Ford TW35

I broke an axle and I was wondering how to fix it. Will the cab have to come off?
Where can I find a used axle?

Try Wenger's in Myerstown, PA.

Cab does not have to come off, however you'll need to support the corner of it before you take the cab mount off. I usually place a small bottle jack between the lift cover and the base plate of the cab. Some blocks of wood wedged in there would do just as well - you don't need to support a lot of weight as the cab will still be suspended at 3 points.

How do I get the axle out? If I take off those bolts that hold the axle houseing on, will the whole thing come off?

Thanks for the advice.

Thanks for the advice. I think that I have found an axle.

Yes, the whole thing will come off, and it will be heavy, so I hope you know what you're dealing with here. Once it's off, then the real fun begins, gutting that thing out. You'll need a big socket, a big bearing splitter, and a big press to work on that thing. An overhead hoist would be nice to have also.

That's a relief to know! I thought I might have to remove the cab and take off the hydraulic stuff. I have a backhoe; maybe swing the bucket overhead and hook a chain to it.
Does it come apart easily?
I am really disappointed in this Ford. You wouldn't think a axle would break. I wasn't even pulling just going down the road. Luckily it was only a mile from home. I picked up the back end with the backhoe loader bucket chained to the three point hitch and with the help of a driver we backed it home, so at least I didn't have the expense of a big truck wreaker. I might have damaged the three point lift. The first time I picked up the tractor, the hitch was down and it held down. I had to let it back down again because that tractor is so heavy that even with 45 lbs. of air in the tires, they were half flat. So I went and put air in the tires and when I came back and lifted it the second time the lift wouldn't stay down. Does the motor have to be running for the lift to stay down? Did I break something?
Thanks again for your advise.

Hi If you got that tractor used just think back to what somebody else did with it, for you to get the broken axle years later. If you know what to look for you should see where it was cracked and get an Idea it's been fatiguing for a while. I drove a Case 1490 for a custom guy hauling silage. we were working on a big hill, I just got near the crest of a hill in the field and the back wheel fell off with a loaded trailer. Luckily it wasn't 2 mins later I'd of been on the road heading down hill at speed, chances are I'd be dead now if that happened then, it just sat on the hill with the wheel wedged under the fender. It was quite the program getting the trailer off and removing the tractor from the hill with a loading shovel and another tractor.

While we were talking about my brown pants experience I looked at the axle and you could see the old fracture point. The boss just turned to his brother and said do you remember about 10 years ago , this tractor fell off the jack when we where swapping the rims out to alter the width for the plow. His brother just said yeah it was this side wasn't it !. Before it happened there was no warning and nobody had a clue it was cracked after it fell off the jack.
Regards Robert

Axle shaft failures on Fords are very rare - they don't break "just because". As Robert said, someone in the past did something stupid with it to fracture it.

Removing the final drive housing with a backhoe sounds downright dangerous - I hope the operator knows what he's doing. I trust that safety is your #1 thought process as you're doing so, especially as concerns supporting the rest of the tractor during removal.

We're doing the identical operation in my shop right now to get to the brakes- we'll be using a cherry picker to pull the final drive.

Praise the Lord you weren't hurt and neither was I. I felt the tractor start to shake a couple of seconds and I pulled the throttle back so I slowed down quite a bit before it broke. It could have been much worse. I guess a person really should wear the seat belt when you're roading it.
Yes, I just bought this tractor and who knows what it's been through. And yes, there was a place where it was broken about a fourth of the way through with rust on it.
I wish I could see the other axle, but it is covered up by that huge wheel weight that must weigh 500 lbs. I'm wondering weather to buy two axles.