious about other's experiences with this issue: I would personally worry that reinforcing the axle would in turn make the center pivot the weak link, and snap the tabs locating the pivot, or otherwise cause damage to a less or non-repairable part. From my limited understanding, I think I would prefer to have the axle as my "fuse" as opposed to the casting or center pivot. Does anybody have some enlightenment about what works and does not with respect to these types of repairs?

 

[clemsonfor]

I dont think its that necessary. I too would not like to trash my frame or pivot because i have an I beam for an axle. I have some uneven fields that i mow pretty fast. I have turned and hit a bank with the tire turned and so far been lucky and nothing has happend. If you realize the limitations and not use your tractor where you had needed a bulldozer or a 80hp tractor i think you will be fine.

This guy needed to do it for his terrain, but honestly i would try and get a bulldozer or a bobcat out there to smooth that area out. I mean whats the point to bushhogging something that uneven, your not making foodplots out there or really driving through it, i guess to keep it open for looks or anticipation of smoothing it later?