Back in bidness - new hubs installed

Thanks for responding on my post earlier about my '52 8N hub. I was able to make the left side axle take the new hub with no probs - plenty of shoulder space for the axle. The right side hub still had splines - but it slid too far in on the axle. So I replaced that hub too. No shims needed either side - these axles are tough!
I cleaned out the axle key slots, and reused the original washers. Then I cleaned up the original nuts, including the clip holes and snugged them them up to 300 lbs (the limit of my 3/4" torque wrench) for now, and will work them up to the 420/450lbs over time with a cheater bar and pipe. Reset the brakes and fired it up.
Had the tractor out mowing for most of the afternoon and it seemed OK - no squeaks or 'zings' from the brake springs.

When I started working on this, neither cotter clip was inserted in any of the holes in the nuts - both were still clipped on , but the long ends had popped out. Not real impressed with these - would it be better to double nut the axle?

thanks,
Doug in east TN
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Glad you got 'er back together and working!
The hubs will "settle" in, so the nuts need to be re-torqued.
Re-torque them every few hours of use until they don't
need it anymore, then put the clips in if you have them.
If they are run loose it will wear out the new hubs, so the
more chances you have to keep them tight the better.
 
Yes. I built it last summer and it is still a work in progress.

I had an old finish mower, but the jackshafts were worn out. Also, I could not get the blades spinning fast enough to cut very well at anything less than WOT. And since N's do not have live PTO, this did not work well.

So I tried powering this with an old riding mower engine, but the belts kept slipping. Next, I tried chain drive, but the chain kept breaking. Finally the engine quit for good. I started over and built this version last summer.

It works pretty well, although underpowered, and I can cut an honest 5' swath. With the higher blade tip speed, it mows better than my bushhog, and I'm not thrashing my N engine for hours just to mow grass. Larger engines would have cost too much, so I just slow down through the thicker stuff.

Doug in east TN
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