Broken Cast Iron Piece on Rear Axle: Can it be fixed???

[Challenger 27]

My neighbor owns a couple of Wheel Horses, as do I. Yesterday he snapped- off the cast iron part that allows the rear hitch to attach to the rear axle. How can this be fixed? Welding? Replace the rear axle? Leave it alone and forget about using the hitch ever again? Other suggestions?

How it happened: He got his "second Wheel Horse" hung up in a wet area of his property. He fetched his "first Wheel Horse" to pull- out the second, attaching the tow line to each tractor's hitch. When this initially proved to be difficult, in a moment's frustration, he created maximum slack in his 30' tow line, went to full throttle and full forward speed, giving the "second Wheel Horse" a 5 to 7 mph tug (jolt). As a result the hitch on his "first Wheel Horse" snapped off the cast iron piece that held the hitch to the back of that rear axle.

What now?

[CRE1992 135]

He is going to need a new axle case, they can be brazed but not welded, however it is unlikely it will last.

[Trouty56 567]

I'm pretty sure there are hitches that bolt to the axle casing. A guy on here makes a hitch but his uses the part that broke on that tractor as support. Search on eBay.

sent via mobile....

[Don1977 605]

They can be welded but it would be best to take it to a good welding shop that knows what they are doing. I have welded cast with a nickel rod. If you get cast to hot welding you can cause it to crack some other place. One way is to heat the transmission half up weld it and let it cool slowly.

[meadowfield 2,733]

thats some force to separate the two, how fast did he go????

[Don1977 605]

If he was using a nylon strap or rope they stretch then snap back with a greater force. All that has been stretch in to the strap snaps back at once.

[AMC RULES 37,195]

What model tractor, and rear is it?

[Challenger 27]

It's a 522xi

[CRE1992 135]

OUCH! Goodluck finding a rear end for that one! I guess I would try to get it welded then.

[Tankman 3,523]

A good welding shop could braze the rear, like the Squid said (sorry Don, was a Jarhead).

Can't see the damage, might tap some alignment holes, then braze. Both parts'll need to be ground

at the point of the weld(s).

A good fabricator could make a bolt on rear hitch ass'y. If I were still in the shop, an easy bolt on.

More beef but, similar to the bolt on dozer blade mount.

[Don1977 605]

You need to check out what your talking about before you start call people names. I'm not offended you just show what you don't know about welding.

A good welding shop could braze the rear, like the Squid said (sorry Don, was a Jarhead).

Can't see the damage, might tap some alignment holes, then braze. Both parts'll need to be ground

at the point of the weld(s).

A good fabricator could make a bolt on rear hitch ass'y. If I were still in the shop, an easy bolt on.

More beef but, similar to the bolt on dozer blade mount.

[sorekiwi 761]

And people wonder why the frame cracks where the transmission bolts up to it. :banghead:

[Martin 2,133]

welding cast iron can be tricky, but its not that difficult.

im only a self taught welder and ive had good results welding different cast items on these tractors. you need to 'v' out the parting lines of the crack first. ive found that getting heat in the iron before really laying the weld is your best friend. ive had good results with starting off with very small tacking then slowly as the piece gets hotter you can weld into it longer. just let it get used to the heat. my best final welds are done over just ground down initial tacking and small beads, i find it can handle the heat a lot more if you dont try to get into the 'virgin' cast iron too much. im not sure if this makes sense, but it seems to work for me, and i havent had any cracking so far. i just let it slowly cool afterwards.

most of my stuff has been done with my gasless mig at home, but just recently had to weld some steering stuff for my sons 875 and i used the gas mig at work and had even better results.

once again, i dont want to give the opinion that im any sort of 'professional' welder, because im far from that, just passing on my experience with what has worked for me.....

if you can weld at all, or know someone who can, its worth a try to fix, what have you got to loose?

[312Hydro 474]

They can be welded but it would be best to take it to a good welding shop that knows what they are doing. I have welded cast with a nickel rod. If you get cast to hot welding you can cause it to crack some other place. One way is to heat the transmission half up weld it and let it cool slowly.

Sound advice Don. :handgestures-thumbupright: Preheating ,then welding and very slow cooling (cover with insulating blanket) will get it done. A good welding shop will have it done right. Sorry to repeat what Don said but there really is nothing more to add.

[can whlvr 994]

just to add,a hitch can be made that attaches to the axle,i made this one from an old reese receiver

[Tankman 3,523]

You need to check out what your talking about before you start call people names. I'm not offended you just show what you don't know about welding.

I might know more 'bout welding than you think. Been fabricating steel and welding for just about 40 years.

Cast iron can certainly be brazed.

I did mention however, fabricating a new bolt-on hitch. Might be the best idea so far.

can whlvr posted a nice image as an example.

[Forest Road 594]

If its not leaking id leave it alone. There was a member on here making hitches last year. SMOREAU I think. He also made them for the xi tractors.

[Challenger 27]

I had been considering buying my neighbor's tractor as he wants to scale back.

Now, with this new damage to the machine, I have two important considerations:

- How much does this reduce the value of the machine? Just the cost of repair OR because the machine is forever changed a LARGER value reduction?

- My plan for the machine was to put a loader on it. With a loader I'd be installing a weight box. I assume (?) that a weight box needs the hitch as one of the connection points.

Am I correct? (I've never had or hooked-up a weight box).

[Martin 2,133]

if you are looking at buying this tractor, i would also take a good look at the frame where the trans bolts up to it as well. just going by the info in this thread, i wouldnt be surprised if it was cracked too......

[sorekiwi 761]

What Martin said ^^^^^^^^^^^

But if thats the way he routinely treats his equipment, I'd look for one from elsewhere.

A lot of the loader weight boxes mount off the loader frame itself, so the broken bosses on the transmission might not be an issue.

[can whlvr 994]

for my reese i have a platform that weight could be added on,with these receivers anything is possible,all u need is 2inch square stock and away you go

[Forest Road 594]

I have a 522xi with a kwik way loader and weight box. It does use the hitch for the bottom mount of the weight box.The hitch doesnt actually carry the load of the weight. It balances the box. As for the frame being cracked, unlikely. The frame on the xi series is mounted to the trans in a much different fashion. Unless one of the bolts going into the trans broke I wouldnt worry about it. Whose to say this guy abused his equipment on a regular basis? There's been times when I tried something because I was in a bind. Most of the time it worked. And the other times I was a fool for doing such a thing. Sometimes you just cant win.