In the beginning...
Before photos. Rusty, but solid. Red PTO cover was purchased via eBay and is original style.
What are these? - What is this around the brake drum? This 2-piece gear was for some gizmo: no idea what attachment or implement this would have supported. A six-pack of good beer goes to the person who can prove to me what this was used for; what a deal!
Disassembly - What have I done? Do I have any idea what I've gotten myself into? As it turns out: yes. I did a remarkable job replacing seals, bearings, stripping down individual components, priming/painting them, and putting everything back together.
It made me a bit nervous at first, but then I enjoyed chiseling off the axel seals. Thank God for Dremel tools!
Reassembly - Adding some blue RTV to the rear of the lower axel housing stud bots (left) and drawbar lower-link support pins help prevent annoying tranny fluid leaks. Same for the adjacent mounting stud. So far, this enhancement works quite well. Right image is inside view of axel housing; bottom-side up.
Reassembly - Temporary support with some 6x6" lumbers. Made sure the rear wheels were blocked so nothing rolled back-and-forth on me. I was delighted how the brakes turned out. Original springs might have been OK (they were tough to get out: lots of tension) but low expense to rebuild the most important feature of any tractor: how to stop it! Once they were installed, both left and right brakes aligned perfectly.
Reassembly - For whom the "bells" toll... aka trumpets. I simply call them: Heavy! The axel housings are completely stripped down (left), primed (middle), and painted (right). By suspending the unit in my spray booth with a strong cable, it was easy to rotate these massive objects in order to provide a uniform coat of primer and final paint.
Reassembly - The rear-end casting is not light either. I suspended the stripped-down assembly with a cherry-picker and taped-off key regions.
Three views shown are stripped (left), primed (center), and painted (right).
Reassembly - Brake shaft brass bushings. Left picture is original part with lots of wear. 2nd picture is process of removing it destructively: it's soft brass and can't be re-used. 3rd picture is new brass bushing installed. 4th picture (right) shows dab of added grease.
Reassembly - Looking good: I welded these support frames out of scrap angle-iron. Very sturdy.
Disassembly - Removing the PTO shaft was simple. Getting the shaft out of the mounting plate wasn't bad either: it was a destructive process to remove the oil seal. Not a big deal since it was defective already. Taking out the mounting clip permits gentle tapping of the shaft/bearing assembly from the mounting plate. I tapped the opposite side of the small sledge hammer to drive out the shaft and separate the parts.
Disassembly - Tap the oil seal out with a circular pattern using a long-handle punch. Then tap on the bearing assembly to remove it.
I was surprised with the replacement PTO shaft oil seal: the inner face was exposed while the original oil seal had cover on both sides.
Disassembly - The hydraulic lift worked fine so I did not rebuild it. I was very careful keeping it clean during the prep, prime, and painting process. It is quite heavy and I built this special wooden mount to protect the forks during restoration.
Covers for the rear-end casting in both primed and painted states are shown.
Disassembly - The most important part of your tractor; the seat. Well, maybe the brakes are more important. But the seat is what supports you and I was always impressed with how comfortable it was with no padding. I did not replace the rusted center: I may touch this up cosmetically in the future but for now, it's fine. When tractors sit outside, here is where rain puddles and has time over the years to eat away at the metal.
Disassembly - Fenders will be restored later. Some small holes and dings here and there but overall, in quite good condition. The tool box is in fair shape.
The inside view of the PTO-hydraulic pump before cleaning.
Complete Assembly - Looking good. You'll notice I did not restore the rims: they can wait. Coupled with the cost of new tires, I will finish the rims after I get everything else restored and the engine running.
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