M - NH 9030 AXLE REPLACEMENT

I knew going into my New Holland 9030 purchase that the engine end axle was 'bad'. I found out from Purdue that they had taken the tractor to my local New Holland dealer - so I called him. He said that the tractor was in good condition, but the axle would be $6,000 in parts and labor to fix. Wow.

The picture to the right and the one above are from Salem Tractor Parts. These guys run a used tractor parts shop in South Dakota. They are very knowledgeable and are great to work with. A gentlemen named John helped me find this axle in his inventory.

I decided to purcahse the axle from Salem because this complete axle was less than half of fixing the old one with parts from the dealer.

Here sits the axle after it arrived from South Dakota. It was from a yellow 9030 - so I decided to sand blast it and paint it New Holland blue to match my tractor.

Here are the results of the blasting. Totally clean an free of all paint, grease and grime.

After blast, I painted the axle with white primer. Since this axle was used, I wanted to chage all of the seals. The axle shaft seal was replaced at Salem. Gaskets on the drop gearboxes and differential I will change at home. Once that is complete, it is time for blue paint.

Before blue paint, I needed to change gearbox seals. Here is a picture of a drop box after I wire wheeled both the case and the cover. My procedure for gasket replacement is this: Wire wheel both surfaces, use brake cleen on both surfaces, allow to dry, wipe with clean cloth, apply gasket maker, finger tight bolts, say a prayer, wait one hour, full tighten bolts, say another prayer.

To this point, I had been working on the axle in the barn. I had to move the show outside because when I went to remove the differential cover, the diff was half full of oil and spilled everywhere. I thought I asked Salem if the oil had been removed and they said it had. I guess I was wrong. So with this turn of events, I had to take everything outside and clean it. The 9030 axle is so heavy, the only way I can move it is with my TC45DA. Here is the axle outside just after I cleaned up the oil mess.

The 9030 axle with the cover gasket seal area prepped and ready for sealant. This is a limited slip axle, which is a bonus. My original axles were only open differentials. Hopefully the clutches inside the axle are not worn and this actually works. For diff oil I am using NAPA 80W-90 oil and New Holland limited slip differential additive.

Finally, some blue paint. Once all seals were done, I washed the axle one more time and shot some blue paint. As the axle sits here, it has about three coats. I really need to lift the axle one more time with the TC45 so I can get the very bottom parts.

Here is another shot of the blue axle. The next step is to prep the 9030 for the 6 mile trip to tractor repair guy who is going to install it for me. The main reason I have to outsource the install portion is because I don't have a one ton A frame hoist (or forklift) to safely position the axle in place during removal/install. Some day I will have that hoist.

At this point I don't quite have the tools necessary to facilitate a safe axle swap with an axle that weighs 1000 lbs. So, I had Mr. D Higbee do it for me. He is a great tractor mechanic that helps out farmers in central Indiana. The 9030 is pictured here in his shop after he removed the old axle and installed the new.

Mr Higbee used several large jack stands, a fork lift, and a hoist to move and position the axle in place.

The quality of these last few pictures is not very good. When I took them it was getting dark. But, you can see the new axle in the old cradle. In the dark the color match is pretty good!

The 9030 is in transit from D. Higbee to my house. The six mile trip was mostly gravel Indiana farm road. I stopped twice to check for leaks and hot gear boxes and found everything good. Let's hope it stays that way!

Another shot of the installed axle. The new paint does not look too far from the old paint, which is great.

Back home again. The 9030 made the trip with no issues. Temperature stayed at an even 195F and no new leaks or hot gearboxes. I must have a good axle! It is nice to be finished with that project and look forward to the next on my NH 9030.