I need to start collecting parts to restore my ZTU. One item I will need is a complete front axle housing.
After cleaning mine, I found the previous owner must have driven this tractor through a ditch and snapped the front axle off the engine. The mounting was brazed back together with what must have been 25 pounds of brazing. It looks pretty good and I would consider using it, but then I discovered a crack vertically from the bottom bearing adjusting nut all the way up the outside of the axle housing. Long story short, I need a new front axle housing.
Does the front axle of all RTU's differ from a 1946 ZTU? I had one RTU before and I recall it having a little different axle. But, it was not the original axle for that tractor. I swapped that axle so that my RTU's front would match it's serial number plate (It had an RTS front axle).
Pictured are examples of the different axles. My ZTU is like the one pictured. It has a round medallion lower front, and a groove on the right and left side. My earlier RTU did not have the medallion or the grooves that I remember.
I see on craigslist a RTU with a front axle that looks like the one I need.
Is the bolt pattern the same from RTU to ZTU? I assume it is.
Did they use the same axle for some time and then change?
Does anybody have an axle housing in Washington or Oregon or that they could ship for a reasonable price? (Don't know of any tractor salvage yards within 500 miles that has MM tractors.
Thanks for any replies
Doug
After cleaning mine, I found the previous owner must have driven this tractor through a ditch and snapped the front axle off the engine. The mounting was brazed back together with what must have been 25 pounds of brazing. It looks pretty good and I would consider using it, but then I discovered a crack vertically from the bottom bearing adjusting nut all the way up the outside of the axle housing. Long story short, I need a new front axle housing.
Does the front axle of all RTU's differ from a 1946 ZTU? I had one RTU before and I recall it having a little different axle. But, it was not the original axle for that tractor. I swapped that axle so that my RTU's front would match it's serial number plate (It had an RTS front axle).
Pictured are examples of the different axles. My ZTU is like the one pictured. It has a round medallion lower front, and a groove on the right and left side. My earlier RTU did not have the medallion or the grooves that I remember.
I see on craigslist a RTU with a front axle that looks like the one I need.
Is the bolt pattern the same from RTU to ZTU? I assume it is.
Did they use the same axle for some time and then change?
Does anybody have an axle housing in Washington or Oregon or that they could ship for a reasonable price? (Don't know of any tractor salvage yards within 500 miles that has MM tractors.
Thanks for any replies
Doug